<P> Before December 1981, the show did not feature a bonus round . Under the bonus round's original rules, no letters were provided automatically; the contestant was asked for five consonants and a vowel, and had fifteen seconds to attempt solving the puzzle . Also, bonus prizes were selected by the contestant at the start of the round . The current time limit and rules for letter selection were introduced on October 3, 1988 . Starting on September 4, 1989, the first episode of the seventh syndicated season, bonus prizes were selected by the contestant choosing from one of five envelopes labeled W, H, E, E, and L. One prize was always $25,000 in cash, and the rest were changed weekly; any prize that was won was taken out of rotation for the rest of the week . During seasons 16 through 18 (1998--2001), the $25,000 remained in - place the entire week of shows regardless if it was won . At the start of season 19 in 2001, there were three car envelopes and two $25,000 envelopes, which were available the entire week of shows . These envelopes were replaced with the bonus wheel on October 22, 2001 . </P> <P> Merv Griffin conceived Wheel of Fortune just as the original version of Jeopardy!, another show he had created, was ending its 11 - year run on NBC with Art Fleming as its host . Griffin decided to create a Hangman - style game after recalling long car trips as a child, on which he and his sister would play Hangman . After he discussed the idea with Merv Griffin Enterprises' staff, they thought that the idea would work as a game show if it had a "hook". He decided to add a roulette - style wheel because he was always "drawn to" such wheels when he saw them in casinos . He and MGE's then - president Murray Schwartz consulted an executive of Caesars Palace to find out how to build such a wheel . </P> <P> When Griffin pitched the idea for the show to Lin Bolen, then the head of NBC's daytime programming division, she approved, but wanted the show to have more glamour to attract the female audience; she suggested that Griffin incorporate a shopping element into the gameplay, and so, in 1973, he created a pilot episode titled Shopper's Bazaar, with Chuck Woolery as host and Mike Lawrence as announcer . The pilot started with the three contestants being introduced individually, with Lawrence describing the prizes that they chose to play for . The main game was played to four rounds, with the values on the wheel wedges increasing after the second round . Unlike the show it evolved into, Shopper's Bazaar had a vertically mounted wheel, which was spun by Woolery rather than by the contestants; this wheel lacked the Bankrupt wedge and featured a wedge where a contestant could call a vowel for free, as well as a "Your Own Clue" wedge that allowed contestants to pick up a rotary telephone and hear a private clue about the puzzle . At the end of the game, the highest - scoring contestant would play a bonus round called the "Shopper's Special" where all the vowels in the puzzle were already there, and the contestant had 30 seconds to call out consonants in the puzzle . </P> <P> Edd Byrnes, an actor from 77 Sunset Strip, served as host for the second and third pilots, both titled Wheel of Fortune . These pilots were directed by Marty Pasetta, who gave the show a "Vegas" feel that more closely resembled the look and feel that the actual show ended up having, a wheel that was now spun by the contestants themselves, and a lighted mechanical puzzle board with letters that were now manually turnable . Showcase prizes on these pilots were located behind the puzzle board, and during shopping segments a list of prizes and their price values scrolled on the right of the screen . By the time production began in December 1974, Woolery was selected to host, the choice being made by Griffin after he reportedly heard Byrnes reciting "A-E-I-O-U" to himself in an effort to remember the vowels . Susan Stafford turned the letters on Byrnes' pilot episodes, a role that she also held when the show was picked up as a series . </P>

Who has been the host of wheel of fortune