Wheel of Fortune

American television game show

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major reference

  • Twenty-One
    In List of Famous Game Shows: Wheel of Fortune

    …years on television in 2025, Wheel of Fortune began as an unaired pilot called Shopper’s Bazaar. Show creator Merv Griffin came up with the concept of using a roulette wheel to determine how much money contestants would earn if they correctly guess a letter in a hangman-style puzzle. Once contestants…

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“Jeopardy!”

    quiz shows

    • A pub quiz
      In quiz: A history of quizzing

      …with other games, such as Wheel of Fortune. Like that show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? took a gradual jackpot-increase approach. The U.K.’s Family Fortunes, which was derived from the U.S.’s Family Feud of the 1970s and ’80s, had contestants (members of two families) guess what answers had been…

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    Sajak

    Seacrest

    U.S. television history

    • Milton Berle
      In Television in the United States: The return of the game show

      …away, and shows such as Wheel of Fortune (NBC, 1975–89; syndication, 1983– ) and Jeopardy! (NBC, 1964–75; 1978–79; syndication, 1984– ) were among the best syndicated performers throughout the 1980s and ’90s. Any negative associations left over from the quiz show scandals had dissipated, and, more important, the shows were…

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