NEW YORK — When producers of “Wheel of Fortune” named Ryan Seacrest — probably the most ubiquitous man on entertainment television — as its next host, it surprised virtually no one.
The idea that Sony Pictures Television would appoint someone relatively unknown as the figurehead of one of its most valuable properties was far-fetched. But it wasn’t always that way for a genre of television that minted such celebrities like late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, Bob Barker of “The Price is Right” and current “Wheel of Fortune” emcee Pat Sajak.
With Sajak’s impending retirement, after the show’s next season, it’s the end of an era: Game shows are now the provenance of the already famous.
Johnna Goodwin, left, watches Donna Handel win on “Wheel of Fortune” alongside host Pat Sajak on April 17, 1999.
Back in 1984, a much-younger Sajak was pictured on the cover of TV Guide alongside Wink Martindale, Monty Hall, Bill Cullen, Jack Barry and Barker.
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Each of the other men was known primarily as broadcast television game show hosts.
Now, so is Sajak. He has a handful of other entries on his résumé — disc jockey (many of his ilk also got their start in radio) and television weatherman among them. But he was 35 years old when he started hosting “Wheel of Fortune” and will be 77 when he leaves next year. He’ll be forever known for standing onstage at the wheel, with Vanna White at the board.
“He’s kind of the last of the old school,” said Adam Nedeff, author and researcher for the National Archive of Game Show History at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Game shows were once shown live, or taped with hardly any interruptions, so the skill of an experienced broadcaster used to those conditions was prized, Nedeff said. Dick Clark would need it when taping 10 episodes of “The 10,000 Pyramid” in a day.
Trebek similarly had a strong pedigree of television hosting, much of it in Canada, before he became host of “Jeopardy!”
Game shows were once a mainstay of daytime broadcast television, the land of the unhip, but are much less common today. The Game Show Network and Buzzr exist on cable for aficionados, but are heavy on reruns of the classics.
And, let’s be honest, who watches, anyway?
To create interest in game shows these days, producers look for a name. That makes actors, comics or other celebrities attractive to front these shows (some of which have nevertheless been canceled) — people like Drew Carey (“The Price Is Right”), Howie Mandel (“Deal or No Deal”), Meredith Vieira (“Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”), Wayne Brady (“Let’s Make a Deal”), Steve Harvey (“Family Feud”), Alec Baldwin (“Match Game”), Michael Strahan (“The $100,000 Pyramid”) and Mayim Bialik (“Jeopardy!”). Ken Jennings wasn’t an actor, but any fan of “Jeopardy!” knew who he was.
“We have a generation of stars who grew up watching game shows,” Nedeff said. “We have just reached a point where nobody sees any shame in hosting a game show.”
No one considers a game show low-rent anymore.
Seriously. Trebek would tape two weeks’ worth of shows over two days. There’s only 52 weeks a year, and that didn’t count the show’s vacation periods, for a salary most of us couldn’t conceive of.
Carey replaced Barker on “The Price is Right” in 2007. Soon, many viewers will know him as a game show host instead of an actor and comedian, if they don’t already.
Host Bob Barker appears with contestants during filming of a special prime-time episode of “The Price Is Right” in Los Angeles on April 17, 2007.
Such relatively easy money is why a job like “Wheel of Fortune” is coveted; Whoopi Goldberg openly campaigned for the job. And it’s behind the request Jamie Foxx surprised his management with in the 2010s.
“Years ago, I was telling my agent, I said, ‘Man, you gotta get a game show,’” Foxx said in 2019. He succeeded with “Beat Shazam” on the Fox network. Foxx got a payday, and Fox got a bankable star to entice viewers to a new game.
Several game shows air in prime time now. Even if networks offer a big check to a star like Foxx, it’s nothing like paying for the writers, directors and actors of a scripted series (to remind you, those writers are now on strike).
Oddly enough, Seacrest’s career path resembles some of the old-time hosts. Merv Griffin, the legendary game show impresario, even offered him a job hosting a quiz game show for kids when Seacrest was only 23, Nedeff said. Seacrest has experience as a disc jockey, a talk show host, a New Year’s Eve concertmaster and as the longtime host of “American Idol,” once television’s biggest sensation.
Ryan Seacrest will replace the retiring Pat Sajak as host of “Wheel of Fortune.”
Unlike many game show hosts of yesteryear, he’s already a celebrity in his own right. “Wheel of Fortune” is an empire Sony needs to protect: not just a television show, but video games, a casino game, a live show and an online merchandise store complete with a “Wheel” umbrella and silver tote bag.
Seacrest, to be sure, is highly unlikely to muck that up.
The 48-year-old’s reward is a job he can surely count on as long as he wants to do it.
Photos: Vanna White and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ through the years
Vanna White, co-host of “Wheel of Fortune,” poses on the set on Jan. 12, 2007, in North Charleston, S.C., as White and co-host Pat Sajak spun the “Wheel of Fortune” in her native state. (` Photo/Alice Keeney)
In this Sept. 29, 2007, file photo, co-host Vanna White and host Pat Sajak make an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” in New York. (` Photo/Peter Kramer, file)
Co-host Vanna White makes an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Television personality Vanna White waves to her fans during a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday, April 20, 2006, in Los Angeles. (` Photo/Nick Ut)
Vanna White, a South Carolina native, and Pat Sajak, co-hosts of the television show “Wheel of Fortune,” greet the crowd on the set in North Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 12, 2007. It was the first time the show was taped in South Carolina. (` Photo/Alice Keeney)
“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak and co-host Vanna White arrive at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Wheel of Fortune” sponsored by People magazine in New York, Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
“Wheel of Fortune” host Vanna White shoots promos for her show, Wednesday, May 16, 2007, near the Bethesda Fountain in New York’s Central Park. (` Photo/Stephen Chernin)
Vanna White, right, talks with “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak at a reception at the Beverly Hilton hotel after the funeral of entertainer and producer Merv Griffin in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, August 17, 2007. (` Photo/Chris Carlson)
Vanna White, co-host of “Wheel of Fortune”, arrives at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the game show in New York, Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
“Wheel of Fortune” hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White arrive at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Wheel of Fortune” sponsored by People magazine in New York, Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
“Wheel of Fortune” hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White arrive at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Wheel of Fortune” sponsored by People magazine in New York, Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Actress Paige Hemmis (L), host Pat Sajak, co-host Vanna White (C), tv personality Jeff Probst and actress Alison Sweeney (R) make an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Co-host Vanna White and host Pat Sajak make an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Co-host Vanna White and host Pat Sajak make an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Co-host Vanna White makes an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Co-host Vanna White makes an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Co-host Vanna White makes an appearance at Radio City Music Hall for a taping of celebrity week on “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by People Magazine in New York, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Game show host Vanna White arrives at the 17th annual Broacasting and Cable Hall of Fame awards dinner at Cipriani’s 42nd street, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in New York. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Game show hosts Vanna White and Pat Sajak arrive at the 17th annual Broacasting and Cable Hall of Fame awards dinner at Cipriani’s 42nd street, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in New York. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
Television personality Vanna White arrives at the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday, June 19, 2011. (` Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Vanna White attends the NYU Tisch School of the Arts 50th Anniversary Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday, April 4, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/`)
Vanna White attends the Macy’s Red Dress Event at Skylight at Moynihan Station on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/`)
Vanna White arrives at the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center on Sunday, April 30, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/`)
Vanna White arrives at the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center on Sunday, April 30, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/`)
Vanna White walks on stage at the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center on Sunday, April 30, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/`)
Vanna White attends the 16th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball on Saturday, June 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/`)
Vanna White arrives at the 25th annual Race to Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Friday, April 20, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/`)
Vanna White arrives at the 25th annual Race to Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Friday, April 20, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/`)
In this Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, file photo, game show hosts Vanna White and Pat Sajak arrive at the 17th annual Broacasting and Cable Hall of Fame awards dinner at Cipriani’s 42nd street in New York. ( ` Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
“Wheel of Fortune” hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White arrive at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Wheel of Fortune” sponsored by People magazine in New York, Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. (` Photo/Peter Kramer)
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