Pat Sajak, the Cool, Unflappable, Reliable Host, Signs Off

Pat Sajak, the Cool, Unflappable, Reliable Host, Signs Off
In 41 seasons at the helm of “Wheel of Fortune,” Mr. Sajak, whose final episode as host airs on Friday, has been a durable fixture of the American cultural landscape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pat Sajak, wearing a black suit and white shirt, stands in his usual position on the set of “Wheel of Fortune,” his arms spread out in front of him.
After four decades on the air, Pat Sajak presides over his last episode of “Wheel of Fortune” this week.Credit…Ricky Middlesworth/ABC, via Getty Images

If AI were ever prompted to generate an avatar of a game show host, surely the result would be Pat Sajak.

After four decades on the air, Mr. Sajak, 77, presides over his last episode of “Wheel of Fortune” on Friday. And his departure — Mr. Sajak has suggested in a series of televised exit interviews with Maggie Sajak, his daughter, that this will be a welcome retirement — offered a chance to reappraise what it is that made him such a durable fixture of the American cultural landscape.

Mr. Sajak, it is probably worth remembering, has been with viewers through seven presidents, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both the AIDS and the Covid pandemics, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crash and, oh, the Kardashians. Not incidentally, he has outlasted the internet’s incursions into broadcast television’s long-held primacy.

Through it all he’s been with the American game show audience, unflappably prompting contestants to choose a consonant or buy a vowel. He calmed contestants as they guessed at Hangman-style word puzzles. He bantered inoffensively with the imperturbable Vanna White in her parade of sparkly gowns. He blandly exchanged quips with an ever-changing roster of celebrity guests as they spun a carnival-style wheel, willing it to clatter past “Lose a Turn” and “Bankrupt” to land on big money.

And, for 41 seasons, this avuncular figure in a jacket and tie hovered into millions of households a night, a perma-tanned deity ruling over a placid empyrean.

Against a backdrop of lives filled with workaday stress and debt, “Wheel of Fortune” was a refuge, notably less as game of chance than bulwark against everyday humdrum. How oddly easy is it to forget that overdue electric bill as Mr. Sajak asks, in his peppy tenor, “How do you feel about ampersands?”

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Since 1981, Pat Sajak has anchored “Wheel of Fortune” with an affable and even disposition. On Friday, viewers will see him give the big wheel his final spin, capping one of the most impressive runs in television history — and the longest ever for the host of a nationally syndicated game show.

Sajak, 77, announced his retirement last year. In an interview with his daughter, Maggie, that aired Monday on “Good Morning America,” he said he felt “surprisingly OK” going into his final week. The farewell episode was filmed in early April.

“I do know that somewhere along the line, we became more than a popular show, we became part of the popular culture, and more importantly, we became part of people’s lives,” he said. “And that’s been awfully gratifying.” gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx gfx

“Wheel of Fortune,” which debuted in 1975 with Chuck Woolery as its host, became a hallmark of family-friendly programming — a game show where everyone regardless of age or background could watch and play along, with Sajak as its trusted conductor. Perhaps fittingly, Ryan Seacrest, who rose to fame as the good-natured host of “American Idol,” will take the reins from Sajak when the show returns for Season 42 in September.

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