WarioSajak
VIP 
Co-Owner of Karen's Pool Tables
Daniel, lover of classic "Wheel".
Posts: 1,892 
SPIN ID: DB2986720
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Post by WarioSajak on Apr 8, 2015 11:40:53 GMT -5
Recently, Snowpeck updated his trading collection to add, among other things, three Woolery Wheel shows: All-Star Dream Machine Day 1, 5/20/76, and 3/15/78, all of which were (as far as I know) only available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media. While pics of the '78 show are on Brad Francini's website, the '76 ones have to my knowledge remained unrepresented online until Snowpeck generously put up some shots at the History Wiki. I'm linking 'em here since hey, I thought you'd like to see these.  Note that these are the smallest resolutions available through the Wiki, mainly so this post isn't bloated. If you want to see a larger version, just let me know and I'll link 'em. All Star Dream Machine, Day 1 (January 19?, 1976) The nine champions for this week (five from the hour-long era, the others from before then), with combined winnings of $187,160: Judy Bongarzone, Rick Mandl, Sue Bergen, Rochelle Greenblatt, Richard Hooper, Patti Butler, Barbara Becker, Ann Gothoffer, and Eleanor Marter.  The logo for this special week. Kinda wish they did another one of these at some point, although given how little is known about the Woolery era they might have.  A closeup of the Wheel, with the white borders around each wedge (kinda wish they kept this, actually).  A head-on shot of the puzzle board, with category card. May 20, 1976 (as Snowpeck pointed out to me, the intro clip seen in NBC's 1984 special Those Wonderful TV Game Shows is from this)  "Over $30,000 just waiting to be won..."  "...on Wheel of Fortune!" (They were still using the chroma-key shots at this point, suggesting the directing was still roughly the same as on the Byrnes pilots.)  A shot of Chuck and Susan. At this point, the latter is still introducing the players' names and hometowns; by June 7 (the show GSN aired), Chuck began doing this himself. |
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 8, 2015 17:01:51 GMT -5
While pics of the '78 show are on Brad Francini's website Just as a heads-up, Brad's site seems to have gone dark, so I went to the Way Back Machine to pull all the pics from it (including the pics of March 15, 1978). I can post those here if you want. |
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William
Posts: 393
SPIN ID: AH9671478
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Post by William on Apr 8, 2015 17:57:12 GMT -5
Very nice.
How great looking was the set then?!
The Wheel looks neat with the white borders too. Interesting that the $200 space next to $275 was still yellow in January.
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WarioSajak
VIP
Co-Owner of Karen's Pool Tables
Daniel, lover of classic "Wheel".
Posts: 1,892
SPIN ID: DB2986720
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Post by WarioSajak on Apr 8, 2015 21:31:07 GMT -5
Just as a heads-up, Brad's site seems to have gone dark, so I went to the Way Back Machine to pull all the pics from it (including the pics of March 15, 1978). I can post those here if you want. Sure. Unfortunately, per the Internet Archive the two pics of that show which Brad uploaded but didn't put on the page (wof788.jpg and wof789.jpg) weren't archived. Also per the Internet Archive, the site went dark in February or March, although given that Francini hasn't touched the site in five-and-a-half years I'm not really surprised. Speaking of Brad's site, here's two shots of the June 7, 1976 show from after where GSN cut it off at (because we totally want to see the credit crunch promos and cut away during the sponsor list, rather than watch the credits of a super rarity you dusted off in remembrance of Merv, never aired before, and probably won't air again):  Part of the full credit roll.  The Merv Griffin Productions logo. Per Snowpeck, the "WHEEL OF FORTUNE is produced by" header is present on the 3/15/78 show, narrowing its addition to the logo down to a two-month period. |
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 8, 2015 22:07:57 GMT -5
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germanname1990
I am the King of Live Play. Wheel with it!
Posts: 2,553
SPIN ID: WG1096336
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Post by germanname1990 on Apr 9, 2015 23:17:16 GMT -5
Bryce, you're in for a ton of luck because I'm very certain I have all of the screenshots from Francini's Wheel timeline. Now if I don't have them all, I have most, including all the ones he had from 1976. Unfortunately, I have very few if any shots from the rest of his site, but if the mods are okay with it, I'll post a few of Francini's Wheel shots here for those who want them.
Plus, indeed a very special thanks to Snowpeck for those shots. Those are great. I never would've imagined white-bordered wedges. This makes me wonder how he managed to get this stuff for us.
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 10, 2015 0:38:42 GMT -5
Bryce, you're in for a ton of luck because I'm very certain I have all of the screenshots from Francini's Wheel timeline. Now if I don't have them all, I have most, including all the ones he had from 1976. Unfortunately, I have very few if any shots from the rest of his site, but if the mods are okay with it, I'll post a few of Francini's Wheel shots here for those who want them. Plus, indeed a very special thanks to Snowpeck for those shots. Those are great. I never would've imagined white-bordered wedges. This makes me wonder how he managed to get this stuff for us. Bill, I'd love to see anything you've got from the Woolery years from Francini :-) The thing that took me by surprise was the white money graphic from 5/20/76. Complete speculation on my part, but I'd guess that the white money graphic, the chroma-key open, and Susan introducing the players all were dropped simultaneously (all three were present on 5/20/76, but none on 6/7/76, seems a reasonable guess based on that). |
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germanname1990
I am the King of Live Play. Wheel with it!
Posts: 2,553
SPIN ID: WG1096336
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Post by germanname1990 on Apr 10, 2015 0:56:42 GMT -5
Well, no need to quote [chuckles], but I'll certainly do that when I get the chance if everyone's okay with me doing that.
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WarioSajak
VIP
Co-Owner of Karen's Pool Tables
Daniel, lover of classic "Wheel".
Posts: 1,892
SPIN ID: DB2986720
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Post by WarioSajak on Apr 10, 2015 22:08:38 GMT -5
More pictures!  (First is from All-Star Dream Machine Day 1, the rest from 3/15/78.)  Same contestant shot as before, but now with the money graphic (closer to lime green, I think). This is likely also the first appearance of the six-digit money graphic, which by all indication didn't show up again for about seven or eight years.  A shot of the puzzle board, with the monospaced category display.  Gordon MacRae stops by for...no real reason, really.   The Merv Griffin Productions logo, now with the "WHEEL OF FORTUNE Is Produced by" header. The thing that took me by surprise was the white money graphic from 5/20/76. Complete speculation on my part, but I'd guess that the white money graphic, the chroma-key open, and Susan introducing the players all were dropped simultaneously (all three were present on 5/20/76, but none on 6/7/76, seems a reasonable guess based on that). Given the timeframe, this might be related to producer John Rhinehart's departure and Nancy Jones becoming the sole producer. Note that when Marty Pasetta was replaced by Jeff Goldstein when the series began taping, some of Pasetta's directing style remained in the early episodes. This makes me wonder how [Snowpeck] managed to get this stuff for us. I learned a long time ago not to question good (ahem) fortune. |
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 10, 2015 22:45:07 GMT -5
The thing that took me by surprise was the white money graphic from 5/20/76. Complete speculation on my part, but I'd guess that the white money graphic, the chroma-key open, and Susan introducing the players all were dropped simultaneously (all three were present on 5/20/76, but none on 6/7/76, seems a reasonable guess based on that). Given the timeframe, this might be related to producer John Rhinehart's departure and Nancy Jones becoming the sole producer. Note that when Marty Pasetta was replaced by Jeff Goldstein when the series began taping, some of Pasetta's directing style remained in the early episodes. And likewise, I'd like to point out that the chroma-key closing was dropped roughly around the same time that Dick Carson replaced Jeff Goldstein. |
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 10, 2015 22:56:49 GMT -5
A shot of Chuck and Susan. At this point, the latter is still introducing the players' names and hometowns; by June 7 (the show GSN aired), Chuck began doing this himself. I'm not 100% certain, but I think I might be able to ID Susan's microphone. Almost looks to be a Shure SM61 (same microphone Jim Perry used in the latter episodes of Card Sharks)  Disregard the black coloring, that appears to be a custom alteration made by NBC. |
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WarioSajak
VIP
Co-Owner of Karen's Pool Tables
Daniel, lover of classic "Wheel".
Posts: 1,892
SPIN ID: DB2986720
|
Post by WarioSajak on Apr 11, 2015 0:01:34 GMT -5
I'm gonna add something to Bryce's theory that the white money graphic, chroma-key intro, and Susan's introducing the players were all dropped/changed at the same time. Greg (Snowpeck) emailed me, noting that he wanted to add the below to the History Wiki but wasn't sure how (I've already done so):
On June 7, the intro was "Just look at this studio, filled with beautiful and imaginative gifts, which can be purchased today on Wheel of Fortune! Total retail value of all these prizes: more than $31,000! Now, let's meet the host of Wheel of Fortune: Chuck Woolery!"
And it's barely a two-week spread, which seems to support my own theory that these changes were related to John's departure and Nancy becoming the sole producer (which, from what I can tell, were announced on April 13 and 29 respectively per Variety blurbs).
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 11, 2015 0:38:19 GMT -5
I'm gonna add something to Bryce's theory that the white money graphic, chroma-key intro, and Susan's introducing the players were all dropped/changed at the same time. Greg (Snowpeck) emailed me, noting that he wanted to add the below to the History Wiki but wasn't sure how (I've already done so): On June 7, the intro was "Just look at this studio, filled with beautiful and imaginative gifts, which can be purchased today on Wheel of Fortune! Total retail value of all these prizes: more than $31,000! Now, let's meet the host of Wheel of Fortune: Chuck Woolery!" And it's barely a two-week spread, which seems to support my own theory that these changes were related to John's departure and Nancy becoming the sole producer (which, from what I can tell, were announced on April 13 and 29 respectively per Variety blurbs). And as an extension of that, it seems safe for me to guess that May 20 was one of the last taped episodes with Rhinehart at the helm, and June 7 was one of the first under Nancy's watch. |
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Post by toasty on Apr 11, 2015 20:27:43 GMT -5
Warning: I have nothing actually useful to add. That said, those brown appliances are hideous. May that never come back into style.
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Post by Bryce L. on Apr 11, 2015 22:31:21 GMT -5
One thing just came to me now... Daniel, did Snowpeck mention if the 3/15/78 credit roll included a director's name? If it did, it'll help narrow down when Jeff Goldstein left and when Dick Carson took over...
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Post by snowpeck on Apr 12, 2015 0:02:23 GMT -5
One thing just came to me now... Daniel, did Snowpeck mention if the 3/15/78 credit roll included a director's name? If it did, it'll help narrow down when Jeff Goldstein left and when Dick Carson took over... It's not a full credit roll. It only has the prize plugs, disclaimers, wardrobe credits and the Griffin logo/copyright. |
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Note that these are the smallest resolutions available through the Wiki, mainly so this post isn't bloated. If you want to see a larger version, just let me know and I'll link 'em.
(First is from All-Star Dream Machine Day 1, the rest from 3/15/78.)
