Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. Three contestants (occasionally three pairs of contestants) compete against each other to solve a word puzzle, similar to those seen in the game hangman. The name of the show comes from the large wheel that determines the dollar amounts and prizes won (or lost) by the contestants.

The show first aired in 1975 on daytime network television. The current version, in its 26th Season, has been syndicated in prime time access since September 19, 1983 and has been the most watched syndicated program since May 1984. It is the longest-running syndicated game show in American television history, and the second-longest in either network or syndication (behind the current CBS version of The Price Is Right, which began airing in 1972). It is also the third longest running first-run syndicated program in the United States, behind Entertainment Tonight (which began in 1981) and the now-canceled Soul Train (which aired new episodes from 1971 to 2006). The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television and syndicated by CBS Television Distribution (which was formerly King World Productions).

Pat Sajak and Vanna White have hosted this version of the show since its debut, and Charlie O'Donnell has served as announcer since early 1989. Jack Clark served as the show's announcer until his death in July 1988; M. G. Kelly and Don Pardo filled in between 1988 and 1989 before O'Donnell, who had previously announced the daytime version, arrived.David Schwartz, Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of TV Game $hows, Third Ed., Checkmark Books, 1999.