Wheel of Fortune's most useless prize got the biggest applause
The 2.5-foot dog cost $154, did nothing, and was nicknamed Sheldon.
99% Invisible · 100 Objects #16: Wheel of Fortune DalmatianThe most applauded prize on 1980s Wheel of Fortune was also one of the cheapest and most useless: a ceramic Dalmatian that stood "two and a half to three feet tall," historian Adam Nedeff said, cost $154, and did nothing at all.
The told story is that Sheldon Link, a worker in the prize department, loved the dog and ordered about 100 of them, more than the show could ever need. Contestants bought it with leftover winnings when they could not afford anything else. It just sat there, big and decorative and with no practical use.
Studio audiences sometimes burst into applause when someone chose it, but stayed quiet for the speedboat or the trip to Acapulco. The dog became the show's accidental mascot and was eventually called Sheldon, after Link. Nedeff said employees got a small tabletop copy one Christmas with a tag that gave the name Sheldon, and he shared it on game show fan sites.
Questions people ask
Why were contestants forced to buy a ceramic dog?
In that era, winners did not keep cash. They had to spend their winnings onstage on displayed prizes, doing the math under studio lights, which often left a few hundred dollars for a small last item.
Why did Wheel of Fortune get rid of the shopping round?
Host Pat Sajak felt it ate time that could be used for more puzzles, and producers felt it looked old fashioned in prime time. Starting in 1987, winners could keep cash, and the shopping round was gone entirely by 1989.