''Wheel of Fortune'' was an American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

which ran from 1952 to 1953 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in both daytime (October 3, 1952 – December 25, 1953) and nighttime (July 7 – September 15, 1953). It was presented by Todd Russell and narrated by Hal Sims. Another American game show also titled ''Wheel of Fortune'', that was produced by

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own t ...

and which debuted in 1975, had no connection to the original 1952 game show, although both followed a similar type of format, featuring cash and prizes that could be won by contestants, and both had the same respective logo visible in the center of the wheel.

Gameplay

The series involved rewarding everyday people who had done good deeds in their life by having their stories told on national TV, then allowing them to spin a carnival-style prize wheel onstage and being awarded that prize. Occasionally, the lucky spin gave the good Samaritan a chance to win up to $1,000 by answering trivia questions.

Theme

The show's theme was Kay Starr's version of the song " Wheel of Fortune", which was released in the first two months of 1952 and beginning on February 8 ran 22 weeks on Billboard's best-seller chart, with a nine-week stretch (March 14 to May 9) at #1. Her version shared the charts with two other renditions during the same period ( Bobby Wayne with

Joe Reisman Joseph Reisman (September 16, 1924, Dallas - September 15, 1987, Los Angeles) was an American musician (tenor and baritone saxophone, clarinet), bandleader, arranger, and record producer in the swing era. Reisman studied at Baylor University and ...

's orchestra; the second Eddie Wilcox &

Sunny Gale Sunny Gale (born Selma Segal, February 20, 1927) is a retired American pop singer who was popular in the 1950s. Gale reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 several times throughout the earlier half of the decade, scoring her biggest R&B hit with "Wh ...

), however the latter two were not as popular. The Wayne/Reisman version appeared from February 15 to April 18 (peaking at #13), while the Wilcox/Gale rendition appeared from February 1 to March 7 (peaking at #14).

Broadcast history

''Wheel'' debuted on October 3, 1952 at 10:00 AM Eastern (9:00 Central), facing ''Breakfast Party'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and local programming on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. In an odd move, the show debuted on a Friday, where the series aired for a full hour until 11:00 AM (10:00 Central) each week; the second half-hour competed against local shows. On November 24, ''Breakfast'' was replaced by the children's program ''

Ding Dong School ''Ding Dong School'', billed as "the nursery school of the air", was a half-hour children's TV show which began on WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV) in Chicago, Illinois a few months before its four-year run on NBC (albeit still produced in the WNBQ studios). ...

''. On July 6, the Peacock debuted the Henry Babbitt-hosted game ''Glamour Girl'' at 10:30, which only competed with the hour-long game on Fridays. The show's popularity spawned a nighttime version on July 7, 1953 at 8:30 PM, but quickly folded on September 15 against '' Break the Bank'' on NBC and local programs elsewhere. The daytime version fared little better, having been worn down by ''Glamour'' and ''Ding Dong'' despite the former changing hosts on October 8 from Babbitt to Jack McCoy. ''Wheel'' bowed on November 6, 1953, with ''Glamour'' following suit on January 8, 1954; ''Ding Dong'' remained until the end of 1956.

Australian version

Despite its short run in America, the show found success in Australia on radio and television from 1959–62. Originally hosted by series producer

Reg Grundy Reginald Roy Grundy (4 August 1923 – 6 May 2016) was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul, best known for his numerous television productions. He was the producer of various Australian game shows, such as '' Blankety Blanks'' (based on ...

, he was replaced by Walter Elliott in 1962. A similar carnival-style wheel was used in the original 1973 '' Wheel'' pilot (''Shopper's Bazaar''), although that wheel was operated by a motor. A further (and far more explicit) connection arrived in 1981, when Grundy debuted his adaptation of Griffin's ''Wheel'' which (like its American counterpart) also had a very long and successful run on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

until 2006. A short-lived remake and revival called '' Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune'' hosted by Tim Campbell and Kelly Landry ran on the Nine Network for a brief period in 2008. The ''Million Dollar Wedge'' concept has been carried over to the original American version since its 26th season debut in the same year.

Episode status

The American series is believed to be destroyed as per network practices of the era. A photo of Russell and the wheel was used in the A&E Biography ''TV Game Shows''. The Australian version likely suffered the same fate, although clips of an episode were used in the 2006 special ''50 Years: 50 Stars''.Clip of Grundy's ''Wheel of Fortune''
An episode (missing the opening and closing titles) is held by National Film and Sound Archive as a kinescope recording. The survival rate of Australian game shows of the 1950s and 1960s is highly erratic: although around 13 episodes exist of the short-lived 1957 series ''

Give it a Go ''Give It a Go'' was an Australian television game show which aired in 1957. It was hosted by Jack Davey, who also hosted two other Australian game shows during the late-1950s, '' The Dulux Show'' and '' The Pressure Pak Show'', and was produced ...

'', no recordings exist of the popular Melbourne version of ''Tell the Truth''.

References

External links

American version at IMDb

Australian version at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheel Of Fortune (1952 game show) 1952 American television series debuts 1953 American television series endings 1959 Australian television series debuts 1962 Australian television series endings 1950s American game shows 1950s Australian game shows 1960s Australian game shows Black-and-white American television shows Black-and-white Australian television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows Nine Network original programming