TV & VIDEO - Nov. 5, 1987

“Wheel of Fortune” personalities Vanna White and Pat Sajak proved to be too much for a Bellevue, Pa., telephone switching center serving 20,000 suburban Pittsburgh residents. TV station WPXI-TV, which carries “Wheel” in Pittsburgh, offered auditions for contestants to the first 100 callers. Bedlam ensued. In less than 90 minutes, between 75,000 and 100,000 calls were placed to the station’s seven lines, a Pennsylvania Bell spokeswoman said. The local switching station couldn’t handle the load, so that even phone users who weren’t trying to reach WPXI found their service cut. The TV station is continuing the promotion--with more phone lines.