Curling

Nevertheless, today a rock which deviates from a straight line is said to curl. Clips from early episodes—including several from the Woolery–Stafford era, early Sajak daytime episodes and Vanna's first show—surfaced on the recent E! True Hollywood Story episode chronicling the show's history. One possible derivation is that it came from the old verb "curr" which describes a low rumble, a sound that is strongly associated with the game (curling is often called the roaring game). (Although Vanna's first episode indeed exists, some sources say that most of the remaining daytime episodes up until about 1984 have been destroyed.). It was first used in print in 1630 in Perth, Scotland. The status of the Sajak/Benirschike/Goen daytime versions is unknown, though it is likely that all of Vanna White's episodes were preserved since a clip of her first show was played during the 1997 April Fools episode of Wheel, in the 4000th episode celebration. The origins of the word "curling" are not known. All Sajak syndicated episodes are intact, however, and have been shown on GSN.

In the early history of curling, the rocks were simply flat-bottomed river stones which were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower had little control over the rock, and relied more on luck than skill to win. Most of the Woolery–Stafford episodes are believed to have been destroyed by NBC, which still has yet to be proven; however, surviving examples circulate among—and are treasured by—game show tape traders. Curling probably does not take its name from the motion of the stones. A clip was shown in the 3000th episode celebration in 1998. Curling is the provincial sport of Saskatchewan, home of one of the most famous curlers, the late Sandra Schmirler, who led her team to what was believed, until 2006, to be the first ever gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. The original pilot with the host Edd "Kooky" Byrnes still exists from 1974, this pilot was made for NBC. However there are many young teams who turn heads, and junior curling is quite popular, with national finals being televised nationwide in Canada. FORTUNE!" audience chant that comes from a machine when a player gets to spin the wheel.

Because accuracy, strategy, skill, and experience are more valuable in curling than traditional sports virtues of speed, stamina, and strength, most competitive curlers are older than their counterparts in other sports. OF .. Curling survives as a people's sport, making its Winter Olympic Games debut in 1998 with men's and women's tournaments (some sources also include the competition held in 1924 as an official Olympic tournament). Indeed, one can hardly walk through a casino anywhere on the continent without repeatedly hearing the "WHEEL .. While Canadian bonspiels (tournaments) offer cash prizes, there are no full-time professional curlers. The Wheel slot machines are widely believed to be the most popular slot machines ever distributed in North America. The first ever world title was won by the Canadian team from Regina, Saskatchewan skipped by Ernie Richardson. In 2004, a version featuring Sajak and White was produced as a "Special Ediiton," the only machines in the series to feature human voices, aside from the familiar show-opening audience chant.

The first world curling championship in the sport was limited to men and was known as the "Scotch Cup" held in Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland, 1959. These also feature wide-area progressive jackpots. The Tournament of Hearts and the Brier are contested by provincial and territorial champions, and the world championships by national champions. In more recent years, as video-based slot machines with many paylines have become popular, video versions of Wheel machines have appeared, all with the familiar wheel above the screen. Despite its small population, the Brier has been won by the province of Manitoba more times than any other province. Lining up three "Wheel of Fortune" symbols wins the progressive jackpot, which is usually linked with other Wheel machines throughout a given state and reaches into the millions of dollars. Improvements in ice making and changes in the rules to increase scoring and promote complex strategy have increased the already high popularity of the sport in Canada, and large television audiences watch frequent curling telecasts, especially the Tournament of Hearts (the national championship for women), the Brier (the national championship for men), and the women's and men's world championships. When a "SPIN" symbol lines up on any reel, the player presses a button to start the wheel spinning, and a player could win as many as 1,000 credits (with no "Bankrupt" wedges).

Curling is most popular in Canada, but is played in other countries including the United States, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and even Japan, all of which, with other countries, compete in the world championships. The first machines (and still the most popular) featured standard IGT traditional three-reel slot machines, each with a reporoduction of the show's famous wheel above the reels. If no independent officials are available, the thirds measure the distances. International Gaming Technology licensed the rights to make Wheel-based games in the 1980s. An independent official then measures the distances using a specially designed device that pivots at the center of the button. Given creator Merv Griffin's fondness for gambling (including being a successful casino owner), it would seem natural that Wheel would be featured as the basis for a slot machine. In tournament play the most frequent circumstance in which a decision has to be made by someone other than the third is the failure of the thirds to agree on which rock is closest to the button. (see Wheel 2000).

No players other than the third from each team should be in the house while score is being debated. (see Wheel in Culture). However, all scoring disputes are handled by the third, or vice-skip. Plus often times the four letters the contestants choose would not be in the puzzle. Most decisions about rules are left to the skips. Since then, the difficulty of the bonus puzzles has gone up, sometimes with only 1 or 2 instances of the automatic letters appearing in the puzzle. Scoring without the hammer is commonly referred to as stealing, or a steal, and is much more difficult. The contestant is then given the reduced time of 10 seconds to solve the puzzle.

This is called a blank end. Starting in 1988, the contestant was automatically given the R, S, T, L, N and E, and the aforementioned 3+1 selection was given to the contestant. If only one point is possible, the skip will often try to avoid scoring at all in order to retain the hammer until the next end, when two or more points may be possible. Occasionally, puzzles would feature none of these letters (or the selections would only produce one or two letters); at that point, the host would allow the contestant to pick three more constants and one more vowel. Naturally, it is easier to score points with the hammer than without; in tournament play, the team with the hammer generally tries to score two or more points. A statistical analysis shows that R, S, T, L, N, and E are the best choices, and these were almost always selected by contestants. In the event that neither team scores, the hammer remains with the same team. Contestants stood behind the wheel during the bonus round during the first week; after that, they would be standing on the other side of the wheel, with the chosen prize just upstage, and the "Wheel of Fortune" logo on the floor (sometimes a car would be between the wheel & the puzzle board, causing the logo to not be shown).

(In tournaments, this is typically assigned, giving every team the hammer first in half of their games.) In all subsequent ends, the hammer belongs to the team that did not score in the preceding end. If correct, he/she won the prize. Before the game, teams typically decide who gets the hammer in the first end by coin toss or similar method. The contestant was given 15 seconds to solve the puzzle. The last rock in an end is called the hammer. He/she then was asked to choose 5 consonants and a vowel. This is often accompanied with saying "Good game!" Hands are also shaken before the game and is accompanied by saying "Good curling!" to the opposing team. He/she then was presented a puzzle and told its category.

When a game is ended by normal means, both teams will shake hands as well. When it debuted in 1981, the winner of that's day/night's show chose a prize (tagged with a special gold star, usually worth $1,500 or more). This may occur at any point during the game, but usually happens near the end. Pat Sajak's first show in 1981 was also when the current bonus round became permanent. When a team feels it is impossible or near impossible to win a game, they will shake hands with the opposing team to indicate surrender. Then, there was the possibility that the Star Bonus token would not be landed on at all; plus, some haphazard editing also irked viewers. This is called a blank end and the end number usually goes in the furthest column on the right in the row of the team who has the hammer (last rock advantage). Also, the Star Bonus prizes were available during shopping rounds, meaning a dominant player could buy that $13,000 Chevrolet Corvette and thus render an opponent's Star Bonus token useless (since no available prize would allow him/her to overtake the first-place player).

However, some confusion can exist if no team gets points in an end. It was possible for the day's eventual first-place contestant to land on the Star Bonus. This scoreboard works because only one team can get points in an end. Critics of this format point to several flaws, most notably that merely landing on the space did not guarantee the Star Bonus would be played. If they score two more in the second end, then a two will be placed beside the five in the red row indicating that the red team has five points in total (3+2). As before, the contestant was asked to pick 4 consonants and a vowel, then given 15 seconds to attempt to solve the puzzle. If the red team scores 3 points in the first end (called a three-ender), then a one (indicating the first end) is placed beside the number three in the red row. The contestant had to play for a prize that was more than the difference between him/her and the first-place contestant; just like the hour-long Bonus Round, the prize's value corresponded with the puzzle's difficulty.

The numbers placed are indicative of the end. If the contestant landed on the wedge, he/she was provisionally entitled to play the Bonus Round if he/she was the second- or third-place contestant that day. It is set up in the same way, except the numbered row indicated points not ends, and it can be found between the rows for the team. A special "Star Bonus" disc was placed on the wheel. The other form of scoreboard is the one used in most curling clubs (see photo). The "Star Bonus" round was played for a time in 1978, which would enable a second- or third-place contestant to possibly become champion by solving a Bonus Round-type puzzle. The number of points each team gets in an end is marked this way. The prizes varied widely.

Below this are two rows — one for each team. For example, if the contestant chose an easy puzzle, he/she might win a $1,000 television-stereo console, while solving a difficult puzzle would win them a $13,000 Cadillac Eldorado. On this scoreboard the ends are marked by columns 1 through 10 (or 11 for the possibility of an extra end to break ties) plus an additional column for the total. If the puzzle was solved, they won a prize based on the puzzle's difficulty. One is the baseball type scoreboard, which is usually used for televised games. Then they were given 15 seconds to guess the puzzle. There are two different types of scoreboards used for curling. When they chose the puzzle, they were asked to give 4 consonants and a vowel.

The score is usually marked on a scoreboard of some sort. The winner of the show would play a sort of bonus round, and have the choice of 4 different puzzles—easy, medium, hard, and difficult. Since the bottom of the rock is rounded, a rock just barely in the house will not have any actual contact with the ring, which will pass under the rounded edge of the stone, but it still counts.) The winner is the team with the highest score after an even number of ends — usually in high-level curling this is ten; however, at club play it is usually eight, or less. version tinkered with a bonus round format for 6 weeks in 1975, when the show was 1 hour long. (A rock is considered in the house if any portion of its edge is over any portion of the 12-foot ring. The U.S. Rocks that are not in the house (further from the center than the outer edge of the 12-foot ring) do not score even if no opponent's rock is closer. Several versions of the Bonus Round – including the long-familiar format introduced in 1981 – have been used, and are detailed below.

After both teams have delivered eight rocks each, the team with the rock closest to the button is awarded one point for each of its own rocks that is closer than the opponent's closest rock. Occurrences of these letters are revealed and the contestant has a small amount of time, but as many guesses as necessary, to solve the puzzle. While a sound strategy, this made for an unexciting game. A final puzzle is put up and the contestant chooses several consonants and a vowel. The team with the hammer could peel rock after rock, which would blank the end, keeping the last rock advantage for another end. The record for the most money won in the speed-up round is $54,000, set during a February 2005 episode from Las Vegas and again in October 2005. This rule, a relatively recent addition to curling, was added in response to a strategy of "peeling" opponents' guard stones (knocking them out of play at an angle that caused the shooter's stone to also roll out of play, leaving no stones on the ice) that skilled teams leading a game would employ to prevent their opponents from "stealing" an end (scoring without having the last rock, or hammer) by placing guard stones and later trying to draw around them and using them for protection. To save on TV air time, those spins are edited out for broadcast, unless they may be found especially humorous.

This rule is known as the four-rock rule or the free-zone rule; some people and leagues play with a three-guard rule, where the rule is in place until three rocks are played. In other versions, the host gives a random spin. If they are removed, they are replaced and the opponent's rock is removed from play. Since an average spin is around one rotation, this increases the odds greatly. Until four rocks have been played, guard rocks left in the area between the hog and tee lines, excluding the house — known as the free guard zone — may not be removed by an opponent's stone. version, for example, the Speed-Up Round often, in more recent shows, starts before the round has begun, at which point the wheel is pointed at the $5,000 space. A player in the house, either the skip (captain) or vice-skip (also known as the third), will often coach the sweepers as to when they should sweep. In the U.S.

On each shot, two players are equipped with brushes or brooms with which they can vigorously sweep the ice in front of the rock so as to alter its trajectory or increase the distance of travel. On some versions, such as in the U.S., the host intentionally aims for the top dollar value with the final spin; the wheel is set to give the host a better chance of hitting it. When throwing the rock, it must be released before the near hogline is reached (players usually slide while releasing their shots) and must cross the far hogline; otherwise it is removed from play. Previously, the speed-up round was often anticlimactic, especially when the leader had a huge lead over the second- and third-place contestants and Sajak landed on a small dollar amount. In each end each player on each team throws two rocks in turn, the players on each side alternating shots. seasons beginning in late 1999, $1,000 is added to the value of the final spin (for example, landing on $550 means consonants are worth $1,550). A competitive game usually consists of ten ends, while recreational games are more commonly only eight or even six ends. In recent U.S.

Curling is played between two teams of four curlers. This round had background music in late 2000. Brooms are also used by some curlers as a balancing aide during delivery of the stone. The audience is told to remain silent so the answer is not accidentally revealed. Today, brushes have replaced traditional corn brooms at every level of curling, but are universally referred to as brooms. In slower games, the final spin will start the fourth round. Brushes were used primarily by elderly curlers as a substitute for corn brooms. Oftentimes, the speed-up round occurs in the middle of a round (usually the fourth round) although some fast-paced games continue to a fifth and, rarely, a sixth round.

In earlier days, brooms were made of corn strands and were similar to household brooms. The prize awarded, like the regular round, is proportional to the number of correct letters; unlike the regular round, they don't get another turn if they guess correctly. The skip will also hold the broom at the opposite end of the rink from the delivering player to show the deliverer where to aim the rock. When the round commences, each player in turn is given the opportunity to guess one letter, and a few seconds to solve the puzzle if they guess correctly. The broom can also be used to clean debris off the ice, and is also used by the skip to show where she or he wants the rock to go. In this round, a fixed dollar amount is set by one final spin of the wheel by the host - if the host spins bankrupt or lose-a-turn, or a remaining prize (when they were on the board on the final round), he spins again. Agressive sweeping in front of the rock momentarily melts the pebble, which lessens the deceleration of the rock, and also straightens the trajectory of the rock. Late in the game, if a fourth round has not been played or time is running short in the middle of a round, four consecutive bells are sounded, signifying the start of the speed-up round.

The curling broom is used by the sweepers to sweep the ice surface in front of the rock. It is not known how the five digits are computed, and it is possible that either the numbers are randomly generated or how they come up with the digits is kept a secret. Another piece of equipment is the curling broom. The 2 letters are the winning home viewer's first and last initials. This piece of equipment is needed when a player is sweeping, and needs traction with both feet. Apparently somewhere around this time, the prizes given away became exclusively trips. This is also usually made of rubber. The rules for claiming the car are the same as the Prize Puzzle rules.).

An additional piece of footwear is the gripper, which can slide on and off the shoe with the slippery surface. (Also, starting in the 2005-2006 season, if a contestant won a car in the Bonus Round, a home viewer with the matching SPIN ID would also won the same car as the on-air contestant. The other foot has a thin layer of rubber, to maximize traction on the ice. only) were given a chance to win the same prize as the contestants with a "Special Prize Identification Number" (S.P.I.N), consisting the first letter of their first and last name, and five numbers (example: AB12345) from the show's web site, and having 24 hours to log on and claim their prize. Left-handed curlers have this special shoe on their right foot, while right-handed curlers have it on their left foot. Starting sometime near the end of 2004 (which was during Season 21), home viewers (in the U.S. This enables curlers to slide out of the hack when delivering a rock. Example: If the solution was "FUN IN THE SUN", the player would win a trip to a tropical island.

Inexpensive sliders can be purchased that can be attached to any shoes by means of an elastic band. (Similar to the 15th season)(Starting in season 23, there would be a prize puzzle every night, appearing in either round 1, 2, or 3.). The sole of one shoe has a thin strip of Teflon or another type of smooth surface, called a slider. As indicated at the beginning of a puzzle, at seemingly random intervals there are Prize Puzzles that award the winner with a prize somehow relating to the puzzle. When curling, players need to wear special shoes. Because of this rule, the letter that is painted red is always a consonant. The two remaining players follow the rock and assist in guiding its trajectory by sweeping the ice before the rock, usually under direction from the skip and their own instincts for the weight of the rock, as well as stopwatch split timing. given Australia's other rules, if a person spins $300, picks a P, and one of the P's is red, the person gets $600).

Thus, each time a rock is thrown, there is one player throwing the rock, and another player at the far end. Only one letter is made red, and guessing the red letter doubles the value of the spin (e.g. While the first three players throw their rocks, the skip remains at the far end of the ice to guide the players; while the skip is throwing, the vice takes this role. In Australia, the rules for the red-letter round are different. The lead for each team throws first, followed by the second, third (vice skip or vice or mate), and the skip who is the team captain; this order is not mandatory, and some prominent teams (for example, Randy Ferbey's) reverse the order in which the skip and third throw. The answer is 9, and guessing 9 earns $3,000. The team members are named according to the order in which they throw in each end. The answer to the blanks is Sweet, and correctly guessing that earns the player $3,000.

Curling is a team game, played between two teams of four curlers each. Categories for this puzzle include:. Because of the particular rarity of Ailsite, costs for curling stones can reach as much as $500 (CAD). version). Most curling stones are made from this granite. Some puzzles have a question that can be answered in order to win some extra money (previously $500 in 1992, $2,000 in 1995) ($3,000 on the current U.S. The Scots in particular believe that the best quality curling stones are made from a specific type of granite called "Ailsite", found on the Ailsa Craig, an island off the Ayrshire coast. Beginning in Season 23, the producers show the home audience what's behind the mystery wedge before a decision is made by the contestant.

Lights at the base of the handle indicate whether contact was sustained past the line or not. After one mystery wedge is revealed, that space becomes a normal cash wedge, and the other mystery wedge acts as a regular $1,000 space for the remainder of the round. The handle is coated in metallic paint; the circuitry detects the relative charge of the thrower's hand contact to determine if they are still in contact, and a linear field is established at the hog line to indicate its location to the internal sensor. If the player reveals the prize, as with any other wheel prize, they must solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt to win it. A special handle has recently been developed for high-level tournament play, which integrates electronics to ensure a rock is released before it crosses the hog line. On the other side of the mystery wedge contains either a Bankrupt or a prize (usually $10,000–$13,000 cars or a $10,000 prize). According to the Canadian Curling Association Rules of Curling, "The use of a curling aid commonly referred to as a 'delivery stick' which enables the player to deliver a stone without placing a hand on the handle is considered acceptable.". If a player lands on one of these mystery wedges and guesses a letter in the puzzle, they may either take $1,000 per letter as normal, or turn over the mystery wedge.

This allows the game to be played by handicapped players, as well as those unable to crouch comfortably. Two $1,000 spaces (originally $500 from the round's debut in Season 20 through Season 22) marked with a stylized question mark are placed on the wheel. Such a stick is designed to attach to the handle so that it can be released without requiring the player to place a hand on the handle in a crouched position. A crafty spinner could pick up several of these prize cards in a single round. Although the rock is designed to be delivered by players grasping the handle as they slide down the ice, a special "delivery stick" may be used by players incapable of delivering the rock in this fashion. As of 2003, along with the announced prize, there were two or three smaller "gift tags" on the wheel – usually gift certificates, gift packages or items such as an XM Satellite Radio, each gift tag carrying a value of $1,000. Ice on which the rocks curl well is said to be swingy. Its identity was not revealed unless it was won.

The degree of curl depends on several factors, including the preparation of the ice and the flattening of common paths to the house during the game. The Surprise worked just like a normal prize, except that its identity was kept a secret. On properly prepared ice the rock's path will bend (curl) in the direction the front edge of the rock is turning, especially toward the end of its trip. For a time in the 1990s, there was also a Surprise on the wheel in Round 1. This small running surface allows the pebble applied to the ice to have an effect on the action of the rock. By 1989, a contestant had to guess a letter to be able to pick up the prize. A special feature of the rock is that its bottom is not flat, but concave and the actual running surface of the rock is only ¼ to ½ inch (6 to 12 mm) wide on the rim of the concave bottom. Originally, a contestant who landed on the prize simply picked it up and it went into his/her bank.

If the handle is rotated away from the body, the shot is said to be an in-turn, and if rotated across the body, it is an out-turn. The prize value is usually worth between $4,000 and $10,000. The curling stone or rock used in the game weighs a maximum of 44 lb (19.96 kg) and is fitted with a handle on top allowing it to be rotated as it is released. The prize – which is almost always a trip – now carries over to later rounds.
. The Prize Round has changed several times through the years, and currently is played in Round 1.
. The player had to avoid "Bankrupt" and solve the puzzle to win the prize.

A single moveable hack may also be used. The Prize Rounds were added to the daytime show in 1989. On indoor rinks there are usually two fixed hacks, rubber-lined holes, one each side of the centre line with the inside edge no more than three inches (7.6 cm) from the center line and the front edge on the hack line. When the "all cash" era began in 1987, a second Prize Round was added, usually in Round 4; both prizes were specific to that round. The hack is a device used to provide traction to the curler making a shot; the curler places the foot he or she will push off with in the hack. The prize space originally concealed a $150 amount. Twelve feet behind the junction of the centre and tee lines, the centre line is crossed at right angles by the hack line. It was played in Round 2, and the prize usually was worth anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000.

more than 12 feet from the centre) is not in the house and therefore does not score. The Prize Round was added in 1983, for the syndicated version only. The inner rings are merely a visual aid for judging which stone is closer to the centre; they do not affect scoring; however, a stone that is not at least touching the outside of the 12-foot ring (i.e. The resulting Jackpot was not a cash prize; it became available for shopping. They are usually distinguished by colour. The Jackpot started at $1,000 and increased by $1,000 for each show it went unclaimed. The rings that surround the button are defined by their diameter as the four-foot, eight-foot, and twelve-foot rings. The Jackpot space went into the player's bank (for correctly guessing a letter), and won the value for solving the puzzle AND avoiding Bankrupt.

Two other lines, the hoglines, are drawn parallel to each backboard and 37 feet (11.3 m) from it. That version of the Jackpot Round worked just like the syndicated Prize Rounds. The two lines are the centre line, which is drawn lengthwise down the centre of the sheet, and the tee line, drawn 16 feet (4.9 m) from the backboard and parallel to it. The current Jackpot Round debuted in the 3rd week of Season 14, and was quite different from a Jackpot Round that was part of the NBC daytime show from 1987-1989. The centre of the house, marked by the junction of two lines which divide the house into quarters, is known as the pin, tee, or spit. Until the end of Season 17, the Jackpot Round was played in Round 3. On the rink, a 12 foot (3.7 m) wide set of concentric rings, called the house, is painted near each end of the rink. Pat usually asks the contestant if they'd like to solve for the Jackpot, so they know that if they can solve it, they'll win whatever is in the Jackpot.

The curling action of rocks/stones changes during a game as the pebble evens out from wear. If a player spins and lands on Jackpot, they must call a letter in the puzzle and solve the puzzle all in that turn. As the bottom catches on the pebble, it turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone's path to 'curl'. The jackpot starts at $5,000 (when the Friday Finals existed, the Jackpot on that certain episode starts at $10,000 rather than the usual $5,000). The pebble creates friction with the bottom of the stone. After each spin, the value of the spin is added to the jackpot, regardless of whether or not the letter chosen is in the puzzle. A key part of the preparation is the spraying of fine water droplets on the ice to create what is called pebble. The Double Play was discontinued after Season 13 ended.

The curling arena is a sheet of ice 146 feet (45.5 m) long by 14 feet 2 inches (4.32 m) wide, and is carefully prepared to be absolutely level and to allow the "rocks" or "stones", as the polished granite is called, to glide with as little friction as possible. A contestant was not required to forfeit the Double Play if s/he landed on a Bankrupt while possessing the token. . If the wheel landed on a prize after using the Double Play, the Double Play was returned. Curling was on that occasion played outdoors. If the wheel landed on a penalty space, the Double Play token was lost, but the penalty was only endured once. Previous opinion had been that all sports then had been demonstration events. If the wheel landed on a dollar amount, that amount was doubled for that turn.

In February 2006 the IOC included the winning curling teams in the 1924 Winter Olympic Games, originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver ("International Winter Sports Week"), as medal winners in an official Olympic tournament. The player in possession of the Double Play could use it before any spin. Curling has been an official sport in the Winter Olympics since the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. A player won possession the token if s/he landed on the space with the token and called a consonant in the puzzle. Today, curling is played all over Europe and has spread to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and even China and Korea. version, a special token called the "Double Play" was put on the wheel. The first curling club in the United States began in 1832, and the game was introduced to Switzerland and Sweden before the end of the nineteenth century. During Season 13 of the U.S.

The Royal Montreal Curling Club, the first sporting club of any kind in North America, was established in 1807. This space was originally on top of one of the two bankrupt spaces, but is now over the orange $800 space in round one. The game is currently most firmly established, however, in Canada. When this space debuted in Season 12, it was on the wheel starting in round three and remained on the wheel until a contestant landed on the $10,000 slot and claimed it. Whatever the truth of the matter, outdoor curling was very popular in Scotland between the 16th and the 19th centuries when the climate was cold enough to ensure good ice conditions every winter, and as a result the international governing body for curling, the World Curling Federation, is based in Perth, Scotland. The $10,000 prize cannot be used to buy vowels; Pat will often say "You don't have any spendable cash" if the $10,000 is one of the first prizes claimed in the round. The game is generally believed to have been invented in 16th century Scotland, although two paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder depict Dutch peasants curling. If he/she is correct, the player picks up the wedge and it is treated as a prize.

Curling is a precision sport similar to bowls or bocce, but played on ice with polished heavy stones rather than plastic balls. Landing on Bankrupt results in a normal Bankrupt; landing on the $10,000 allows the player to guess a letter. In the first round, a wedge is placed on the wheel that reads $10,000 in the middle peg gap and Bankrupt in the other two. In 2002, Germany had its own version of a toss-up (called a Turborunde). The Australian version added their version of a toss-up (called a Flip Up there) in 2004, when the puzzle board was switched from a mechanical one to an electronic board.

No money is at stake in this round. If 2 or all 3 players are tied at the end of the game, then a toss up round is played for the right to go to the Bonus Round. If all of the spaces are filled in or all of the players are incorrect, no cash is won, and play began with either the left-most contestant or (if it was Round 4) wherever it left off before. An incorrect guess disqualifies that player for the rest of the puzzle.

(The first one determines who the host introduces first.) The $3,000 toss-up determines who starts the fourth round, which is usually the speed-up round. version, two toss-ups for $1,000 and $2,000 start the game, with the second one determining who starts round 1. In the 19th season to the present U.S. In Toss-Up, usually the player will start the first round after the introductions, and before the fourth round which is still $1,000 in the 18th season.

The Toss-Up Round debuted in Season 18. version). A player may buzz in to solve the puzzle for a set amount of money ($1,000, $2,000, or $3,000 in the U.S. A puzzle is revealed one letter at a time except for the last letter (similar to the Speedword on the Scrabble game show).

This was made possible with the advent of an electronic board, compared to the mechanical board. In recent years, various special rounds have been introduced. Like the shopping format, the total value of any prizes won is added to the contestant's overall score. In any event, the person who solved the puzzle won whatever amount he/she had in cash, excluding prizes the contestant won earlier in the round.

In one episode, Wheel tried to incorporate the $10,000 wedge as a normal space not surrounded by two Bankrupts, but it was eventually scrapped. Earlier this decade, to account for inflation, the top dollar value changed to $2,500 in round one, $3,500 in rounds two and three, while the $5,000 space remained in round four. It began with the $1,000 space as top dollar value for round one, $2,500 for round two, $3,500 for round three, and $5,000 in round four until the maingame was over. From 1987 to the turn of the previous decade, to generate building interest as the game continued, the maximum dollar amount for each round increased significantly.

Now, 6 maingame puzzles are rare with all the time taken up by toss-up puzzles, prize puzzles where a home viewer can win the same prize as the contestant via SPIN I.D., and advertisements for various rounds, most notably the Jackpot round. In 1987, the syndicated version of Wheel switched to an all-cash format that, while originally planned to last only for the month of September of that year, became a permanent fixture as it sped up gameplay where it would be common to see 4, 5 or even 6 puzzles on a given night. When the show started, the emcee, either Woolery, Sajak or Benirschke would say, "Watch out for the black space, "Bankrupt", because you will lose your cash, but not your merchandise, because once you buy a prize it is yours to keep." That saying became one of the most famous lines in game show history. During a special "Retro Week" in 1999, shopping was re-instated except the "shopping" portion was treated as a special space, and the contestant "bought" a prize package from a turntable.

When the player spent enough to not be able to buy the least expensive prize, or when they didn't feel like shopping anymore, they could choose to put their money on a gift certificate or "on account" (which meant they risked their money for the next round; they had to avoid Bankrupts and also had to win the succeeding round in order to keep the money and use it for shopping.) The "on account" option was rarely used. From 1975–1989 on the NBC daytime version, and from 1983–1987 on the nighttime syndicated version, after a contestant won a round, he/she had the option of shopping for prizes amidst the studio, like cars, furniture, trips, furs (until animal activists complained), and jewelry. In the current season, the house minimum is $1,000 per player, meaning during special weeks where two players compete on each team, the minimum is $2,000. In the early 1990s, the minimum was boosted again to $500, where it remained until 2005.

During the show's early months, the house minimum was $100; this was quickly increased to $200. If the player's total is less than $1,000, a house minimum of $1,000 is awarded. Only the player who correctly solves the puzzle keeps the earnings from the round. If the solution is incorrect, the player's turn ends, although this seldom happens.

Once enough letters have been revealed, a player can attempt to read the solution to the incomplete puzzle. The host usually (if not always) asks if you want to buy a vowel before you spin the wheel, assuming you have the money. That is, if it gets to your turn and you spin the wheel, you lose the ability to buy vowels until it's your turn again. In Australia, not only do you need the $50, you also must not have spun the wheel for the turn.

(For those who are interested, if they consistently kept rising the cost of the vowel to keep up with inflation, and $250 was the value now, vowels would've originally cost approximately $65.). However, when you account for inflation, $250 in 1975 would be worth almost $1,000, meaning if you use this inflated price to buy a vowel with the current values on the wheel, most of the time you'd have to spin the wheel twice and/or get more than one instance of a letter to be able to buy a vowel — which, it should be pointed out, was exactly the situation in 1975. Indeed, the lowest value on the wheel nowadays is $300; for many years it was $100, then $200. Some argue that, because of the inflating dollar values, the amount spent for vowels should increase.

It is rarer in the UK and Australia. version, mainly since many puzzles have large numbers of vowels, particularly E's (it is not uncommon to see five or occasionally even more of a vowel, especially E, in a larger puzzle—the record appears to be 11 E's). Vowel buying is very common on the U.S. When the daytime show moved to CBS in 1989, vowels became $200, and then $100 by 1991.

This proved to make the game ridiculously hard, and the space was scrapped in favor of a dollar amount before the show logged one month on the air. network run, contestants had to land on a space marked "Buy a Vowel" in order to ask for a vowel. Very early in Wheel's U.S. The contestant does not pay for every copy of the vowel revealed; in the above example, if the contestant guessed E, although 2 E's are in the puzzle, the contestant would not have to give up $500.

If the letter is not in the puzzle, the player's turn ends, but the $250 must still be paid. If a player has at least $250 in cash ($50 on the Australian version), the player can pay that amount to have all instances of a single vowel (A, E, I, O, or U) in the puzzle revealed. run, and sometimes still happens today if a contestant is asked to clarify his/her choice (for example, "S as in Sam," although this is quite rare). This does not happen in the United States, although it was common early in the U.S.

Hence: "C for Charlie" and "I for indigo" and the famous (in Australia, anyway) "N for Nellie". In many countries, the contestant gives a word beginning with the chosen letter along with it. (Note: Through 1989, the wheel had a "Free Spin" space in the game's first round, which automatically gave that player a Free Spin token; this idea was scrapped as skillful contestants often racked up six or more tokens before actually attempting to play the game). If he or she later lands on Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, or guesses a letter not in the puzzle, the Free Spin can be redeemed to continue playing.

If the pointer lands on a Free Spin space, the player can win the free spin in the same way as a prize. If the pointer lands on "Bankrupt", not only does the player's turn end, the player loses all earned cash and prizes in that round. If the pointer lands on the wheel's "Lose a Turn" space, the player's turn ends. The prize is lost if he/she lands on "Bankrupt" later in the same puzzle.

They must then solve the puzzle in that round to win the prize. If the pointer lands on a prize, the player gives a consonant, and if it is in the puzzle, the player picks up the prize and sets it in front of them (previously, if a contestant had landed on a prize wedge, they could automatically pick it up, call a right consonant and spin again). If the letter is not in the puzzle, or the player guesses a letter that has already been guessed, the player's turn ends. For example, if the puzzle was "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE", and the player spun $700 and guessed L, he or she would win $2,100 (on the Australian version, the spun value is not multiplied; in the previous example, despite the fact that the player has three L's on the board, he or she would only earn $700).

If the letter is in the puzzle, the co-host reveals all instances of that letter in the puzzle, and the player receives the cash value multiplied by the number of instances of that letter. If the pointer lands on a cash value, the player names a consonant (Y counts as a consonant). On a turn, a player can choose to spin the 24-sector wheel, buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle. Any punctuation (hyphens, commas, periods for abbreviations, apostrophes), and ampersand signs (&) are revealed.

When a normal round begins, the spaces in a puzzle are shown as blank white spaces on the board. Three players take turns. Besides the Australian version, France's La Roue de la Fortune is the most famous non-American version. Some other countries that air "Wheel of Fortune", and the titles used, include Belgium (Rad van Fortuin), Malaysia (Roda Impian), Brazil (either Roletrando Novelas or Roda a Roda), Vietnam (Chiếc nón kỳ diệu), Ecuador, Spain (both use La Ruleta de la Fortuna), Italy (La Ruota Della Fortuna), Germany (Glücksrad), Canada (La Roue Chanceuse in French, Wheel of Fortune in English), Israel (Galgal Hamazal), Turkey (Çarkıfelek), Poland (Koło Fortuny), Finland (Onnenpyörä), Denmark (Lykkehjulet), France (La Roue de la Fortune), and Argentina (La Rueda de la Fortuna, inside a show called Tiempo Límite XL).

Actor Rustom Padilla hosted the Philippine edition of the show on ABC-5 during its short run from 2001-2002. This version ran from 1991 to around 1996. There was a version in New Zealand with Phillip Leishman as host and Lana Coc-Kroft as co-host. There have been three Glücksrad versions in Germany: 1988-1998 on Sat.1 hosted by Frederic Meisner and Peter Bond, 1998-2002 on Kabel 1 hosted by Frederic Meisner (-2001) and Thomas Ohrner (2002), 2004 on 9 Live hosted again by Frederic Meisner.

The 5000th episode is set to be recorded at ATN-7 on Thursday 16 February 2006, for airing in late February/early March 2006. On the first episode of 2006, the car (Mitsubishi Colt) was won by Sara from Blacktown, NSW. On the 19th January 2006, Seven officially announced Wheel of Fortune's new host, Larry Emdur, with Laura Csortan as co-star and John Deeks returning as announcer. In December 2005, rumours abounded of the Wheel's return in 2006.

In mid-2005, the show was rested, with Seven filling its 5pm timeslot with reruns of M*A*S*H. John Deeks has been the announcer since 1984. Sophie Falkiner was co-host from 1999-2005. This record stood until 2001 when Vanna White surpassed that total.

Co-host Adriana Xenides became the longest serving game show hostess in the world having featured on Australia's Wheel Of Fortune from 1981 until early 1999; a total of 18 years. Other hosts included John Burgess (from 1984-96), Tony Barber (1996), Rob Elliott (from 1997-2003/04) and Steve Oemcke (from 2004-2005). The first host was Ernie Sigley, who hosted from 1981-86. It then moved to ATN-7 in 1996, where it has stayed ever since.

The show moved to SAS-7 when the 2 stations swapped callsigns & affiliations at the end of 1987. The current Australian version began in 1981 on the Seven Network at ADS-7. Steve Hamilton was the announcer. It was hosted by Nicky Campbell, Bradley Walsh, John Leslie and Paul Hendy with Angela Ekeate, Carol Smillie, Jenny Powell and Terri Seymour in turn being co-hosts.

The British version ran from 1988 to 2001, produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network. The very first away-from-home theme song was made specially for those shows; it is unknown at what point the same away-from-home theme was used over and over again. Wheel has always had a special opening theme for away-from-home shows. In pre-taped promos that appeared before each "New Orleans" episode, Sajak and White urged viewers to contribute to hurricane relief charities via the American Red Cross (via the show's Web site), and noted that the show would provide up to $100,000 in matching funds; they also commented the shows were a celebration of what the city once was and would someday become again.

A third week of shows was cancelled, and Wheel's production team barely made it out of New Orleans before the storm struck. Two weeks of shows were taped at the New Orleans Convention Center in August 2005, just days before Hurricane Katrina struck the region and caused incredible devestation to the city and Gulf Coast region. Perhaps the most poignant of these "road" shows was New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to all the election coverage it was not aired in many places on Election Tuesday.

The show was again aired on the following Saturday. Contestant Raymond Lee made it entertaining with his answer to a particular puzzle. The November 7, 2000 airing was interesting especially since the taping was in Washington, DC with it being a very close election between George Bush and Al Gore. Through the years, other stops have included Las Vegas, Honolulu, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta, Georgia, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C, Miami, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and more.

The first of these shows was taped in the fall of 1988 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York. Frequently, Wheel went "on location" to cities across the United States. (Source: The Wheel of Fortune Timeline). They switched back the next day.

On one of these theme weeks, College Week in 1996, Pat had laryngitis for almost that whole week, which became so bad that on the Monday episode (aired on November 21), Pat and Vanna had to switch roles for the bonus round. Other weeks invite sports stars to play for charity along with some of their fans. Wheel is notable for having 'theme weeks' in which all of the set decorations revolve around a common theme. Wheel is syndicated by King World, although Griffin, through Califon Productions, still holds the show's copyright -- which has been lucrative through its use in casino and lottery games.

When Griffin went into retirement that year (but kept a small financial stake), Sony Pictures Television, which had bought Griffin's company several years earlier, took over fully. by Merv Griffin's company, Califon Productions, until 2002. The series was produced in the U.S. One of the clips included rare footage of a circa-1978 Wheel opening, which featured the "Big Wheels" theme, the prize sets and Charlie O'Donnell's opening-spiel (including a shot of a Ford Fairmont station wagon, one of the prizes offered on that day's episode).

In November 2003, Wheel celebrated its 4,000th episode in syndication with a retrospective of the series. The puzzleboard's border was changed to match that of the wheel. The gold, glitzy decoration that surrounded the wheel was changed to a neon blue decoration. In 2003, as part of the 21st season, the entire studio was revamped.

Sometime around 1976, the display was changed to allow for five-digit figures (along with the "$" sign); six-digit figures have never been achieved in maingame play, although the eggcrate display was again changed in the late 80s or early 90s so a six-digit figure could be displayed with the dollar sign. Incidentally, the eggcrate display had room for the "$" sign and four digits in 1975-1976 (although the "$" sign could be removed in the rare event someone had more than $10,000). In 2002, the tote boards that showed the totals for each player were changed from eggcrate lights to monitors; the eggcrate lights had been in use since 1975. (Actually, the old four-row trilon puzzle had 52 spaces like today's board, with 13 in each row; the light border got in the way with the spaces in the corners, leaving only 11 trilons in the top and bottom rows).

The puzzle board itself has 52 spaces, divided into four rows (with 12 spaces on the top and bottom rows and 14 spaces in the middle rows, making it one column wider than the old trilon board; occasionally puzzles will use up almost all of the board). A fill-in-the-blank puzzle is displayed on a grid of video displays in front of the players. Also, when the puzzle is solved, instead of the hostess turning the hidden letters to reveal the entire puzzle, the missing letters electronically fill in themselves. On February 24,1997,the original board for displaying the letters was replaced with a digital electronic puzzle board, touching the letter spaces instead of turning them.

This puzzleboard would remain the same, except for light border changes and the "half-trilons" on the sides of the board being removed on road shows, and in 1994 and 1995. On December 21, 1981, a new four-row puzzleboard (consisting of 11 trilons on the top and bottom rows and 13 trilons in the middle rows) was introduced, allowing for bigger puzzles and more cash to be given away. The original puzzleboard was three rows consisting of 13 trilons on each row. Shopping was eliminated beginning with the syndicated Wheel's 1987–88 season premiere, though it would remain on the daytime version until 1989, when the show moved from NBC to CBS.

Eliminating shopping sped up the game, and allowed more time to plug the big prizes, such as cars. When the show first aired, the money the contestants won had to be used to shop amongst prizes on the TV show, but now the game is played for cash. All others are alterations of this theme from 1989-92, 1992-94, 1994-97, 1997-2000, and a somewhat new variation from 2000-present. The original theme song from 1983-1989 is called "Changing Keys" by Merv Griffin.

Pat Sajak and Vanna White have hosted the nighttime version since its debut. This version still airs today, and after two decades the show continues to have the highest Nielsen ratings of any syndicated program. A nighttime version of Wheel, which is syndicated to stations around the country, debuted on September 19, 1983. The daytime show moved back to NBC on January 14, 1991, and was canceled for good on September 20 of that year.

Former football player Rolf Benirschke hosted the daytime show until NBC dropped it on June 30, 1989; Bob Goen became its host when it moved to CBS on July 17 of that year. Sajak left the daytime show on January 9, 1989, to do a nighttime talk show for CBS that would fail after one year. She was replaced by Vanna White. Susan Stafford left a year later to pursue volunteer work.

Three days later, Pat Sajak replaced him. Chuck Woolery left Wheel on December 25, 1981, after a salary dispute with Merv Griffin. The theme song used from 1975 to July 1983 is called "Big Wheels" by Alan Thicke. After Clark passed away in 1988, Los Angeles-area disc jockey MG "Machine Gun" Kelly briefly filled in until O'Donnell, who was still under contract with Chuck Barris Productions, was able to take over permanently.

Charlie did come back on occassion to fill in for Clark, who was also announcing on other game shows. Announcer Charlie O'Donnell has been "the voice of the Wheel" since episode one in 1975, except between 1980 and 1988 when Jack Clark announced due to O'Donnell's obligations to other shows. Woolery was the show's original host, and Susan Stafford was the original hostess. Wheel debuted on January 6, 1975, on NBC; it was put on the air as compensation for cancelling Jeopardy! (which Griffin produced; ironically enough, Wheel is now paired in syndication with the current version of Jeopardy!) with one year remaining on its contract.

The theme song used in the 1974 pilot was "Give It One" by Maynard Ferguson. The early pilot for Wheel was called Shopper's Bazaar; Edd Byrnes and Chuck Woolery hosted pilot episodes in 1974. . version has been distributed by King World since 1983.

The current U.S. The highly-successful format has been seen daily in one form or another since its NBC debut in 1975. The name of the show comes from the large wheel that determines the dollar amounts and prizes won (or lost) by the contestants. It involves three contestants competing against each other to solve a word puzzle similar to Hangman.

Wheel of Fortune is a television game show originally devised by Merv Griffin which runs in local editions around the world. Some other versions, like Glücksrad in Germany, still use the 15-second time limit for their bonus rounds. Theoretically, enough money ($38,000) can be earned so as to call every consonant. In Australia, the contestant earns two consonants and a vowel, but can earn an extra consononant for every $2,000 scored in the main game.

In other foreign countries, the "R, S, T, L, N, E" is never given to the contestant, although Germany used this sort of format around the late 90s to the early 2000s. Natasha and Robert Purdum $132,000 February 6, 2006. Babette Dominguez and Bob Griese (former NFL QB for the Miami Dolphins) $114,310 January 24, 2006. Denise and Ariel $120,170 November 21, 2005.

Jessica Derenbecker $121,650 November 14, 2005. Taylor and Vlada $117,640 February 3, 2005. Nancy Coon $105,500 May 21, 2003. Byron Pope $119,100 April 24, 2003.

Bonnie Malone and Karen Davy $121,831 December 4, 2002. Douglass Ross (first winner) $113,800 December 19, 2001. The remaining envelope concealed the grand prize of $100,000. There were 4 wedges for each of the 3 cars available that week.

11 of the wedges held $25,000. The contestant first spun a small 24-section wheel to determine which prize he/she would be playing for. 2001 (The Bonus Wheel) – The Bonus Round was revamped and allowed the contestant a chance to play for $100,000. In keeping with the lower stakes of the CBS show, the other bonus prizes typically included trips and sub-compact cars.

This was not done on the CBS daytime version (and later on when it moved back to NBC for the final few months); contestants picked one of five prizes on offer, one of which was always $5,000 cash. The extravagant prizes continued on the syndicated version, meaning someone could win such items as a Hummer, a speedboat or a log cabin as their bonus prize. Each prize could be won just once in a week. 1989 – Each of the week's prizes went into a blind draw, each hidden in an envelope and placed behind a letter in the word "WHEEL".

On the CBS run, one bonus prize was always $5,000 in cash. The NBC daytime show, meanwhile, used the 1981 Bonus Round format until the blind-draw method was introduced in 1989, no cash was offered and contestants just chose what prize to play for. The cash quickly became far and away the most popular bonus prize, while cars were second. One of the prizes was always $25,000 in cash.

Examples: a Ferrari, a vacation for six on a private island in Jamaica, a 5-acre plot in Maine, a motor home plus an invitation to tour Alaska with an RV club, a cabin cruiser, tickets to every major sporting event for the next year, a time-share vacation home at Lake Tahoe, and valuable annuities. 1987 syndication – When the syndicated "Wheel" began its all-cash format, much larger bonus prizes were offered. It was used until 1997, when the puzzle board was switched from a mechanical board to a electoronic board. If the person who solved the puzzle could unscramble the word, s/he won bonus money.

Red-Letter Puzzles: From 1992-1997, a puzzle would occasionally have a few red letters that were scrambled on the board. Due to its extreme unpopularity with the show's fans, this category is no longer used. The person who solved the puzzle could win extra money by using the word in a sentence. Megaword: This puzzle is a word of at least nine letters.

For example, a Fill in the Number puzzle would look like this:. The person who solves the round has to fill in the number/s. Fill In The Number/s: The puzzle contains numbers, except that the number/s is/are replaced with sharps (#). Who Said It?: Like the category quotation, except that the contestant must identify who said it.

The contestant has to guess where the puzzle "is.". about the location. Where Are We?: Similar to to Who Is It? except that the puzzle gives landmarks, traditions, etc. The contestant must identify the person/people the puzzle is talking about.

Who Is It/Are They?: The puzzle is a description of (a) person/people, dead or alive, real or fictional. Slogan: The contestant must identify the brand or company that uses the slogan used in the puzzle. Next Line Please: The puzzle is a sentence of some sort; the contestant wins money for continuing the sentence. After guessing the puzzle, the contestant can identify the word that goes in the blank.

Fill In the Blank: Three question marks appear by themselves in the puzzle, representing a common word. Clue: The puzzle describes a person, place, thing or event, and the contestant wins money for guessing that object.