Our ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Quiz is Worth a Spin

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TV quiz shows come and go, but only a handful become part of the cultural zeitgeist. Wheel of Fortune, which debuted 50 years ago this month, is one of those rare shows. Even somebody who’s

never watched an episode is likely familiar with catchphrases like "I'd like to buy a vowel” and “C’mon, big money!” 

The on-screen chemistry of co-hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White made them one of the most popular duos not just in game show history but all of television. Today, White cohosts with Ryan

Seacrest who took over the role in September 2024 when Sajak retired.  

Whether you were a casual viewer or even your dreams involve a giant, spinning carnival wheel, take our quiz and find out how much you know about the show that AARP ranked as the  

fourth-best in TV history.

What legendary TV talk show host came up with the concept of Wheel of Fortune?

1 CORRECT!

INCORRECT

CBS/Getty Images 2 CORRECT!

INCORRECT

NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images 3 CORRECT!

INCORRECT

CBS/Getty Images 4 CORRECT!

INCORRECT

All-around media mogul Merv Griffin, who passed away in 2007, also created Jeopardy!, another hugely popular, long-running game show. In the 2007 book Merv: Making the Good Life Last,

Griffin said Wheel of Fortune was inspired by games of hangman that he played with his sister during family trips.

Who was the original host of Wheel of Fortune when it launched in 1975?

Chuck Woolery,  who died in 2024, turned down the Wheel of Fortune hosting gig “two or three times” before finally accepting, according to a June 1977 article in  Billboard. The reason? He

was much more interested in becoming a country music star at the time. (Woolery eventually left  Wheel in 1981 over a salary dispute.)

What did Pat Sajak, 78, who hosted Wheel of Fortune in both its network and syndicated versions for 43 years, do before joining the show in 1981?

Forces Network during the Vietnam War  Local TV weather reporter All of the above

Pat Sajak bounced around broadcast jobs from the late 1960s until the late 1970s, when he landed a gig as a weather reporter for KNBC in Los Angeles. According to a June 2024 article by TV

Insider, Merv Griffin saw Sajak doing the weather one evening and was impressed by his humorous approach to the job. Soon after, Griffin reached out to Sajak about the soon-to-be-open

hosting gig on Wheel of Fortune. “Merv called me and said … ‘You ever think about doing game shows?’” Sajak told the Television Academy Foundation in an interview in 2007. The rest is TV

history.

What does the studio audience chant at the beginning of each episode?

“WE…LOVE…VANNA!”

According to the Wheel of Fortune History Wiki, the tradition of the audience chanting “WHEEL…OF…FORTUNE!” began in August 1983, when the first nighttime show aired. Today, you can also hear

the chant at casinos around the world thanks to the hugely popular slot machine version of Wheel of Fortune.

True or false: Former NFL placekicker Rolf Benirschke was once a host.

Rolf Benirschke, who spent most of his football career with the San Diego Chargers, hosted Wheel’s daytime version from January to June 1989 after Pat Sajak departed to host The Pat Sajak

Show, his short-lived CBS late-night talk show. (Sajak continued to host the syndicated nighttime version until his retirement in 2024.)

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