Game Changers - Wheel Segments

The layout of the Wheel from the development tape, going clockwise...

$500 or "$5.00" (there's definitely a dot next to the 5 but there's also "$5" elsewhere)
$500
$325
$50
$450
BUY A VOWEL
$400
BONUS
$5
$350
$250
LOSE A TURN
$200
$450
$275
$125
$75
ADD A ☎️ (I think? That looks like a telephone symbol, probably an early version of Your Own Clue)
LOSE A TURN
$150
$225
$400
$200
$175
LOSE A TURN
$375
FREE SPIN
$300
$25
$100

I was just watching the documentary, minding my own business but enjoying most of the great clips - "in the ass" uncensored, smiling at the very brief cameos by both the Narz and Trebek versions of Concentration, tearing up a bit when I saw Price Is Right clips (Cullen, Barker, and Carey), staring slack-jawed at the Wizard of Odds intro...and then these portions.

I think the part about Merv preferring Wheel over Jeopardy!, being much more hands-on with the former and generally leaving the latter alone, kinda explains what's happened since 2000.

Waitasec, what's this monochrome footage (graphic pops up) wait what-what-what?!

When the hell did this happen? The set and Wheel layout suggest pre-Shopper's Bazaar, but a few things suggest it's afterward (Merv says "Wheel of Fortune" at one point, which the centerpiece was never called in Bazaar; the contestant area is a solid table with three seats and what could be handwritten score displays on top; the puzzle board has 12 spaces per row with blank spaces denoted by white marks). I've made a section for it over at the wiki.

And then the series clips showed up. Admittedly, classic Wheel doesn't look too bad with that Buzzr logo in the corner. (And yes, Bryce, that's definitely the 5/20/76 show.)

I don't think I've heard that version of the "Chuck's departure" story before, though holding up a taping for an hour for a raise seems really out-of-character for both him and Susan.

[EDIT: I strongly suspect the runthrough was taped in New York, as the set layout is flipped (even down to Merv standing on the other side of the Wheel)...though that still doesn't explain Merv using "Wheel of Fortune". The United States Patent and Trademark Office lists the "Wheel of Fortune" trademark (serial number 73656614, filed by Califon Productions in April 1987) as having a "first use" date of June 1974, which I'd originally thought was a typo...but maybe it's referring to this? It could also explain why the early audition Wheels resembled the Shopper's Bazaar style - they might have used this Wheel, which would've been much easier to transport.]

I remember Tyler, who was seen in clips of it, and Niket were talking about a group of people who were filming parts of the Denver Week games for this documentary back then, but I don't remember anything about the people filming Game Changers interviewing contestants like us after we were done taping. Only thing I remember about the interview part in the studio was with Deborah Takahara from FOX31 Denver, who sat down with me and the others last year on Saint Patrick's Day to talk about our personal experiences on the show. At least it's nice to see some of my fellow Denver Week players get some screen time for a change because I'm always seen with the $10,000 Mystery wedge at the end of the Season 35 is coming promo.