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Clip description
The competition continues with the final question of a second round as contestant Evan answers a series of general knowledge questions. Host Reg Grundy introduces Evan’s next opponent, Mrs Purdy of South Curl Curl.
Curator’s notes
Wheel of Fortune is an early example of the winning television combination of featuring real people as a point of audience identification in a game of knowledge and chance. Although the audience in this show is not given the substantial contestant background information common on current game and reality game shows, they are party to the knowledge that Evan is an unmarried school teacher and that Mrs Purdy is childless.
Host Reg Grundy is shown here to be human and humble enough to laugh at his own limitations. This clip includes his awkward comments on the appropriateness of the prizes available to the contestants. His banter seems inappropriate now but was undoubtedly more acceptable in the late 1950s when the show was broadcast. In this way, game shows are time capsules that reflect not only the products but also the values of the time they were produced.
