Two black and white pilots were made, in 1968 and in 1969 with Allen Ludden as host. "The Joker's Wild" debuted at 10:00 (EST), Monday morning, September 4, 1972 on CBS Television - the same Labor Day which saw the dawning of Las Vegas Gambit (1972) and The Price is Right (1972).
Originally, the bonus round featured prizes on the wheels. The contestant got a spin, and each window showed a different prize. The player could take the prizes, or make one more spin (they couldn't keep some prizes and spin others; it was all or nothing). Some of the prizes had circles around them; if all three windows showed circles, the player won a car. Very soon after it started, the circles were removed; instead; a car (or boat) was added to one of the wheels as a prize. Later, the wheels showed "Jokers and Devils", and soon after, dollar amounts and devils, which is how it stayed for the remainder of its CBS run and its syndicated run.
Episodes from the first two years of the show that were considered lost were discovered by the Game Show Network and shipped from New York City to Los Angeles over the summer of the year 2000 (they were broadcast by the Game Show Network afterwards).
A test series aired for three months in 1971. It aired only in Los Angeles on KTLA.
Originally, CBS didn't want Jack Barry as host due to the quiz show scandals of the '50s. CBS gave Barry a 13 week (standard game show run) contract until a new host could be found. After 13 weeks, no one complained about Barry so Barry signed a new contract and stayed as host until his death of a heart attack on May 2, 1984.