‘Wheel of Fortune’ Hired Pat Sajak After the Original Host Asked for More Money
Ask around, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has not seen at least an episode or two of the popular game show Wheel of Fortune. The show is fun and, let’s face it, a little addictive to watch. Pat Sajak has been hosting Wheel of Fortune for decades and is arguably one of the most recognizable faces on television. However, he wasn’t the first to be in that iconic position. Wheel of Fortune hired Pat Sajak after the original host asked for more money.
About the show
According to Paleymatters.org, the game show has been in syndication for about four decades. It continues to entertain people just like it did when it first premiered.
In 1975, creator Merv Griffin had the idea for a hangman-type game show. As a result, Wheel of Fortune was born. Three contestants compete in each episode, and The New Republic reports that the premise is simple — no one has to be a clever strategist to play.
Each game has three “tossup” puzzles worth $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000, in which the board automatically reveals letters one by one until a contestant rings in with the correct solution.
For the main portion, contestants spin the wheel and call a consonant, buy a vowel for $250, or solve the puzzle. Each consonant is worth the monetary value that the wheel has landed on. Contestants have the option to continue spinning the wheel until they miss a letter, spin a “lose a turn,” or land on the dreaded bankrupt space on the wheel.
At the end of the game, the contestant with the highest winnings goes to the bonus round, a final puzzle where several letters are given, a few others are guessed, and the contestant has 10 seconds to solve. If they win, they take home another prize besides what they’ve already won.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ hired Pat Sajak after the original host asked for more money
Fans are so used to tuning into the show and seeing Sajak and his co-host, Vanna White, as the faces of Wheel of Fortune. Many may not realize that Sajak wasn’t the original host. According to The US Sun, it was Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford who graced television screens.
Woolery and Stafford were the hosts for six years, so what happened? Well, they both ended up leaving over salary disputes. At the time, Woolery was earning $5,000 per week and requested that his pay be doubled. He was offered $7,500, and the network, NBC, offered to pay the rest.
However, that offer was rescinded when Griffin threatened to move the show to CBS. Woolery’s last episode was Dec. 25, 1981.
More about ‘Wheel of Fortune’
It is hard to imagine that there was ever a time without Sajak hosting and White turning the letters. They both have made the show what it is.
According to Good Housekeeping, there are a lot of fun facts about the show. For instance, even after thousands of episodes, White has never worn the same dress twice. She also holds a world record for “Television’s Most Frequent Clapper,” putting her hands together an average of 600 times per episode.
Fans may be surprised to learn that Sajak was actually a DJ before joining the show and that he and Vanna White used to get a little tipsy right before filming began for each episode. According to Sajak himself, “Vanna and I would … have two or three or six [drinks] and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet. I had a great time. I have no idea if the shows were any good, but no one said anything, so I guess I did OK.”
Well, they definitely did something right because, even to this day, the show continues to be a huge hit.
