I heard a story that Wheel Of Fortune was inspired by the word game Hangman and I would love to know if it is a true story? According to legend Merv Griffin used to play Hangman with his sisters on road trips when he was a little boy and he took Hangman and created Wheel Of Fortune with a wheel

Hm could be Hawk!

That is definitely true. Merv Griffin and his sister used to play Hangman on long car trips and it became the inspiration for one of the greatest game shows of all time that's still going strong to this day.

The Canadian game show “Definition” debuted about a year before Wheel. Same premise as Hangman, although there was the interesting tweak of “giving a letter” (calling one that the team believes NOT to be in the phrase) BEFORE calling a letter.

Interestingly, Milton Bradley Canada had the Definition board game with the exact same display prop used in MB’s Wheel home game waaaay back in the mid 70s.

Possibly the first game show based on Hangman was “Down You Go” in 1951:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ANx_SXUnJtE&t=162s&pp=2AGiAZACAQ%3D%3D

cd

I mi$$ being able to watch it on analogue cable/TV :(

I think it’s True