Almost as long as there has been television, there have been game shows with the first ever game show Spelling Bee broadcast in 1938. Since then, we've seen the rise and fall of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? along with popular series The Price is Right and flops like Deal or No Deal.
For America's 39 year-old Wheel of Fortune, Matt DeSanto, a father who has watched the show since he was five, was a uniquely formidable contestant.
All he was given was the category "Character" and the letter "E" at the end of the second word.
"The Lone Ranger?" DeSanto correctly guessed within seconds.
DeSanto double fist-pumped the air. "I'm never going to do this again. I'm just going to keep buzzing," he said. He didn't get any more one-word guesses but he did go on to win a record high $91,892 in the main game, surpassing the 2011 record of $70,000.
"The wheel definitely worked in my favour," DeSanto told TODAY.com. "I was extremely fortunate." Besides being a long-term fan of the show, his preparation didn't involve much more than "some extra crossword puzzles." "I tried not to overthink it too much," he said.
DeSanto also won a trip to Mississippi and Jamaica in rounds two and three.
But his winning streak did not last forever.
His inability to guess "wooden gavel" lost him the chance to win a $1 million prize. "I was pretty exhausted [by the bonus round]," DeSanto said. "I should have picked better letters."
Australia's last version of Wheel of Fortune was cancelled in 2008 by the Nine Network due to low ratings.
