Since its creation in 1975 when Merv Griffin came up with the idea for a game show based on Hangman, Wheel of Fortune has aired over 6,000 episodes, which has also made it the longest-running syndicated game show currently on television. 

Wheel of Fortune was also the highest-rated show in all of syndicated television for 26 years, averaging over thirty-million viewers each week, before being dethroned in 2010.