Wheel of Fortune (Australian game show)
The future of the show is in doubt because of current litigation between the production parties, Sony Pictures Television and Paramount Global (owners of Network Ten), in a United States court.
The new show began airing on the Seven Network on 21 July 1981 at 5:00 pm, and was produced at the studios of ADS-7 in Adelaide and hosted by Ernie Sigley.
[1] The show's production moved to SAS-7 when ADS and SAS swapped network affiliations and channel frequencies at the end of 1987.
Along with a new set, new music, faster game format and modified rules, John Burgess was sacked from his twelve-year stint as host and replaced by Tony Barber.
[2] By the time that Burgess' final episode went to air it had become common knowledge that the show had relocated and that changes would occur.
However, Burgess' final words referred only to the show's relocation, thus suggesting that he was at the time oblivious to his sacking.
Additionally, Burgess had made media appearances saying how he had been badly treated and only found out about his sacking accidentally when a Grundy executive had to cancel a golf date with him because he was needed at the studios to continue work on the new format.
It continued to regrow its audience, presumably due to public curiosity, when Adriana Xenides took sick leave in November 1996, but neither move was enough to return it to a credible ratings position.
A 5 pm nationwide newscast that replaced Family Feud on 1 July also caused ratings problems for the program and the network.
On 27 November 1996, the Seven Network issued a press release in which Barber announced his resignation from the show.
Burgess has claimed (also backed up by Barber in his memoir) on many occasions that he was reoffered the hosting job with a heavy pay raise and declined, but the Seven Network denied this story.
Adriana Xenides, who had been the show's co-host since its premiere, fell sick — ultimately suffering from depression and what she called a "physical breakdown".
[4] Barber appeared at the start of the 1997 series premiere to introduce and hand the show over to Rob Elliott with former Perfect Match hostess Kerrie Friend replacing Xenides for the next seven months.
On 18 June 2006, the Seven Network announced that it had ceased production of the program, with the last episode airing on 28 July, just one week after celebrating 25 years on Australian television.
In May 2008, the Nine Network revived the show as Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune, hosted by former Home and Away actor Tim Campbell,[5] with Kelly Landry as co-host.
[9] Despite being short-lived, the American version of the said series would later adopt this feature when the 26th season premiered three months later, with some gameplay changes to the wedge itself.
Puzzles frequently refer to popular culture or common items encountered in everyday life.
If the letter appears in the puzzle, the hostess reveals all instances of the letter and the amount spun up is added to the player's score, and the turn continues until the contestant call a consonant or vowel that is not in the puzzle or a penalty space is hit.
In the 2024 revival, the dollar amount spun is multiplied by the number of times the letter appears in the puzzle.
A player who has sufficient banked cash during the current round may choose to buy a vowel prior to spinning the Wheel.
When this was removed in July 1996 (during Tony Barber's stint), contestants were given a set prize upon solving a puzzle.
For Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune and the 2024 revival, solving a puzzle allowed that player to bank any (real) cash accumulated up to that point.
The player with the highest total became the carry-over champion; from January–June 1996, solving puzzles allowed their winnings to be credited to the winner.
In the Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune and the 2024 revival, contestants would play for real cash in place of points.
From 2004 to 2006, the Golden Wheel saw the number of car wedges decreased to two when it featured a Renault and finally three with a Mitsubishi until the closing of its run on the Seven Network.
In the 2024 revival, the contestant who solves the 3rd puzzle plays a bonus round, which plays in a similar fashion as the American version; after selecting one of three categories, the puzzle is displayed with all instances of R, S, T, L, N, and E revealed, and the contestant must choose three more consonants and another vowel.
After all instances of the chosen letters are revealed, if the contestant can solve the puzzle within ten seconds, they win a bonus prize.
If a contestant was to spin it up and select a correct letter, they would have 5,000 added to their score, but to win the actual money, they had to solve the puzzle (in the same way as the Surprise and Mystery wedges).
