Daytime Questions

The impetus for the end of daytime Wheel was the departure of Sajak, but there were several factors for the demise of daytime. By 1989, Pat had become a familiar face to Wheel Watchers, and although Rolf Benirsckhe wasn't as bad as Ed Byrnes, especially later on in his stint, the chemistry that made Pat & Vanna so great just couldn't quite compare. In addition, NBC was starting its plan to reduce its dependence on game shows for its daytime lineup, with $ale of the Century and Super Password the first to go in late March, mainly because numerous affiliates were replacing $ale with a more lucrative syndicated show, in particular talk shows (though $OTC itself wasn't as good as it was with its "Winner's Big Money Game" bonus that even eliminated the cash jackpot that was wrongly advertised at the start of the show), and also that Super Password was regularly replaced with midday local news. This, in addition to a dip in ratings with the new host, forced Wheel to be booted from NBC that June, only to reappear on CBS a few weeks later. Unfortunately, what made daytime Wheel worthwhile as a companion with the nighttime show, including shopping and returning champions, really lost a lot of its advantage over on CBS. Even before the nighttime version offered returning champions that fall, the slimmed-down wheel featuring subcompact cars, Prize Puzzle-level trips, and of course a fifth of nighttime's bonus cash prize surely made the show feel cheap, despite the ability to pick your bonus prize. Even $10,000 cash would have been respectable along with decent midsized cars like daytime offered in the NBC run. Just take a look at CBS' main course daytime show: The Price Is Right. EVERY contestant who gets called up on stage had a shot at $11,000 on the Big Wheel, in addition to Showcases that were almost always over $10,000, with frequent $20,000+ Showcases common at the time and a luxury car offered about once every other week, whether in a game or in a showcase. It seemed like CBS was just focused on keeping its most trusted show on top, which it still carries on to this day. When it briefly returned to NBC, the prizes improved in quality somewhat, but by then, it was too late, with more and more affiliates dropping Wheel for replacement fare with you guessed it- more talk shows. It's end also came along with the end of first-run production of Classic Concentration, essentially putting the age of daytime game shows on NBC to an end, with a brief attempt at a comeback in 1993, to a close.

Although the changing daytime landscape was a key factor in its demise, if anything, the presentation of the nighttime version sort of made the other obsolete.