Wheel of Fortune Ups Bonus Round Jackpot to $1M

Pat and Vanna have opened up their pocketbooks, big time. Starting next season, Wheel of Fortune contestants will have a chance to win $1 million, but they'll need some spinning skills and some lady luck.

Broadcasting & Cable says during a regular puzzle-solving round, a player will have to land on a newly-placed $1 million wedge and go on to solve the puzzle. If a contestant wins enough cash to make it to the bonus round - without landing on "Bankrupt" at any point during the regular rounds - he or she can spin a "bonus wheel", which determines what the final puzzle is worth. The player will have to land on a $1 million wedge on that wheel, and then solve the bonus round puzzle.

Currently, the largest cash prize a Wheel player can win is $100,000. Not a bad step up from the ceramic dalmatians players often won in the early days.

Wheel - which has notched 24 consecutive seasons as TV's top-rated syndicated series - will join Who Wants To Be a Millionaire as game shows that offer a seven-figure jackpot on a daily basis. - J.R. Whalen