Pat Sajak Retires: The end of a Game Show Era by Hank Indictor

It’s official. After 41 seasons Pat Sajak will be hanging it up as the host of Wheel of Fortune after the 2023-24 season. 

As a game show lover, this one hits home for me for several reasons one of them being that Wheel was one of the first shows that truly got me hooked as a game show fan. A big reason for this is also because growing up Wheel was one of the staples of big-name game shows and I’d often find my parents watching it whenever it aired at 7:30 immediately after Jeopardy on ABC7. 

This was also the game that got me interested in word games so it essentially shaped some of my early fascinations. And of course, I always considered Pat Sajak to be 1/3rd of the "Holy Trinity" of game show hosts (could I throw Vanna in as a quartet?), and with Bob Barker having retired in 2007 and Alex Trebek’s recent death, there goes an era that spanned multiple generations! 

When I think of Pat Sajak I think of his great personality and the occasional witty banter that he made with the contestants as well as his strong chemistry with long-time co-hostess Vanna White. It will be strange to see someone different hosting Wheel of Fortune but there’s no way one can simply replace the great Pat Sajak!

Much like Bob Barker with The Price is Right and Alex Trebek with Jeopardy!, it’s easy to forget that he was not the original host of Wheel because of their longevity with the show and the fact that all of them made each show their own only a few years into their hosting tenures. But one difference is that out of all the hosts that I mentioned, Pat Sajak had the longest of the three. This isn’t to say that he’s better than them; I’d argue all of them had different styles that made them great in their ways but about 40 years with the same show is pretty damn impressive. And I’d be willing to bet my life savings that we’d have as much chance of seeing someone break that record as the current Yankee roster winning a World Series without Judge! 

Before Pat Sajak came along, Chuck Woolery was the original host of Wheel and while I don’t want to go on a rant about his horrible political stuff, I will put that aside and say that Woolery was a game show legend and a master of word games. So why did he end up leaving? Well, let’s just say he got too big for his britches and demanded a hefty raise from Merv Griffin, the show's creator. And when he refused to accommodate him, well I guess some of the rest is history! 

Before hosting Wheel, Pat Sajak had various gigs first as a DJ and a weatherman, and it was in LA where he was working as a weatherman when Merv Griffin discovered him and made him the host. Thus began 40 years of an amazing run. 

We’ve got a good amount of Wheel Watchers besides myself on this network and one of them is Johnny Montalbano, my co-host at Game On!

"There aren’t enough adjectives to describe Pat Sajak’s run as host of Wheel of Fortune but the two best I could use are legendary and historic," he said. "I’ve been a huge game show fan since birth in 1990 and it’s always difficult to see hosts that I grew up watching retire, but Pat’s run as host will be one to remember for a long, long time. I love the fact that we will get to celebrate one more season with him at the helm. Sajak’s personality, quick wit and longevity on one show makes him one of the greatest game show hosts of all time."

To piggyback off of Johnny, not only was his quick wit and playful banter one of the things that stood out to me. But Wheel of Fortune doesn’t have its success without his strong chemistry with letter-turner Vanna White!

However, another Wheel Watcher from this network, Kyle Hirshon, was not only lucky enough to have seen Pat at his best up close and personal but he happened to be a contestant as well! 

“Throughout my time in the studio, I was watching Pat do his magic from the audience," he said. "It was incredible to see him make it feel like he knew the contestants personally. (Even though he had three facts of each contestant on his cards.) When it was my turn to go on stage, I was in the red position so I was closest to Pat. I was scared out of my mind, but I was excited because he will say my name on national TV (thankfully he pronounced it correctly).

“I think at some point he saw that the nerves were starting to get to me, because I was getting frustrated that I wasn’t able to spin the wheel for almost three rounds. During a commercial he turned to us and said quietly 'Don’t worry guys, there’s plenty of game left. Lots of money to be won, good luck.' I ended up winning all the toss ups and a normal round. The game went by smoothly. I’m hoping the next host can be a fluid as Pat was." 

Incidentally, this technically isn’t the first time that Pat left Wheel. He left the daytime version of the show in 1989 in an attempt to expand his brand and focus on his talk show, The Pat Sajak Show at a time when talk shows were prominent on TV. Ultimately, although the show didn’t last long, Sajak seemed happy just to have the opportunity to host a talk show as he accomplished his lifelong dream, but there’s no doubt Wheel was where he made his mark. And thus while the daytime show got canceled, Pat remained on the nighttime version ever since. 

Since the news of his retirement, many have been asking, what’s next with Wheel, and who will replace Pat? 

"What does the future hold for Wheel of Fortune? Well as the old saying goes, 'the show must go on,'" Montalbano said. "Pat Sajak is irreplaceable, but we’ve seen The Price is Right be successful with Drew Carey for 17+ seasons and manage a pandemic as well. Jeopardy! post-Alex Trebek has been a challenge, but it is also going strong. 

"There are two ways I could see Wheel of Fortune post-Sajak. One, hire a new host, preferably Alfonso Ribeiro and keep Vanna at the puzzle board. Or two (and my preference), move Vanna to host and move Pat’s daughter Maggie to the board. Either way, the show can take its time and will continue to succeed."

I am on the same page with Johnny, especially with regards to the latter because Vanna's had some experience hosting on the rare occasions Pat had to miss a taping. But regardless of who replaces him, I will support him or her and root for their success. 

But having said that, thank you Pat Sajak for such an amazing tenure!