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

vchimpanzee said:
I thought people didn't think she did a good job. I saw at least one of her episodes and she wasn't that good.
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"Did a good job" is a comparison to expectations. She was not expecting to be subbing for Pat Sajak that day, nobody was. He got sick overnight and needed to be hospitalized, and there was a taping schedule the next day that would have been a nightmare to cancel. She was asked to step in, and the first taping or two was ragged (as any reasonable person could have expected), but she improved enough to be kept on as substitute host until Sajak was able to return. Now that she's a known entity in that role, making her the short-term host and gently introducing the long-term replacement would avoid the "Never Replace a Legend, Replace the Replacement" problem.
 
There’s no problem replacing the host. They do not need some weird musical chairs game for a few years. Make the change and be done with it; grandma and grandpa will be fine.
 
Weiserguy said:
"Did a good job" is a comparison to expectations. She was not expecting to be subbing for Pat Sajak that day, nobody was. He got sick overnight and needed to be hospitalized, and there was a taping schedule the next day that would have been a nightmare to cancel. She was asked to step in, and the first taping or two was ragged (as any reasonable person could have expected), but she improved enough to be kept on as substitute host until Sajak was able to return. Now that she's a known entity in that role, making her the short-term host and gently introducing the long-term replacement would avoid the "Never Replace a Legend, Replace the Replacement" problem.
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So she did get better?
 
vchimpanzee said:
So she did get better?
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I thought so. I'm not a "P1" viewer of Wheel, but happened to stumble onto that first night of Vanna as sub host. It seemed obvious that she was unsteady, but did improve in subsequent tapings. My thought was not, "Man, she sucks," it was more like "Wow, in all her years as #2 on that program, how'd they (the producers) never do any dry-runs with her, just in case?" That was not her failing.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Less bad, perhaps. And that’s generous.
,
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Gotta disagree. The difference is polish. Sajak is highly polished in hosting game shows, from a half century in front of a microphone. Vanna lacks that particular polish, but that came across (to me, at least) as genuine. She was thrown into an unfamiliar role without warning, and she reacted as one would expect, but it improved. By the time Sajak came back, she probably had achieved enough polish to keep going should Pat have had to be out longer.
 
Don CT said:
What will (Ryan) Seacrest give up? He has so many projects.
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He did give up co-hosting the syndicated talk show "Live!" (with Kelly Ripa) a few weeks ago (Seacrest has been replaced on that show by Ms. Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos).

He'll also be relocating back to Los Angeles.

One other note: Half-hour game shows usually tape five shows back-to-back on the same day. So Seacrest's workload may actually be reduced, as he won't be doing a live TV talk show every weekday (in addition to his daily radio show and emceeing the long-running TV talent show "American Idol").

Bear in mind that it will be about a year before Seacrest becomes host of "Wheel Of Fortune". I wouldn't be surprised if it's during the summer of 2024 so that he will have some shows under his belt before the start of the 2024/2025 television season in September, 2024 (perhaps Pat Sajak's final show might be on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024; the final day of both the May, 2024 "sweeps" and the 2023/2024 TV season with Seacrest's first show airing the next day).
 
I wonder how long ago Par Sajak informed the producers of his decision and how long ago this about to be officially released news of Seacrest taking over was negotiated. I doubt this all came together in the past 2 weeks. This could have partially been behind Seacrest leaving Live if this deal was cut months ago.
 
When I announced the news about Seacrest, my radio partner had an epiphany: “What if the producers would have created a reality show that auditioned all potential replacements?” It was a fun thought, but because this came together so quickly, as mentioned above, the die had already been cast. In terms of needing reality programming due to the strike, this might have been entertaining.
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
Bear in mind that it will be about a year before Seacrest becomes host of "Wheel Of Fortune". I wouldn't be surprised if it's during the summer of 2024 so that he will have some shows under his belt before the start of the 2024/2025 television season in September, 2024 (perhaps Pat Sajak's final show might be on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024; the final day of both the May, 2024 "sweeps" and the 2023/2024 TV season with Seacrest's first show airing the next day).
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I'd think that they would be more likely to go into repeats for the Summer and Seacrest will take over at the beginning of the Fall 2024 season, something similar to what was done with The Price is Right transitioning from Bob Barker to Drew Carey.
 
Negin said:
I rather see Vanna host. Can't stand Seacrest.
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I can’t stand him either. He has all the personality of a blank white sheet of paper.

Unfortunately, he was probably the best Wheel could do given the state of talent these days. Like everyone else on this board, I don’t have the answer for solving that problem. I know a lot about what didn’t cause the problem, but, if I had the solution to it, I wouldn’t have been chased out of the business years ago.
 
Kent said:
I can’t stand him either. He has all the personality of a blank white sheet of paper.
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But some believe that's what makes Seacrest so appealing to the various TV, radio and media companies who've hired him.

Back when they were considering Ryan to replace Larry King when many felt they were hearing and seeing too much of him already, I heard one commentator compare Seacrest to vanilla ice cream. Meaning if you asked a group of people what kind of ice cream they preferred, some may say chocolate, some may say rocky road, others rum raisin and still others sherbet. But if you set out vanilla ice cream, most everyone will be fine with that and will consume it without complaint...Kinda like Ryan Seacrest. In other words, he shows up, he hosts, he's likeable enough, he doesn't make waves, he's not controversial, he's relatable, he doesn't offend and he gets the job done. While not many may say "OMG, it's Ryan Seacrest!!" on the other hand, the companies that hire him see him as a safe bet and someone that most everyone will like.
 
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