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Pat Sajak Leaving Wheel of Fortune? Host Says the 'End Is Near'

Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Yes Family Feud is another one that show had multiple hosts over the past 25 years from Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley prior to Steve Harvey taking that spot.
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CassChopper96 said:
Ray Combs replaced Richard Dawson
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kevtronics said:
Not exactly. The show was dead and gone for several years (1985-1988) before they revived it with Combs as host. Then after they fired Combs and Dawson briefly returned from 1994-1995 there was another hiatus before Family Feud was revived again in 1999 with Louie Anderson as host.
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...And for several years the ratings were mediocre at best until Steve Harvey took over. Ray Combs started out OK, but the numbers were soon on a downward spiral and they ended up bringing Richard Dawson back from the grave retirement to host. Louie Anderson hosted for about 3 years - maybe they thought Louie would bring some comedy and name recognition to the gig, but he was relatively lethargic and was replaced by Richard Karn. Mad TV was around back then and did a few somewhat brutal but not terribly inaccurate parodies of Anderson's hosting; those are still on YouTube. Karn lasted for 4 years until John O'Hurley took over the reigns and he also lasted for 4 years until Steve Harvey became host in 2010. Ratings had long been somewhat dismal, so they decided to go with more adult-oriented questions, double entendres and somehwhat "blue" humor thinking it be more entertaining for audiences. O'Hurley considers himself a conservative and wasn't intested in the direction the show would be moving in, so he exited. Since Harvey took over, the show has seen a resurgence in ratings and popularity.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Mr. Bergeron appears to be retired.
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Don't these hosts work but one day per week? Even if they're doing 5 shows in one day it isn't exactly hard work and I'm pretty sure he could negotiate a pile of money (if he considers that important of course).
 
bmasters1981 said:
And Wink Martindale (19 years on from the original 50s NBC TTD that was involved in the infamous quiz show scandals) replaced Barry, Rayburn, Wendell, Jackson and Elliot (all those on the 50s one [daytime and primetime]), first on CBS for a 1978 daily flash-in-the-pan, and then in syndie from 1978-85 (Jim Caldwell succeeded him for one more go in 1985-86, and Patrick Wayne had another flash-in-the-pan in 1990 [an infamous one for the rapping Dragon and Dragonslayer, BTW, among other things]).

And to your point about the game being the real star of the production, I asked Wink Martindale about that once on email, about why he was not styled as the star of TTD; he said to me (IIRC) that he was simply the host on the same grounds that Alex Trebek gave much later for being just the host of J!, and not the star of it (Drew Carey is simply the host of TPIR on those same grounds as well): that the game and the players are what people tune in for/come to see (with such notables as Thom McKee on TTD, and Ken Jennings on J! [Jennings of course being the host of the normal, everyday J!, and Mayim Bialik being on the primetime show]).
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Bob Barker became huge with college kids. I think he started to become bigger than the show itself. I don't know if Drew has the same following.
 
Tom Bergeron could choose to come out of retirement, of course. But he is currently retired (having not been on TV regularly in 3 years). It would be a strange choice to replace a retiring Pat Sajak, with someone who they had to entice to un-retire.

Mr. Bergeron hosting a pilot show is slightly different, because a known host is more likely to have success on a new show than a nobody. It's the same reason Chuck Woolery was a fixture on Game Show Network back in the day.
 
Don CT said:
Bob Barker became huge with college kids. I think he started to become bigger than the show itself. I don't know if Drew has the same following.
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TPIR always had a lot of college-aged fans, in the audience and as contestants, at least for the past few decades Barker hosted..But once Bob appeared in Happy Gilmore and beat the crap out of Adam Sandler in that movie, he gained an even bigger following of college kids who said "Holy crap, this old guy's actually pretty cool!" Lol.
 
Vanna White hosting in December 2019 was in my opinion, Sony's view of a "trial run" for when Pat retires. Of course, he was going through health problems. Vanna could just slip into the hosting slot and Maggie Sajak could become the new Vanna. Pat's hosted a game show longer than anyone else, including Bob Barker.
How long does his contract last? 2023? 2024?
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Tom Bergeron could choose to come out of retirement, of course. But he is currently retired (having not been on TV regularly in 3 years). It would be a strange choice to replace a retiring Pat Sajak, with someone who they had to entice to un-retire.

Mr. Bergeron hosting a pilot show is slightly different, because a known host is more likely to have success on a new show than a nobody. It's the same reason Chuck Woolery was a fixture on Game Show Network back in the day.
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But by definition, he is not retired. He may not be actively working but that appears not to be by choice.
 
kevtronics said:
Not exactly. The show was dead and gone for several years (1985-1988) before they revived it with Combs as host. Then after they fired Combs and Dawson briefly returned from 1994-1995 there was another hiatus before Family Feud was revived again in 1999 with Louie Anderson as host.
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Many people think that the 1970s verison of Match Game was the original series when it was a revival
 
CassChopper96 said:
The Bill Cullen TPIR was cancelled many years before the retooled Barker/James Version started. Both shows are radically diffrent in format
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Bill Cullen's version ran 1956-65. Still, enough viewers must have recognized it for the producers of the 1972-present version to use "The New Price is Right" for the first year or so.
 
Ccook55 said:
And Barker acknowledged the Cullen version on the 9/4/72 debut show.
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Here's what Bob Barker said on that first broadcast: "Thank you so much! Welcome to The New Price Is Right. And let me assure you, fans of the old Price Is Right, that this is your favorite game still based on the pricing of merchandise, with wonderful awards for smart shoppers. We call it The New Price Is Right because we have some exciting new games that you will enjoy right there at home with our studio audience, and we're gonna get that first game going right now. Here's the first item up for bids on The New Price Is Right..."

(That first IUFB was a fur coat, which, after that, IINM, has not been seen since as a prize, due to Bob's strong objection to furs and animal rights advocacy.)
 
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