Wheel of Fortune timeline (network)/1989

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January 1989

Goodbye, Pat...

• Wheel does not air on January 2 due to the Tournament of Roses parade.
• On January 6:
  • Contestant Patti leaves with $48,507 despite not making it to the Bonus Round on her third appearance.
  • Several comments during the show mention "tomorrow", due to the episode originally being scheduled for January 5.
• On January 9 (#3564, taped around October 1988):
  • It is Pat's last daytime show. He steps down from daytime to host his short-lived talk show, The Pat Sajak Show, which debuts that night. On this day:
  • Appropriately, the Round 1 puzzle is TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF.
  • Following the Bonus Round, Pat makes out with Vanna until Merv walks up and taps Pat's shoulder. This clip is shown in several retrospectives.
  • No name is ever given for Pat's replacement, as no host had been chosen at the time of the episode's recording, although Pat and Merv's comments suggest otherwise.
  • Several comments during the show mention "Friday" and "Monday", due to the episode originally being scheduled for January 6.
• January 9 is the third of only three daytime episodes to be aired by GSN; the network reran it in 2007 as part of a special marathon following Merv's death. Per the network's standard at the time, any mid-show plugs were cut out and the credit crunch was used after the sign-offs.

...Hello, Rolf.

• After Pat's departure, it is known that Jimmy Connors, Tim Brando, and M.G. did test episodes, and it is believed that John McEnroe, John Gabriel, and Roger Twibell did as well. A 1988 news article published by Scripps Howard states that Michael Reagan, John Davidson, and Bert Convy were also considered.
• January 10 (#3565) is Rolf Benirschke's first show, taped December 14, 1988. Promos aired on January 4-9 advertising his debut, "starting Tuesday". On this day:
  • The money graphic returns to being in the center of the screen.
  • M.G.'s intro ends with "And now, here's your hostess: Vanna White!" Vanna walks out to the host's area, and introduces Rolf. The two converse during the first segment, which lasts just over two minutes, with the contestant interviews and Round 1 beginning in the second segment.
  • The post-game chat is not done near the Wheel.
• On at least January 10-13, no credit is given for Rolf's wardrobe, although this is likely an error. In the case of the 10th, there is a blank spot between Vanna's credit and the beginning of the full credit roll.
• On at least January 11-13, M.G.'s intro ends with "And now, here's your new host: Rolf Benirschke!"
• Beginning on January 11, the consolation prize (only mentioned as being given to one contestant) is described after the last commercial break.
• On January 12 (Kevin/Robin/Rhonda), Rolf accidentally declares Robin the day's winner instead of Rhonda, but the mistake is quickly corrected. The confusion likely happened because Rolf accidentally read Robin's two-day total as her score for just this episode.
• As of January 13 (Kathy/Keren/Rhonda), the money graphic still appears in the center of the screen.
• Wheel does not air on January 20 due to coverage of the inauguration of George H.W. Bush.
• January 23 is M.G.'s last episode, originally scheduled for the 20th; Charlie returns on the 24th, itself originally scheduled for the 23rd.
• On a set of episodes believed to have aired during late January, a contestant wins $65,271, the largest of the daytime run. According to a comment left by the contestant on this Wiki, a Bonus Round is discarded and replaced during one of these episodes due to Rolf accidentally accepting an incorrect answer.
• According to one recollection, an episode sometime during Rolf's tenure has the first known instance of a contestant incorrectly solving a fully-revealed puzzle. The answer is SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, which more than one player mispronounces.
• Twice during Rolf's tenure, the game ends in a tie. On the first instance, Rolf admits on-camera that he does not know what to do.

February 1989

• February 13 is Couples Week.
• By February 22 (Lois/Cami/Rochelle), the money graphic returns to being at the top of the screen.
• On February 22:
  • Lois gets three Free Spins in Round 1.
  • Rolf's Final Spin lands on Lose A Turn.
  • Lois sweeps the game and wins a Toyota Tercel in the Bonus Round.
• As of February 22, Augustus still provides Rolf's wardrobe.
• Before & After likely makes its daytime debut around this point.

March 1989

• March 20 is Teen Week.
• On an episode during the above week, Rolf congratulates himself for hitting $2,000 on a Final Spin. One of the contestants, Jade, then points out that Rolf is looking at the blue arrow and has actually hit Bankrupt.
• On March 24, Rolf and Vanna wish everyone at home a Happy Easter.
• On March 27, Rolf and Vanna talk to Charlie at the end of the show.

• On March 31 (Mary Kay/Grant/Katie):
  • "I Remember the Child" plays under the post-Round 2 prize descriptions.
  • Round 3 (THE CAISSONS GO ROLLING ALONG, categorized as Title) is the longest puzzle. It is also factually incorrect, as the song was renamed "The Army Goes Rolling Along" in 1952 and was officially titled "The Caisson Song" before that.
  • Grant sweeps the game but loses a set of diamond earclips in the Bonus Round.
  • The bonus puzzle WAKE UP CALL is misspelled ("wake-up" should be hyphenated).

April 1989

• On April 3 (Grant/Jeannie/Nancy), "Frisco Disco", "I Remember the Child", and "Buzzword" are all used as prize cues. This is the only known time that all three of these cues are used on the same show.
• On April 4 (Jim/Tom/Grant):
  • No vowels are bought in Round 2.
  • Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the contestants who began them.
  • Grant only spins once in the entire game, landing on Bankrupt in Round 3. He ends up with no money, leaving with $33,629 from his previous shows.
  • One of the prizes in the post-Round 2 showcase is an $11,105 set of antique furniture. This is the only known five-digit pricetag used in the shopping format (the nighttine show used five-digit tags for various Bonus Round prizes).
  • Round 3 (BARBARA HERSHEY PENNSYLVANIA) is the longest puzzle.

• On April 21 (Randy/Shari/Patty):
  • Vanna wears a track suit.
  • Rounds 3 and 5 are Thing(s), while Round 1 is People and Round 4 is Person.
  • All of the puzzles are very short, with Rounds 2 and 3 (SCHOOL CAFETERIA and GRUNTS AND GROANS) being the longest at 15 letters each.
• On April 24 (Frank/Shari/Joanne), the Wheel can be heard still spinning during Rolf's opening banter.
• As of April 24, and very likely to the end of Rolf's tenure, commercial breaks may still occur during a round.

May 1989

• The May 9 show is Episode #3,649.

• On May 22, due to declining ratings and an inability to come to a license fee agreement with Merv (and despite Wheel having time left on a three-year studio-use contract signed in 1987), NBC announces the show's cancellation and replacement by reruns of The Golden Girls.
  • Perhaps not coincidentally, this date is also Wheel's final day of tapings at NBC.
• On May 23, CBS announces the return of Wheel "beginning sometime this Summer". At this point, the Sacramento Bee notes, "the Rolf Benirschke fan club needn't panic - he will not be out of work even one day".

June 1989

• Wheel does not air on June 9 due to the Men's Singles Semifinals Round of the 1989 French Open.
• On June 10, Stephen Burrows, later a writer and director, is a contestant (as "Steve"). On April 18, 1991, he releases the half-hour short The Soldier of Fortune about his "actual appearance and subsequent humiliation on [Wheel], where he is generally considered to be the worst contestant in the history of the show", which wins 29 film festivals.
  • While the short is known to contain clips of his episode, it is not known how the short is structured. Given the running time and the length of an episode minus commercials, it is possible that Soldier simply consists of his episode in full with the remaining time devoted to Burrows' comments and/or the aftermath.
  • According to the Internet Movie Database, Steve is the first player to buy all five vowels in succession and still not solve the puzzle.

• On June 30 (#3686; Julie/Jay/Marc, taped May 22):
  • Rolf hosts for the last time.
  • The show tapes at NBC Studios in Burbank for the last time.
  • $2,000 and the shopping format are used for the last time.
  • Fittingly, the Round 1 puzzle is TALK TO THE POWERS THAT BE.
  • Rolf's Final Spin lands on Bankrupt. His second attempt lands on $300.
  • While no direct mention is made of this being the last NBC episode (despite being taped the same day the show's cancellation was announced), the full credit roll is an extended style (Music, Utility, Flyman, etc.) not unlike those used on other NBC series finales.
  • Charlie says his name while signing off, the second known instance of a daytime announcer doing so.
• By June 30, the money graphic returns to the center of the screen.
• By June 30, Rick Pallack begins providing the host's wardrobe.

July 1989

...Hello, Bob.

• At some point before July 7, TV Guide runs an ad promoting the show's move to CBS. No host is named, although a mention of "New Host" confirms Rolf's dismissal.
• On July 7, Bob Goen is announced as the new host.

• On July 17 (taped July 14):
  • The daytime show officially moves to CBS. Wheel moves back to 10:30 AM, replacing the Chuck Henry version of Now You See It.
  • Bob and Vanna appear on that day's CBS This Morning to promote the debut.
  • Nearly every element changes in some way:
    1. The show moves to CBS Television City's Studio 33 (now the Bob Barker Studio), the same studio in which The Price Is Right has taped since 1972.
    2. The episode numbering in place since 1975 is discarded in favor of a three-digit counter prefaced by "#C".
    3. The shopping format is retired, replaced by a scaled-down version of the nighttime play-for-cash format. The shopping cue "Nightwalk" is sporadically used as a prize cue.
    4. The "wrong letter" buzzer, Bankrupt slide whistle, "only vowels remain" beeps, Final Spin bells, puzzle reveal chimes, and Bonus Round timer beeps are all changed; the "wrong letter" buzzer was previously used as a "time's up" buzzer on Bumper Stumpers. A new "time's up" buzzer consisting of two short buzzes (previously used on the 1989 revival of Now You See It) is added to the Bonus Round, where previously an elongation of the "wrong letter" buzzer was used. All of these sound effects carry over to nighttime, as does the use of the CBS applause machine.
    5. "Changing Keys" is rearranged to have the melody on saxophone and electric guitar, backed by organ and percussion. This and all subsequent versions of "Changing Keys" end on a single note instead of the puzzle-solve cue, although that is also reorchestrated to match. The bridge of "Changing Keys" continues to play when Vanna is introduced.
    6. The turntable is heavily redone, with only a few prizes and other decorations now present on it. It likely rotates to show various prizes, but it is not known to have done so on-camera. Also, at least one spiral pillar is retained, placed to the left and back of the contestant area.
    7. The host's area and Bonus Round area each now have a backdrop of silver chevrons, while the host's area and the spaces between the players' score displays are changed to a solid brown design.
    8. The sunburst contestant backdrops are upgraded to chevrons that continue to show total champion winnings with the same limitations. As shopping is no longer part of the format, the "ON ACCOUNT" display is now obscured.
    9. The contestant nametags are now parallelogram-shaped, with a gray background, although the letters are still white.

       

       Hundreds of dollars in cash!

       

    10. The Wheel offers less than half of what it did previously, and while the show has a four-round minimum the layouts are a variant of the three-round structure: $500 returns to being the top value for Round 1 and remains for Round 2, followed by $1,000 in Round 3 and $1,250 thereafter. For the first time since 1975, $50 and $75 appear on the Wheel.
    11. Prize wedges are reintroduced to daytime, with a new prize added each time a previous one is claimed (up to two new prizes per round). If two Prizes are put on the Wheel at once, their wedges are not shown in close-up. The distribution presents the possibility of having three prizes on the Wheel by Round 4.
    12. The Free Spin tokens become green, with "SPIN" in the center and "Free" on the top and bottom in yellow script. The new daytime Round 1 template has a yellow Free Spin wedge instead of a peach one.
    13. As a result of the reduced Wheel values, vowels now cost $200.
    14. The Bonus Round now offers subcompact cars, a cash prize of $5,000, and other prizes generally valued at less than $10,000; the $5,000 is displayed on a green disc suspended from the ceiling, which rotates counterclockwise, and its font (save for the dollar sign) is Clarendon-like and similar to its nighttime front-game counterpart. While nighttime changes Bonus Round prize selection to a random draw from the W-H-E-E-L envelopes on September 4, daytime allows contestants to pick their bonus prize until the end (although picking the cash is not as common).

        

        The $5,000 sign.

    15. If the $5,000 is played for, the sign lowers and Charlie announces one of several rotating lines related to it.
    16. The opening remains about the same as Rolf's last show, with a "CBS StereoSound Where Available" graphic added. Charlie's intro is now "Look at this studio, filled with lots of exciting prizes! Including a new $5,000 cash bonus, this sporty little compact car, and a wonderfully romantic Caribbean cruise, plus thousands of dollars in cash, all waiting to be won on today's show! Yes, from Television City in Hollywood, it's Wheel of Fortune! And now, here's your host: Bob Goen!"
    17. As Charlie says "plus thousands of dollars in cash", the money graphic appears at the bottom of the screen (albeit unannounced, unlike the previous daytime run and the nighttime run); during the week of July 17, it alternates between $41,000 (Monday, Tuesday, and Friday) and $42,000 (Wednesday and Thursday).
    18. In addition to the money graphic, all other colored chyrons, including the overhead shot logo, now have a thinner white shadow.
    19. As Charlie says "waiting to be won", a graphic of the Wheel forms, starting with several colored rings curling into place to form the frame of the Wheel, followed by the wedges falling down to form the Wheel itself (albeit extremely inaccurate, lacking Bankrupt and Lose A Turn while including values such as $850 {not used since 1979}, an off-model yellow $750, and the nonexistent {outside of rug and turntable layouts} $950). Once the Wheel graphic is fully formed, it tilts to form the "O" in "OF" and fades when doing so, with the rest of the show's name spelled out in gold letters. The logo fades away as Charlie introduces Bob.
    20. The overhead Wheel shot during the close is now zoomed in on the center; only the bottoms of the wedges are visible, including the "50" in $1,250 as well as any remaining Prize wedges.
    21. Per CBS game show tradition, the sponsor list becomes two separate ones: "The following suppliers of products have paid for their use & promotion" and "The following suppliers of products or services have furnished them free or at less than retail."
    22. Full credit rolls have headers in blue and names in pink. Additionally, the show's logo, as seen at the start of full credit rolls, is now pink.
    23. The credits end with "Recorded at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California", with the CBS Eye logo included in the graphic. Short credit rolls display it as a chyron, while full credit rolls have it scroll up.
  • The winner of Rolf's last episode does not return.
  • Person/Fictional Character debuts in Round 3.
  • Lou buys a repeated E in Round 3, but it is not acknowledged as such until Vanna accidentally walks to the trilon where the E has already been revealed.
  • Pat appears before Round 4 to wish Bob and the players good luck.
  • The first Wheel Prize appears in Round 2: a $916 trip to Lake Tahoe. It is not claimed, and is replaced by two prizes in Round 3. One of these is won and replaced in Round 4 by a fourth prize.
  • During the post-game chat, Vanna and Bob mention the switch to playing for cash and hold up two of the new Free Spin discs.
  • As it no longer applies, "Gift certificates do not include sales tax" is removed from Charlie's closing disclaimer.
• On July 17 or 18, The Pat Sajak Show features a segment about the daytime Wheel, with Pat walking downstairs to Studio 33 and surprising Bob, Vanna, and Charlie. Various elements suggest that Pat's appearance was during the break between the Bonus Round and closing chat. The segment also explains the puzzle board and Used Letter Board, and has the only known shot of the $5,000 sign's reverse.
• On July 18:
  • Charlie's intro changes slightly: the prize descriptions are now "Including our all-new $5,000 cash bonus, a gorgeous handwoven oriental rug, and a fabulous sapphire and diamond ring, plus thousands of dollars in cash..."

    

    The two-digit values with added diamonds.

  • The two-digit values are given diamonds, and the tan $50 near Bankrupt is increased to a yellow $300. This yellow $300 wedge is the same off-model variant (with a larger dollar sign and smaller 3) used at this point to cover Free Spin in later nighttime rounds.
  • Same Name (Round 2) uses an ampersand for the first time, instead of spelling out AND. The answer is EVE & ELIZABETH ARDEN.
  • Two prizes are introduced in Round 4, as the Round 2 prize is lost to Bankrupt (however, Bob does not take away the wedge) and the Round 3 prize won. One of the Round 4 prizes is also won, and its wedge strangely remains on that player's arrow for the rest of the show.
  • As the show goes to break after Round 4, the camera cuts from the contestant area to a small zoom-in on the $5,000 sign.
  • Charlie's "the prices of the prizes" closing disclaimer is removed entirely. In its place on this episode, he states that "This program has been edited for broadcast."
• On July 19:
  • Charlie's intro changes again: "lots of exciting prizes" is changed to "wonderful and exciting prizes", and the next few episodes have different prize descriptions.
    • July 19: "Including $5,000 in very spendable cash, this nifty little compact car, lovely pearl jewelry, plus thousands of dollars in cash..." (The "new" intro animation starts while the rings are forming.)
    • July 20: "Including a great $5,000 cash bonus, a glamorous cruise through the Caribbean, and for entertaining, a contemporary bar with accessories, plus thousands of dollars in cash..."
    • July 21: "Including a romantic seven-day Caribbean cruise, a beautiful Oriental rug, and a $9,000 sapphire and diamond ring, plus thousands of dollars in cash..."
  • The contestant nametag letters become black, likely because the white lettering was difficult to read.
  • The Rounds 1-2 Wheel layout undergoes several value changes: the off-model $300 is replaced by $50♦ and swaps positions with the $125 next to it, the pink $50♦ between Bankrupt and Free Spin increases to $175, the purple $50♦ nearby increases to $300, and the blue $75♦ between Free Spin and Lose a Turn increases to $200.
  • Round 1 has the first instance of a puzzle using zeroes instead of O's, an anomaly which appears on some puzzles and spreads to nighttime on September 7. The zeroes, likely recycled from the "3,000th show" promotional shot, are wider and rounder than the regular O's. As far as is known, puzzles only either used O's or zeroes, but never both.
  • After the Round 2 prize is claimed but not won, two new prizes are introduced in Round 3. One of those is won, and is replaced by another prize in Round 4.
  • During the post-game chat, Bob and Vanna talk about more differences from the nighttime show, including the reduction of vowel cost to $200. Bob quips that they "made it through the show without Sajak having to come in and bother us".
• On July 20:
  • For the first time, there are three Prize wedges on the Wheel in Round 4. They are neither claimed nor won. One of them is the aforementioned bar in Charlie's intro, worth $2,976. It starts out on the red $200 next to $1,250 in Round 4 and moves to the pink $300 next to Bankrupt in Round 5.
  • In Round 4, the category chyron disappears a second into the first spin, but reappears after that spin is complete.
  • Every puzzle with an O uses zeroes.
  • Contestant Patrick retires, the first of the Goen era, with $19,230.
  • Before coming back from the final break, CBS airs a promo for the show.
  • The post-game chat is not done near the Wheel.
• On July 21:
  • For the only known time on daytime, the chyrons are yellow. Nighttime does not appear to have used yellow until at least 1994, albeit with black outlines instead of the usual white.
  • The lights on the $5,000 sign are off during the entire show, except during the Bonus Round when the champion decides to play for the cash.
  • Round 2 is a Same Name of EGG & VANNA WHITE.
  • Round 3 has a zero for the O.
  • There are only two prizes available during Rounds 2 and 3 combined, and one of them is won in Round 3.
  • Against normal practice for a Speed-Up, the chimes sound when the puzzle is revealed.
  • The winning contestant finishes with only $1,000.

• The aforementioned CBS This Morning interview shows clips of a Monday episode, most likely July 24 or 31 given the timeframe. On this episode:
  • At least the end of the intro is still the same as it was on July 17.
  • During the final segment, Bob notes that the research staff brought him an encyclopedia and noted that "Martha Graham is right in here, pal." The phrasing suggests that MARTHA GRAHAM was a puzzle that day, possibly in the Bonus Round.
• By the above episode, the purple $50♦ in Rounds 1-2 is increased to $300, leaving just one each of $50♦ and $75♦ on the Wheel.
• Likely on July 24, the "only vowels remain" beeps are altered slightly to their current sound, which is less muted than the sound used during the week of the 17th.
• The taping Pat appeared at on The Pat Sajak Show airs sometime between July 24 and August 11, but not the same week as the aforementioned CBS This Morning clips.

• Sometime during Goen's tenure, according to one recollection, seven rounds are played for the first time. Interestingly, this is believed to be due to a tiebreaker being needed after Round 6.
• On another episode during Goen's tenure, according to one recollection, Vanna does the Final Spin for the only known time, doing so at Bob's request after he repeatedly lands on Bankrupt.

• On July 31:
  • The NBC-era opening shot and money graphic are dropped. The opening is changed to an angled shot of the contestant area with the $5,000 sign at left, with the players running onstage during the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant. The theme is slightly updated with a new opening version which begins with a similar crescendo to "Give It One" (the theme used on the 1974 pilots), and the version previously used there continues to be used during the credits. The camera pans from the Wheel to the puzzle board as the new logo, now the regular one, appears; cuts to the audience as the animation is reversed (including the Wheel reappearing and reversing its animation); then cuts again to center stage while Charlie introduces Bob.
  • Charlie's opening spiel is changed to "From Television City in Hollywood, one of America's most loved shows! The famous Wheel is spinning your way with lots of cash and an assortment of sumptuous prizes! And now, here's your host: Bob Goen!"

August 1989

• As of August 4, Wheel draws a 2.8 on the Nielsen ratings system with a 12 share, only slightly higher than the average of Now You See It.
• By August 22 (Marleen/Mary Ellen/Lee), the $5,000 sign now rotates during the opening and credits, as well as when the cash is played for. Previously, the sign did not rotate during the credits.
• On August 22:
  • No vowels are bought in Rounds 1 or 4.
  • Six rounds are played. Rounds 1, 2, 4, and 6 are Phrase, while Round 2 and the Bonus Round are Thing.
  • None of the puzzles have S in them.
  • The Round 2 prize is claimed in Round 3, but not won; it is replaced by another prize in Round 4, which is claimed and won. The Round 3 prize is not claimed and is removed in Round 6, which begins with the Final Spin.
  • For the first known time in the Goen era, the Bonus Round is played for something other than the cash or a car: specifically, an East Coast tour.
  • The closing plugs begin immediately after the final commercial break.
• On August 24 (Rose/Jim/Martha Ann):
  • After the Round 2 prize is claimed, two new prizes are introduced in Round 3 and one in Round 4, again resulting in three prizes on the Wheel for Round 4.
  • Round 3 is the first known appearance of Person/Title. The puzzle uses a zero for the O.
  • There is also a contestant plug before the fee plugs.
  • The theme music runs to the end, just after the Enterprises logo appears.
• By August 24, Fred Hayman of Beverly Hills begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
• As of August 24, Rick Pallack still provides Bob's wardrobe.

September 1989

• On September 18 (Dave/Sandra/Ric):
  • The category chyrons are red, possibly a random choice due to Vanna's dress (a flowery print).
  • Several times during the show, Bob forgets to ask Ric if he wants to use his Free Spin.
  • There are two sets of repeated categories: Same Name in Rounds 1 and 5, Phrase in Rounds 2 and 4.
• By September 18:
  • The puzzle board's chase lights begin to be used during the opening. Previously, they were static.
  • The Rounds 1-2 minimum returns to $100: the pink $50♦ is increased to $250, the blue $75♦ is increased to $400, and the purple $300 near Bankrupt is dropped to $100.
• As of September 18, the set still looks the same as it did on July 17.
• By the end of this month, puzzles no longer use zeroes for O's.

October 1989

• Sometime this month:
  • The Free Spin wedge becomes a single Free Spin token placed on various amounts, with the spot formerly holding the wedge becoming $400. This is the last change to the Rounds 1-2 layout, the only one to be altered since the CBS debut three months earlier, and the last Wheel layout alteration on the daytime show.
  • The dollar sign disappears from the contestant score displays if that player has at least $10,000, an apparent glitch which remains until the displays are redone around August 1990.
  • Person/Fictional Character is renamed Star & Role.
  • The winner's Bonus Round letter choices begin to be displayed in black, a color typically not used by the category chyrons.

• October 16 is Soap Opera Week. During this week, the Bonus Round is played for $5,000 each day.

November 1989

• Husband & Wife likely makes its daytime debut around this point.
• Wheel does not air on November 23-24 due to the All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade and special showings of CBS' Saturday-morning programming, respectively.
• On November 17:
  • The Round 1 puzzle AW SHUCKS is shorter than ten letters.
  • No vowels are bought in Round 1.

December 1989

• Family likely makes its daytime debut around this point.
• By December 15, large "spiked" balls are added to the Bonus Round chevron backdrops until about mid-January, a tradition that remains for the rest of the run.
• On December 15, the show celebrates its 5,000th overall episode, with Bob and Vanna showing a pretaped clip from a party with them plus Merv, Pat, and Charlie among others. During these clips, Bob and Vanna namedrop Chuck, Susan, Summer, Pat, Alex, and Rolf as having contributed to this number.
• December 18 is Teen Week, known to have been promoted on at least the 15th. During this week:
  • A $5,000 savings bond replaces the $5,000 cash in the Bonus Round.
  • A $20,000 college annuity is offered on Friday. This is the most expensive prize known to have been offered during the Goen era.
• By December 18, cars begin to be displayed on the turntables from the nighttime show. If a champion wins a car and the post-game chat and credits take place there (instead of near the Wheel), the turntables are not active.
• The December 27 show is Episode #C115.