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4[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wheel_sharejpg.png]]
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6->''[[TitleScream "WHEEL!...OF!]][[PunctuatedForEmphasis ...FORTUNE!"]]''
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8Just as ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' was ending its daytime run on Creator/{{NBC}}, Creator/MervGriffin introduced an even more durable GameShow format: Take the children's game of Hangman, add a carnival wheel with various dollar amounts, as well as [[{{Whammy}} hazards such as "Lose A Turn" and "Bankrupt"]], and allow the winner to spend the money on prizes ''right there in the studio''. The 1973 {{pilot}}, ''Shopper's Bazaar'', was very different from the series; a further two pilots in 1974 hosted by Edd "Kookie" Byrnes (who admitted that he was drunk) held far closer to the rules we know today.
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10When ''Wheel'' debuted in 1975, Chuck Woolery was the host and Susan Stafford [[LovelyAssistant operated the puzzle board]]. By late 1983, after Woolery left the show in a salary dispute with Merv Griffin and Stafford left to do humanitarian work, Pat Sajak and Vanna White had become the show's full-time hosts in both daytime and UsefulNotes/{{syndication}}, although there was a ten-month period from 1981-82 in which Pat and Susan worked together. (Vanna became popular out of proportion to the popularity of any other woman in a similar role on a game show.) The syndicated ''Wheel'' dropped the shopping element in 1987, then switched from a mechanical puzzle board to one with touch screens a decade later. Starting in the early 1990s, it has added ([[RetiredGameShowElement and occasionally retired]]) all manner of new wrinkles, including new puzzle categories and a trio of Toss-Up puzzles.
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12After Sajak left the daytime ''Wheel'' to try his luck as a late-night talk show host on Creator/{{CBS}}, former football player Rolf Benirschke (who had very little previous TV experience) and Bob Goen tried unsuccessfully to take his place. Under Goen's watch, ''Wheel'' jumped to CBS for 18 months before returning to NBC for another nine (and eventually folding). In 1997, CBS and Creator/{{GSN}} tried a children's spin-off titled ''Wheel 2000'', which did not fare well and remains the last daytime version. The nighttime version has carried on for [[LongRunner an impressively long time]], and is still one of the highest-rated TV series in syndication.
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14In 2021, Creator/{{ABC}} debuted the CelebrityEdition spinoff series ''Celebrity Wheel of Fortune'', airing weekly in hourlong blocks of two full games (with the same three celebrity guests playing both) and still hosted by Pat and Vanna. Much like its [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Predecessor]] ''Celebrity Jeopardy!'', all winnings go to charities of the celebrity’s choice.
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16In June 2023, Sajak announced that he would retire after the 41st season. Creator/RyanSeacrest was announced as his successor.
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18The show has had multiple international adaptations, notably in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}, UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}, UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}, UsefulNotes/{{Malaysia}}, UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}}, UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}, UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}, UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}, UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} and UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}.
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20----
21!!The category for this round is "Tropes" (ding ding DING ding):
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23[[index]]
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25* WheelOfFortune/TropesAToD
26* WheelOfFortune/TropesEToO
27* WheelOfFortune/TropesPToZ
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29[[/index]]

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