La Roue de la fortune

History

When the show was originally produced in France, an attempt was made to copy the American version of the show exactly, even to the point where host Michel Robbe copied the mannerisms of the American host. Producer Marc Gurnaud said that in order to retain its American aspects, the show had to move along quickly with no pauses or attempts at conversation between the hosts.

By May 1987, the show had a viewership of approximately 10 million.

Hosts

Michel Robbe (1987)
Christian Morin (September 1987-December 1992)
Alexandre Debanne (January 1993-December 1994)
Olivier Chiabodo (January 1995-April 1997)
Christophe Dechavanne (7 August 2006 - 1 January 2012)
Benjamin Castaldi (2 January 2012 - 23 March 2012)

Hostesses

Annie Pujol (1987 - December 1994)
Sandra Rossi (January 1995)
Frederique Calvez (February 1995 - April 1997)
Victoria Silvstedt (7 August 2006 – 1 January 2012)
Valérie Bègue (2 January 2012 - 23 March 2012)

Gameplay

The wheel had 24 spaces. These represented cash values, penalty spaces, and strategic elements for use in the game. A player who did not land on a penalty space asked for a consonant. If it was not in the puzzle, play proceeded to the next player. If the letter appeared in the puzzle, the hostess revealed all instances of it, and the player was credited with cash. All descriptions of players being credited in the remainder of this article assume that the player called a consonant which appeared in the puzzle.

From 1987 to 1997, the wheel's colour scheme was similar to the US version's round 1 wheel used from 1986-1996.

Studio

The 2006 French studio was somewhat identical to the US version, with the French puzzle board exactly like the US one. The only major difference was that the studio audience was directly behind the contestants, unlike the US version, where the video wall stands behind the contestants. There was also a light display around the puzzle board that alternates between red, yellow, and blue, to indicate what player's turn it was. The board used from 1995 to 1997 also had this feature.

Other countries that had their sets similar, although not exactly the same, to the French version include Italy (La Ruota Della Fortuna) until 2009, Turkey (Çarkıfelek) until about 2010, Poland (Koło Fortuny) until 2009, and Portugal (A Roda da Sorte) until 2009. Of these four versions, only Turkey's version is still on the air.

Categories

The French version of Wheel of Fortune had categories that are slightly variated from the U.S. version.