Wheel of Fortune Next Week (Sept. 14–18, 2026): Season 44 Premieres Monday With a New $1,000-a-Puzzle Opener

Wheel of Fortune has spent the summer in repeats, and it ended them in the worst possible way: James Roberson took the bonus round on Friday with $50,000 in the envelope and missed A CHIC OUTFIT. That was the last rerun. Monday the show comes back new, and it comes back with a piece of gameplay that did not exist in Season 43.

Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White open Season 44 on Monday, September 14, their third season together, with a rapid-fire puzzle game bolted onto the top of the show. Five new episodes run Monday through Friday in your usual weeknight slot, and no theme week has been announced for the premiere — it is a straight season opener.

What is on Wheel of Fortune next week, day by day?

All five are first-run. The summer rerun stretch finished Friday, September 11, so nothing next week is a repeat.

What is Fortune Frenzy, the new game on Monday?

A speed round at the top of the episode. Contestants race the clock to solve as many short puzzles as they can, and each one solved pays $1,000.

Seacrest and White revealed the name on Good Morning America on Tuesday. "We're squeezing more gameplay in at the top of the show with a rapid fire game," Seacrest said, adding that it "shakes off the nerves of the contestants at the top because they're so excited." White's description was blunter: there is nothing to think about except solving the puzzle.

If the name looks unfamiliar, that is because the trades got to it first under a different one. Reports in August described a Toss-Up Sprint — 30 seconds, $1,000 a puzzle, one guess each, contestants averaging five or six solves. The mechanics in those reports and the ones Seacrest described are the same segment; Fortune Frenzy is the name it goes on air with.

How much money does that add to a night?

At five or six solves a round, the opener puts roughly $5,000 to $6,000 on the board before the first spin. Across a five-night week that is somewhere near $27,000 in play that Season 43 did not have at the top of the show.

One caveat nobody has cleared up. Sony has not said whether the three traditional toss-up puzzles survive alongside Fortune Frenzy or give way to it. If they stay, the money above is genuinely new; if the sprint replaces them, the change is closer to a wash and the real difference is pace. Monday settles it in the first ninety seconds.

Is there a theme week on Sept. 14?

No. Premiere week runs as a plain season opener, with no destination or category theme attached to it.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is the next dated event on the calendar: Season 7 starts Friday, October 2 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. That is a separate primetime show and does not touch the weeknight half hour.

Does the bonus puzzle giveaway restart with the new season?

It never stopped. The nightly SPIN ID drawing ran straight through the reruns, and it keeps running Monday.

The part people miss is the deadline: you enter the bonus round solution yourself, and entry closes at 4 p.m. ET the following day. Miss that window and a drawn SPIN ID is worth nothing. The mechanics, eligibility and how to check a win are in our SPIN ID and bonus puzzle explainer.

👉 Set a phone reminder for the afternoon after you watch, not the night of. That single habit is the difference between entering five times a week and entering once.

What time is Wheel of Fortune on in my city?

It is syndicated, so your local station sets the slot. In most large markets it sits in the half hour next to Jeopardy!

Check local listings before Monday. Season openers are exactly when stations shuffle slots, and the air-time guide shows how to find yours by ZIP code.

Where can you stream Season 44?

Episodes go up on Hulu and Peacock the day after they air. The official site posts each night's bonus puzzle for Wheel Watchers Club members, which is also where the entry form lives.

Season 44 then runs weekdays into next June, so Monday is the start of a nine-month stretch rather than a limited run.

What happened in the last week of reruns?

Two bonus rounds worth remembering, in opposite directions. Thursday's ACORN SQUASH came home for $40,000; Friday's A CHIC OUTFIT did not, and the $50,000 stayed in the envelope.

Every night from that stretch is logged in results, and the five-puzzle roundup is in Wheel of Fortune This Week. We post the new season's bonus answer each night in the Wheel section.

FAQ

What is on Wheel of Fortune next week?
Five new Season 44 episodes, Monday September 14 through Friday September 18, with Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White. The premiere introduces Fortune Frenzy, a rapid-fire opening round paying $1,000 a puzzle.

Is Wheel of Fortune new next week?
Yes, all five nights. The summer reruns ended Friday, September 11.

What time is Wheel of Fortune on?
Usually 7 or 7:30 p.m. ET, paired with Jeopardy!, though Chicago and some other markets run it in the afternoon. The table above has the biggest markets.

Jeopardy! starts Season 43 the same night with a returning champion and a relit set — that week is broken out in Jeopardy! Next Week.

Sources

Good Morning America — Seacrest and White announce Fortune Frenzy · TV Insider — the Toss-Up Sprint report · TV Insider — Season 44 premiere date and hosts · E! News — Fortune Frenzy details · WheelOfFortune.com — bonus puzzle and SPIN ID

By the Game Show On Air desk · Updated Sept. 16, 7:15 a.m. ET