Wheel of Fortune (1952)
| Wheel of Fortune | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Peter Arnell |
| Presented by | Todd Russell |
| Narrated by | Hal Simms |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Production | |
| Running time |
22–24 minutes (daytime) 24–25 minutes (night-time) |
| Production company(s) | Peter Arnell Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release |
Daytime: October 3, 1952 – December 25, 1953 Primetime: July 7, 1953 – September 15, 1953 |
22–24 minutes (daytime)
Wheel of Fortune is an American game show which ran from 1952 to 1953 on CBS in both daytime (October 3, 1952 – December 25, 1953) and nighttime (July 7 – September 15, 1953). It was presented by Todd Russell and narrated by Hal Sims. Another series also titled Wheel of Fortune was produced by Merv Griffin, and had no connection to the original, although followed a similar type of format, it also featured cash and prizes that could be won by contestants and had the same respective logo visible in the center of the wheel.
The series involved rewarding everyday people who had done good deeds in their life by having their stories told on national TV, then allowing them to spin a carnival-style prize wheel onstage and being awarded that prize. Occasionally, the lucky spin gave the good Samaritan a chance to win up to $1,000 by answering trivia questions.
The show's theme was Kay Starr's version of the song "Wheel of Fortune", which was released in the first two months of 1952 and beginning on February 8 ran 22 weeks on Billboard's best-seller chart, with a nine-week stretch (March 14 to May 9) at #1.
Interestingly, her version shared the charts with two other renditions during the same period (Bobby Wayne with Joe Reisman's orchestra; the second Eddie Wilcox & Sunny Gale), however the latter two were not as popular. The Wayne/Reisman version appeared from February 15 to April 18 (peaking at #13), while the Wilcox/Gale rendition appeared from February 1 to March 7 (peaking at #14).
Wheel debuted on October 3, 1952 at 10:00 AM Eastern (9:00 Central), facing Breakfast Party on NBC and local programming on ABC. In an odd move, the show debuted on a Friday, where the series aired for a full hour until 11:00 AM (10:00 Central) each week; the second half-hour competed against local shows.
On November 24, Breakfast was replaced by the children's program Ding Dong School. On July 6, the Peacock debuted the Henry Babbitt-hosted game Glamour Girl at 10:30, which only competed with the hour-long game on Fridays.
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