Wheel of Fortune Celebrates 50 Years Ryan Seacrest, Vanna White, Pat Sajak | The Jim Masters Show

[Music] oh he oh oh he o oh [Music] [Music] hey everybody Welcome live to the gym master show live entertainment lifestyle celebrity talk show series on this episode we are celebrating 50 plus years of Wheel of Fortune the iconic American television game show very special guest joining us here pop culture writer and author Wesley Hyatt joining us in just a second how many people love Wheel of Fortune and of course Jeopardy usually they're linked together Wheel of Fortune airs first and usually Jeopardy second they are all MV Griffin Enterprises original Creations MV Griffin of course you know uh one of the iconic television talk show hosts of our time with his series The M Griffin show that ran for many many years he was the creator of Wheel of Fortune yes and of course uh Jeopardy as well another beloved show so we're going to be celebrating Wheel of Fortune and style on this episode of our entertainment LIF style celebrating talk show series great to have everybody here watching all around the world feel free to comment like subscribe share the episode as well we love having you here gonna Dive Right In fast because we have so much to talk about of course there you see uh Pat sjck and Vana White and then soon of course Ryan Crest the new host as Pat has retired there have been a couple hosts even prior to Pat sjck we'll talk about that it's an American television treasure game show created by murf Griffin the show is aired continuously since January 1975 and of course contestants s word puzzles similar to those in hangman to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant Carnival wheel the current version of the series which airs nightly and syndication premiered on September 19th 1983 the original version of Wheel of Fortune was a network daytime series that ran on NBC from January 6th 1975 to June 30th 1989 and subsequently aired on CBS from July 17th 1989 to January 11th 1991 to return to NBC on January 14th in 91 it was cancelled that year ending on September 20th 1991 the network daytime the syndicated nighttime versions aired continuously from 199 uh 83 until a former conclusion the network version originally hosted by Chuck wery and Susan Stafford willery left in 1981 and was replaced by Pat sjck who you see there on the screen and all these years Pat sjck and Vanna White have carried the torch for Wheel of Fortune there have been other hosts too of course remember Bob Goen was a host at one time as well we've got pictures and all kinds of cool things to show you over the years's celebrating the iconic series again which was created by this gentle MV Griffin some people don't know that but yeah he was the guy that created came up with the idea the concept for both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy two iconic series of course Jeopardy originally host by the late Alex tbec and uh really extraordinary the longevity of both of those game shows still on television today when like The Price is Right and a couple of others when a lot of game shows you know are are gone or rehashed and of course there's the Game Show Network that brings back some of the old favorites and has some newer ones but still shows like The Price is Right and we've done a special on Bob Barker if you didn't see that episode check it out celebrating Bob Barker the iconic act fabulous host and um wonderful person who hosted The Price is Right for so many years now Drew Carrey hosting that as well but we are celebrating wheel of Fort forun in all of its incarnations uh really an iconic show and of course a lot of people were very very sad when Pat sjak decided to uh retire after so many many years of doing it uh you know like a friend coming into your home nightly with Vana White very comforting look even some bobblehead dolls were made there's a Nintendo game there's so many things that have been fashioned after wheeler Fortune of course the celebrity Wheel of Fortune versions always fantastic when they do that as well so if you're a game show fan or or if you're a fan of Wheeler Fortune whatever the case may be this is your show and we're gonna have a great time let's welcome Wesley back to the show he was with us uh to talk about some other books he's written uh which is fantastic all pop culture television film and more here he is on the gym master show to talk about Wheel of Fortune and his new book too welcome W Ley thank you Jim it's good to be back with you and I remember I was on with you when we did that tribute to Barb Barker as well that was a really fun show to do even though yes these iconic hosts that we talk about and that we celebrate are really something and and their longevity and the warmth and kindness and and humor they brought to the shows aided in making these shows successful and Wheel of Fortune of course definitely Pat s Jack with his quick wit his humor his dry puns his ability as a broadcaster a tried and true broadcaster first and of course accompanied by Vanna White really were a golden ticket for so many years wouldn't you say oh yeah definitely they've been together over 40 years which is just incredible in broadcasting history for any Duo to last that long you know and it's uh I'm sure if you had told them back in 1982 that you guys are going to be together for over four decades would have been like what are you kidding me you know on this game show but that's what's happened in addition to them in addition to the combination of Vanna and Pat what are some of the other things that you think made this series so successful so beloved so uh you know beautifully crafted they did update it they kept the format the format yet they updated it and freshened it with graphics versions of the music and different prizes and events and things of that nature which kept it and keeps it relevant while still having that warmth and that feeling that you've had all these decades yeah they've made adjustments over the years but they haven't been drastic enough that you suddenly go oh my gosh what happened to the show I used to love uh that's what's happened a couple of times when they try and revive a lot of game shows they try and put their own little twist on it and it turns off people who remember the original and like why are you messing with it it's a successful format um part of the reason why it's successful I'd say is that it does listen to the fans they constantly are doing audience research to get an idea of what people like what people don't like on the show what they can improve upon uh that's why the show during its early years they used to have people go shopping after they won their earnings people were like that just takes away from times from watching the G game can we get rid of it and they did phase that out uh the game play itself is pretty interesting it's a game that you can easily play along with as anyone knows from doing hangman um if you watch the show you'll see there's a lot of times when they keep the camera fixed as long as possible on the puzzle before cutting to the contestants guessing the letter uh that they want to do there and go back and forth the idea of course is to have the home audience guess the puzzle before the contestants do so you can go oh smarter I can do this too that that kind of element and another thing is it's a family show you can watch that with anyone of any age and you're not going to be offended by anything going on there uh little kids can play along as well as older adults and get a sense of what uh is going there and it also helps there have been several immigrants who like watching the show and they get an idea of what kind of American idioms are popular and and get a better sense of America culture as well those are I think some of the biggest selling points why the show has lasted so long and of course then there's that big carnival almost like a roulette whale of its own kind uh which is Iconic and there's been subtle changes to it over the years as well but that alone um is a real draw to the show just having something of that size in studio have you had a chance to visit that studio visit this set it all over the years I have not but I've seen a lot of it to get a good sense of it I think the wheel is um it looks fairly impressive but it's not that large I think the diameter is less than uh 10 feet long believe it or not that's the magic of doing it on TV at the same time uh when they came up the wheel originally it was MV Griffin's idea to do it like a carnival wheel like you'd have you know they'd spin it there being um vertical and where the spokes would stop you get a prize that's what he was thinking on the show uh as it turned out uh it got revamped into a horizontal one due to a new production team that worked on the uh second pilot of the show in 1974 and they were able to they don't actually people think there's a camera shooting down that's not the case they actually have a prism in a camera that's shooting straight and then it gets the reflection of the uh wheel into the camera itself if they shot straight down it would damage the camera equipment so that's how it's done uh but they do have a camera operator of course o over hovering over the wheel though and as I mentioned uh to our viewers watching who are commenting uh we appreciate everybody and their enthusiasm for Wheel of Fortune and for what we're talking about here was uh a wonderful brainchild of the iconic television host and Entertainer singer extraordinaire murv Griffin right yes yes it was uh the circumstances are rather interesting how it came about um murv originally the original version of Jeopardy was on NBC since the mid1 1960s a new programming head named Lynn Bolan came in charge of NBC Daytime program in 1972 and she did not like Jeopardy because in that incantation uh the prizes were not that big at that time like the first round would be 10 20 3040 and $50 per uh you know row or column that they had at the time and so you'd rarely get anyone who won over $ thousand dollar um she just saw it and she she thought it was visually static she didn't like the host at the time art Fleming who was a middle-aged man and she just didn't think he radiated sex appeal all these factors were enough that she uh talked to mer Griffin in 1973 and said uh uh I want to get rid of Jeopardy but she knew at the same time he had a contract with NBC that if they got rid of Jeopardy he would still get paid a year unless they were able to give him another show that he produced so she said okay what do you have what do you have go mine and Mur thought about when he was a young child with his sister how they would spend the time during family trips playing hangman in the backseat of their car and he thought that would be a good concept it was not the first time hangman had been tried on CV mind you but it had been a long time since anyone really had done it since mainly the early 60s that they thought they'd give it a shot there and he combined it along with the carnival wheel that he had and Lyn bin was the one who said I'd also like a shopping element to go along with it so in 1973 they came up with the first pilot for the show and they called it Shoppers Bazaar and that was uh the one and and Chuck Woolery was drafted as a host of it because MV liked him he'd been on the show a couple of times that's a shot right there of the Shopper bizarre pilot now you'll notice um the wheel is kind of guder shall we say on the spaces and everything there there is also there is a loose a turn spot but there is no um bankrupt on on the spot as well and um what happened was the wheel was controlled by Chuck and when you have a host controlling the wheel that invite some people think hey is that rigged is he stopping the spaces on people that he wants to have to get some stuff so that was part of the problem for the pilot another thing was behind him they put out all the prizes uh not really with much care without a set designer so it looked kind of like a garage sale basically with all the different pric and then um the elements they had they had three women sitting on a couch and they'd have one spot like uh you could pick up a phone if you landed on the right space you could pick up a phone and they give you a hint about what the mystery phrase was and it just it just did not flow well do well at all so Lind Bolan passed on it but then some in M's Camp said we think we can let's revise this we think we've got something here let's try and get this together and and get it uh um put together and Lynn did her part and got some people on the production team who were the ones who came up with the idea of doing the horizontal wheel and and having players stand behind it and um that's when they did they did a second pilot for it in 1974 about about nearly this time in 1974 August 1974 but the host there was Ed Burns who people might remember as Kookie on uh 7 7 Sunset Strip uh the reason why is because during that time Chuck wery was they were having a summer show a Revival of your hit great on CBS and Chuck willery thought he might have a shot if it did well enough in the summer it could have been a mid-season replacement on CBS and he didn't want to jeopardize that by having to host a daytime game show at the time there was still that kind of prejudice going on so he passed up the chance Ed Burns did it um Ed Burns unfortunately uh had a pretty bad drinking problem to the point where if in his autobiography and I mentioned this in the book and I talked with a guy who collaborated on his autobiography Ed Burns actually thought that he'd take the uh pilot in 1979 instead of 74 and was relating things and how he did it there um and during the the one of the pilots he told the contestant to spin the puzzle not spin the wheel but spin the puzzle that kind of put the kabash on it but everything else on the pilot worked well including Susan Stafford was added because uh when they did the electronic letter board it was supposed to be able to turn you know they could do little things with electronics and make it turn it didn't come together that time they needed someone to turn it manually she was suggested she was bubbly and energetic and viewers liked her on the top thing so she became part of it and then without Ed Burns they said let's go back back to Chuck wery see if he's willing to and Chuck eventually came around he realized that year Hit Parade was not going to be a CBS mid-season show so he agreed to do the show and they did their uh first couple of episodes taped in December 1974 and in addition to Chuck willery also uh Bob Goen had a crack at the wheel too didn't he Bob Goen came on this is a very interesting he came on the daytime version after after what happened was Pat sjck left in 1989 to do his late night TV show on CBS as part of that deal he had to stopped doing the daytime show he continued to do the nighttime show replacing him was a man named rol ber berka who is best known as a place kicker for the San Diego Chargers that's him on the right right there rth um basically was seen on a local talk show MV liked him so much MB had him come around toward studio and then rth the next thing he knew he was told over a weekend uh you're going to be our next host of the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune uh which we tape on Thursday watch the show as much as you can and we'll help you out and so he was kind of forced into a quick learning curve um during that period it was about five or six months into it that NBC decided to cancel the show not because the ratings were bad per se as it it was just costing them more more to produce it at that point than they were getting for the advertising Revenue so they replaced it with reruns of The Golden Girls which did pretty well from them meanwhile CBS saw the ratings were pretty good and they said okay we'll bring it over to CBS but we do not want to have rool peski as host they auditioned several hosts and Bob Goen got it uh in part because he'd already done a game show called blackout for CVS and also because he had a great rapport with Vanna White and uh he enjoyed it thoroughly but the thing that was frustrating to him he told me during the daytime version as part of the agreement with CBS they lowered the prize budget you know and they were give away you know small cars and you know maybe $5,000 in cash was a big thing you know and it was just uh demoralizing there and eventually by um a year or two on there it was the lowest rated show on CBS in the mornings even though it was doing well but CB that was a time when they wanted to go into having talk shows so they moved a talk show in in place of him uh NBC decided they needed something like Wheel of Fortune back and they brought it back there but what was happening there by 1991 unfortunately was when a lot of the TV stations were not carrying NBC shows anymore in daytime and uh it got like only 2third clearance on the shows so naturally the ratings went down and and by by September of 1991 uh NBC cancelled the series after you know an good long but a 16 and a half year run and um it was uh it was disheartening because after that NBC's daytime basically slowly Whitted away there's now nothing on NBC Daytime apart from uh news shows you know it's because of everything that's gone off it was the beginning of the end for it unfortunately but uh was one of their biggest hits they ever had but the nighttime version seemed to sail along and people really responded to the to the nighttime version which was quite amazing we have a couple more uh past shots as well oh okay this is good this is uh Judy Bon gon garzone sorry I'm I'm trying to pronounce her name properly she was a big winner in the first year during the first year on daytime there was a point where they were so high on Wheel of Fortune it was doing well not a huge bot but were doing well NBC decided to make it their first game show to go an hour well at the same time CBS decided to make its first game show go to an hour and that was the prices right and they put the prices right on a half hour before Wheel of Fortune started so naturally prices right had the bigger ratings and went there but Judy was one of the big winners on during that time when they had an hour show and then when they shrunk back to a half hour in January 1976 they had a Tournament of Champions and she was on there and she was able to win it there and she was very uh happy about uh the victory I talked with her some about that and um I asked her like how did you get along with Chuck and she said well if have you seen pictures of me and I said yeah I've seen those things said who do you think I look like I went Oh you mean like his first wife Joanne ffu and she said yep that's it so and in the book I show a picture of Chuck with Joanne fug and you kind of tell you know they had a similarity to it at the same time uh Judy um really would love to do the show one more time she's offered to return there as say the big thing but she thinks they don't either don't care or don't want to remind people that it's been on for that that long so for that yeah but she was great to interview and I also interviewed the woman who was uh competed against the big uh contest in 76 as well that was a really good uh match up that cool shot this is the first shot they had of Pat sjck when he joined the show what happened was uh Chuck basically wanted more money than MV Griffin was willing to give when Chuck's contract ended after seven years uh Chuck wanted to get something like what around Richard Dawson was getting for Family Feud MV as many people told me was kind of tight with a buck sometimes he was willing to give him an increase but not as much as what Chuck wanted and then when he heard that Chuck was complaining about the situation to NBC Executives and they're like oh we we'll pay you and make up the difference MB was like you're not going to do that you've gone around my back to try and get extra money you're out of here and it was really shocking because there had not been a change over on daytime game show host since uh and about 10 years 1971 was the last one when they had the original sale of century and they went with Jack K Kelly got replaced with Joe gajola so replacing him MV saw um Pat sjck was doing the weather on KBC the local Los Angeles for in LA right yeah yeah and he noticed how there was a bit where Pat was uh doing the weather cast the usual standard thing it's sunny and warm out here in LA but each time he would have a bandage on different parts of his space Str and Mur thought that was hilarious and uh decided to have him become the new MC now Pat had already done a few uh game show Pilots before that uh for Goodson toddman and another producer that didn't sell and then he joined it and then yes and that is Susan Stafford with Pat sjck people kind of forget that there was a period there in 1982 when she was still there on the show with Pat sjck but what happened with Susan Stafford was as the original letter Turner she was happy with her job until she had a back injury in 1977 of all things doing circus of the Stars if you remember that show where they have yeah so she injured her back and then she had summer batholomew the former missusa came in to replace her temporarily and she watched and she said you know anybody could really do this job there's nothing special about that to me and she was feeling less fulfilled about it and then as the years went by she finally got involved with doing some uh Outreach for leprosy patients with Mother Teresa's group of nuns and she said this is it this is what I want to do I want to help people in need I want to help people who are dealing with cancer and AIDS and that sort of thing and do that and so she stunned the the production company when she told them in 1982 I I'm leaving and they're like why because that was when they were working on the syndication deal for nighttime they're like you don't realize we could be we'll be making more money year you could be the stratosphere and she said nope I I need to I need to do this and so as she told me she's like do I miss the money I could have gotten yes I do do I regret my decision not at all so all and she still does a lot of things with people uh in need oh and during the 1980s there was uh the show became so big that it was on a lot of different shows this was when um they had an episode of 227 and ja were on the show Mara Gibbs later showed up on the show when they had a puzzle with her Nam down they it's Mara Gibbs and here she is and uh came out um they also had a Ab NBC had several shows based around Wheel of Fortune during this time to try and playoff as Fame there was The A Team Santa Barbara and La law I think was the last one with Alan ra character falling in love with Van white so that's cool that's uh they used to bring in in the other network shows they kind of did that with the Olympics recently too they had Snoop Dogg on there who's going to be on The Voice um and then they brought in Jimmy Fallon who did commentary as well and some of their NBC Stars yeah were over at the Olympics as well it's a great shot of uh Pat sjck and Alex tbec huh this was when the first year Wheel of Fortune was a surprise hit it managed to pass Family Feud the long number one in nighttime syndication and its first year so with that power in mind uh King World which was the distributor of the company decided to revive Jeopardy and they decided to use Alex tbec who' been doing a couple of game shows prior but nothing had really lasted that long um so they put them back Tob back because that's how they would air depending on your Market it would either be Jeopardy first or wheel first um but they had to go on as a combo and they they basically told stations you're going to take both of them or we'll try and sell you to another station and at that point wheel fortune had enough clout that they could do that and soon by uh I think by 1985 86 87 around that period Wheel of Fortune was on every Market in the United States except like five very small markets that couldn't afford the show that's how big it had become there and and of course uh Jeopardy was on with it during the time as well so yeah absolutely incredible and uh we have some evidence of that and some little special treats we're going to share take a look at this folks take it down memory [Applause] lane it's the number one game show the show that sent the country Spinning Wheel of Fortune where contestants match wi in a high stakes war of words and a spin of the wheel can bring a fortune in fabulous prizes join host Pat s Jack and Vanna White for Wheel of Fortune every week night at 7:30 on channel 2 it's too much fun to [Music] miss really cool and that was the time it aired and I believe still is on uh WCBS Channel 2 in New York and here's another treat for everybody a little bit later this was around 1994 is America's game the you're enough F say big big money is forun americ [Music] [Applause] again tonight at 6:30 right here on channel 7 they had a great budget and they were very creative of course that was the incomparable artha Franklin singing that song they came up with some great uh taglines and jingles and and memorable uh musical fests in their promos which I thought was really really fantastic over the years huh yeah they did that there was also I think uh some people might remember from the 80s I'm a wheel Watcher to the tomb girl watcher uh which was really uh cute especially because on the they call it beach music here in the North Carolina and that was a big song here so that was a really enjoyable part and they always they always constantly were doing promos for the show even when it was you know big they made sure that people knew what it was doing and and and kept it top of mind on them there I don't think any other game show has done as much promotion in syndication or had at that point until Wheel of Fortune arrived in the 1980s you know um you'd see a couple of things you know maybe some clips and everything but they designed a lot with Pat and Vanna because they knew people liked them they related to them especially Vanna oh my gosh they were all obsessed by Vanna if you go back in the 80s just good luck on finding a magazine that didn't have a picture of her in it somewhere you know uh they just found her uh entrancing because she you know it sounds corny but I'm going to say the All-American Girl You Know great smile and great everything like that she got on the show um basically because MV Griffin thought like the way she had as he put it a big head compared to the rest of her body and thought that's what most of the big stars did like Elizabeth Taylor and some of the others back in the glamour area the 40s and 50s um and so she got on there basically um without much experience uh Pat had to coax her out to try and get her to do Banner with him afterward and eventually she got you know in the mood of doing that but she was nearly on the verge of leaving La she had had very few credits at all you could count them on one hand and minor roles on different things as she was trying to break into it and then uh when she heard about Susan Stafford leading she took advantage of it and and ran with it and you know that's now and she became so involved with the show I don't think people realize bah has written some of the puzzles people have right show at the same time yeah she really is uh devoted to it and and just uh has been selling it like nobody else and you know they would do a lot of and they still do some special types of weeks too where they'd go on location go to various uh terrific places Disney and elsewhere they would do the celebrity Wheel of Fortune which was great that's always terrific too when they would change it up and have some special weeks special times a lot of times during ratings time which is when a lot of them do it um but it's nice to do that right is that do you enjoy when they do that I do uh they haven't done anything on location for about seven six or seven years now because it was just costing them too much to go on the road um I think the last one they did was at Disney World and that was partly because um Disney helped um foot the bill because they were promoting the I think 35th Anniversary of uh Epcot or something like that and promoting it that way um yeah it was it was millions of dollars they'd have to do to to re to get all the equipment moved and everything and they need the help from one of the local stations to get it together so they eventually decided to rule that out but they've kept it on the show and as you said they've got on uh the last couple years they've got on ABC celebrity Wheel of Fortune where they've uh done that on their show and in fact it's been announced that Pat's going to be hosting the celebrity Wheel of Fortune uh the next year or so so he's not totally retired but he is retired from the regular Wheel of Fortune so to speak that's exciting news too for everybody right yes yes indeed and then of course uh Ryan Crest is going to be coming into the picture and uh we have a little promo on that as well take a look gang wow looks like you're ready Ryan Ryan C joins Vanna White this fall on Wheel of Fortune new host same place only on ABC7 so you know when they were looking at uh folks to take on the role um that must have been really difficult you know replacing Pat saak is no easy task and especially somebody who's so beloved and is so identifiable with the series for generations for decades right yeah yeah there was that was a consideration they also uh knew a couple of years ago when Alex rebec passed they did not have anyone in mind for doing the show so they went through a lot of guest hosts and it caused a lot of turmoil on and off this the show so Sony Executives deide we don't want anything like that they were pretty quick like within two or three weeks they announced that Ryan cus was replacing uh p on the show and I think most people agreed they think he's a safe choice ch um people have forgotten that one of his first jobs was with MV Griffin on a game show back in the late 90s called click the lasted two years there so several people said M would have loved him getting the job as well that he's got there at the same time I think it's notable that they've kept Vanna on Vanna had been saying like all right when Pat leaves I'm gon to leave too I think they probably gave Vanna a sizable salary increase to keep her on there because I think some of them are really worried if Pat and Vanna both left a lot of the viewership would leave with them too because they're just they're used to them you know there many generations that don't know the show except with the two of them as hosts so that's what's going on with that and the response I think it's been pretty good as far as the talk you know people um accepting and appreciating it because he is a broadcaster and he does have you know real traditional broadcast experience radio television he was on with Kell Ripa he's had of course you know um so much success in his career and um it's just it seems like a a good fit and I think you know he'll he'll do well as time goes on and uh he and Van are blending and sort of playing off each other because they both have a quick wit which is really important with game shows right yeah you've got to have that um people don't realize but if you're dealing with with u you know Ordinary People here and you've got to make them all sound pretty interesting there which is why when there's they search for contestants on Wheel of Fortune they look for people who've got you know interesting background something quick and clever to say in a minute or two during the opening minutes of the show so that people can go oh that's interesting or oh I like that person that sort of identification uh you need to have that in place rather than someone who's a know-it-all and like I can solve this and everything of that because viewers don't like that and they they turn off from that and they also want a host who was really into the game as much as they are you know and can tell them you know uh try and encourage them and you want you know the good thing is Pat really wants people to win you know or at least he comes across like that every time like he says you know sound it out how there and you can de Vanna wants it at the same time too uh that's the that's what you need to have with to make it really effective on real exactly right it was the same thing when they were looking for the host to replace uh Bob Barker from The Price is Right There were so many people that wanted that coveted job of being the host I I even think actor George Hamilton was in the running too which I thought he would have been great because he has a quick wit and he sort of is boob like um it might have been an interesting take um but you know those games move move fast and you gotta move fast with them um I remember Tom Kennedy I talked with him Ken well he was telling me about when he did the nighttime version of prices right he said it took him some time because you know they have the little mini games inside the game and you had to learn the rules and everything really quick and he was not able to learn them as quickly Bob Barker would just like they could explain it to Bob and within five minutes he' know what to do and how to handle any situation Tom is good as a broadcaster he was said it took him a little bit of time to sink in and he he just he it made him admire even more what Bob was able to do as as host of of the show there when it comes to something like Wheel of Fortune you have to keep in mind who's spinning you know which which arrow is being lit up the time there and uh uh sometimes you have to remember them if they get a little frazzled they might repeat a letter that's already been guessed and you have to tell them look at the used letter board and do that sort of thing and get it together uh there were contestant coordinators were telling me about you know sometimes they would have to tell people between commercial breaks okay you're little too tense here you need to lighten up or um you know think about relaxing a little bit you know you've got this here that was just one round this is a new one you're going to be spinning first go ahead and do that way you know it can it's a game with it's it's such a different atmosphere when it's live and in the studio as you probably know from anything it's it's just uh not as easy as it is sitting at home and going oh you know everything like that uh because there have been some really great players but they've been unfortunate they've landed on bankrupt or lose a turn or you know they've had uh you know just bad circumstances that let them not win too well on the show what do you think it is about the show itself that keeps people loving it um in terms of the the game itself how the game is played and how you're sort of clapping along big money big money you're rooting for the contestants you're trying to solve the puzzle along the way there's a lot of interactivity uh for the home viewer who's comfortably watching it you know in their living room or whatever uh at home right yeah and there's also some of the misses on the show have been f they were enough that I included them in the book there was the notorious one where uh it was the answer was a street car Named Desire but the contestant dress guessed a street car naked desire you know uh didn't know it there was another one where it was uh a song title I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash uh the poor woman guessed I I have the wine by Johnny um sometimes it's r heing as far as what people's lifestyles are or what they have on their mind yeah the most hilarious one that I heard that it wasn't on the show but during a practice round and it was during coup's week um it was the answer was Lord and Master but the male contestant guess hard and faster which actually cracked up a lot of people the most recent one they have uh that people might know on here uh poor gentleman they were doing the first round of puzzles quick finger has draw and uh he stopped it and guessed uh right in the butt instead of this is the best um so what a difference and it was it was during the last week of Pat show and a lot of the former contestants and winners on the show were in the audience and they were dying laughing they told me later on that they they laughed a full good minute they had to edit it out of the show about how much you know were rolling on there but that's part of the that's part of the shows appeal you know that sometimes people can get uh things epically wrong you know so you either laugh or sympathize or maybe both uh Kyle and his wife are here they say they saw the taping with Ryan and he was super personable and a great fit that is really cool and Maria says I think uh Mr cerest is an excellent choice so votes coming in for uh for Ryan C Crest I think the way they handled it as well uh passing of the Baton passing of the torch between Pat s Jack to Ryan I think was very well done I think it was they did it with finesse and with class and I think it was uh it was not easy for anybody and they didn't know what was going to happen how people were going to respond but I think they did it in a very classy way in Vanna well of course Pat SE Jack's goodbye message Vanna messages to Pat and the welcoming of Ryan by the team and byanna Pat's daughter everybody I think it just was handled uh quite well wouldn't you agree yes I do agree it's uh one that we really haven't seen before on game shows I think and it went uh very smoothly very nicely there were rumors that uh Pat daughter Maggie might have been un contention to replace him as host because she's done pretty well but again I think they wanted someone established like Ryan to go with there I would not be surprised though if Maggie maybe replaces Vana uh in the future there uh as several people noted with the way they've got the letter board now they really do not need a Vana White there they could you know do it light it up electronic it's all electronic right yeah I think people want that family sense you know of having someone there and you know if if they go without a Vanna then the show's going to have really big problems my opinion because that's that loses the humanity of it you know nowadays we can use as much Humanity as we can get yes we do absolutely my friend couple of other cool shots we have here look at that one oh yeah this is with John Lauderdale who was the stage manager of the show back in 2015 he had some great stories to tell me because he goes all the way back to working with MV um the initial rounds of the shows there and um he saw it go from the Shopper's Bazaar days to that and then um he went he was working there some for um the MV Griffin Show there for a time and then he eventually came back to Wheel of Fortune and worked on it uh there but he he was in the know of a lot of things going on there uh what happened the show he had a a great amount of insights to give me about uh what was happening and uh you know what what things were working and not working on the show and really was a nice resource and he gave me a picture of him there with that this his hometown right this is yeah Van's Hometown I got this picture uh back in the spring because my mom has a condo in North Myrtle Beach and I realized when I was how she do with the uh hurricane that came through the storm it went fine yeah in fact she went down there last weekend for a uh a wedding there of my uh stepfather's grandson so they they had a said it was fine and doing well there and she's actually planning to put it on the market but if anyone wants to look at it I'll let you know but um anyway I I was there I was like I've got to get a shot of this now it was not easy because this is right on uh US Highway 17 which is a fairly busy highway going um into North Myrtle Beach um North it's like just after you go over the inter Coastal Waterway this is what you see um so I had to kind of get myself in a good shape and make sure there weren't too many cars and get it uh pictured um but it went there yeah it's amazing they still boast that they home of Vana White they've had that sign up for I don't know how many decades um but it's been their big uh attraction that they've announced there and they're very proud of her as their Hometown girl you know she was born there and and raised there and I think she was there until I think she went by her 20s she went to Atlanta start modeling and doing everything and then out to LA you know there's so many uh things that have derived from Wheel of Fortune to even bobbleheads yeah uh which is something really cool and and a lot of games too um you know here's a calendar a lot of merchandising and things that have you know developed a along with uh the series itself which I think is kind of cool to see along the way and uh I believe there's also a Nintendo game too that was created uh as a result of uh of all this um and the and the big thing for them has been the um the casino games that's based on Wheel of Fortune it's the number one casino game go to the casinos you see The Wheel of Fortune and the slots area right they've got a revised game that they came up with a couple of years ago and Matthew galazo who was one of the former winners of the show started a tournament last year and it I went out to the second tournament they had just a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas to see everybody they had over 100 different former uh contestants and winners on the show competing uh on this uh these casino slots they had at the Oyo hotel and casino and it was just fascinating incredible energy was great they were all boasting about you know no other game show has former winners as energetic and thrilled as they are and um I got to meet in person several of them that I interviewed for the book about their their stories everyone has a great story about how they came on the show and I I also include the story of like the first millionaire winner on the show uh the guy who managed to show up on there the most number of times for eight different shows and the circumstances for that um and it was it was really fun and there might be I wouldn't be surprised if you hear in the future about more activities about Wheel of Fortune alumni uh playing tournaments and other events because they were a really fun Rowdy bunch to have even by Las Vegas standards you know it was it was really good I'm glad I was able to go out there and enjin more of that event really in doing your research for the book and there's the book folks I'd like to buy a vowel spinning 50 years of Wheel of Fortune as we celebrate Wheel of Fortune This is the latest in a collection of books that Wesley has all celebrating our favorites within the the worlds of entertainment pop culture television and so much more uh what what are a couple of things that surprised you about the game show about the series or any of the people involved as you were doing your research and putting the book together well one thing that's lesser known is that the show nearly got canceled in 1980 when Fred Silverman was in charge of NBC and he put on a 90minut talk show with David Letterman uh he cancelled most of the morning shows except for Wheel of Fortune and he had it following David Letterman and he was going to cancel that after a month or two for another uh for a like a news magazine show called It's Your World well what happened is when the ratings came in for David Letterman's Morning Show they were horrible even worse than any B had thought and even though he had announced he was going to cancel Wheel of Fortune Murray Schwarz who was M's rightand man came in and by several people's account uh not only saved the show but also got uh NBC to pay more money for the show to get it together now in fact the news of it was so late they were in the middle of taping their last show or the last set of shows when they got notified no NBC has renewed you you're going to keep on there so they're like like oh okay so we're not going to do a farewell thing then we won't have to do that uh but some of the show's Personnel did leave Charlie odonnell the original announcer went on had already agreed to do some other work outside the show so they had to get a new announcer Jack Clark who lasted until he died in 1988 and then Charlie O'Donnell came back there Charlie was the one who did the original thing of whe of Fortune you know kind of get a round turn to go along with it there and everybody on the show really loved him and it was a real shock and shame to them when he passed away in in 2011 but uh that was one that I I had heard about it but I didn't realize how close the show had been to um going off the air right then at the time there and um it was interesting because I I I I talk about I'm a I was able to talk to nearly all of the surviving uh Network vice presidents of daytime programming who were in charge of the show at the time and most of them said they didn't have to worry about Wheel of Fortune it was the other shows they had to worry about but there were some things like uh Brian frons who was president of ABC when I asked him why did you let Ral bereska replace Pat sjck and person barely anyone he's like MV just had that clout and he and Brian was in his late 20s early 30s and he was kind of cowed in he's like okay MV knows what he's doing so we'll just we won't second guess and get it together there and um I think it's pretty interesting to get their their perspective as well you know what they were seeing on their side on uh on everything going on there and Michael Brockman who was head of NBC Daytime program he had a big fight with uh um Fred Silverman about the David Letterman show that that led to him leaving because he was just like okay Silverman just wants to interfere with what I'm doing here and I need it and ironically Michael Brockman came back the daytime in CBS in the 1980s and he was the one that led CBS to be number one ever since then yeah how involved was murv Griffin daytoday you think in both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy Wheel of Fortune he was involved he would come up with the puzzles in the early years he was the main one doing that he would work with his producer Nancy Jones and they would decide which puzzles would go on what part and get them together and do that as he sold off the the show to first Coca-Cola in the mid1 1980s he retained an interest but he would allow them to do their own puzzles but he'd review them as well as see how they're going at the same time he would also watch the show and Susan Stafford told me um this is a good one she had just been coming out uh as of 1978 she would just come out when Chuck Wy would introduce and do a little curtsy and everything but one day she's resting in between shows and a knock comes on her door even though she says do not disturb she's who is it what is it opens the door it's Lucille bald Lucille comes in and says I and and Susan just like oh Mrs ball how you doing she's like I don't D me that Lucy get it's Lucy don't D me this Miss Ball Lucy told her I want you to come out there and I want you to spin around I you need a dramatic entrance you need to twirl around she's like you mean like what Loretta Young used to do on her show in this the 50s and she's like exactly and I check with Loretta she's fine with you doing it do it and then left so Susan went out did it there and then she waited to see what MV had to say when he saw it and he said oh it's very interesting I like that by the way you need to get your haircut that's giving her a compliment good job but you also need to get your haircut you know I tell you he did watch the show and he would he told the co contestant coordinators sometimes he would complain if he didn't like some of the contestants why did you pick that one that was a boring one that was an irritating one yeah he uh he was not there on the set but he would watch the show and keep an interest on it there as much as he did until he sold it and then by the time it was taken over by Sony he Sony basically was able to overrule him by the mid 1990s and he had very little say in it although did keep his name in the credits of course people know him also from the MV Griffin show one of the earlier and longest running of the talk shows over the years and its various uh iterations uh that was a really popular series as well and people are surprised that they didn't know that he created Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune could you imagine uh he was already a wealthy individual to begin with but that just sort of solidified everything the the coke deal uh was I think for $250 million he was one of the richest celebrities um in the United States people were surprised they always thought Johnny was Johnny Carson was making big money on The Tonight Show and he was but MV had much more managerial sense in fact MV originally if you watch the early episodes of real of Fortune MV wrote the theme music you know and he also did the theme music for Jeopardy and know right when they play music on TV you get royalties that's right so MV was collecting all the money up that way as much as possible you know and he was a very smart businessman as everything you know everyone knows uh so even with the show going off in ' 86 he was he was financially set you know you know it's kind of like the story with uh The Tonight Show Theme with Johnny Carson when Carson was um you know taking the brains and then wanting a specific theme written and prepared it was Paul Anka who stepped up and wrote the theme and there was an agreement I believe between Johnny Carson and the iconic Paul Anka that that theme would be used the one we all know and is since retired of course um and that they there would be an arrangement in terms of residuals that they both would give at every time it aired which was every single day for decades uh a pretty good deal there too between Johnny Carson and Paul Anor yeah and speaking of Johnny Carson his brother dick Carson was a longtime director on Wheel of Fortune Dick had actually started working for MV show back in the early 70s because uh he had directed his brother show in New York but that was during the time when The Tonight Show was actually live and he just got tired of working late at night so MV show had a better schedule but MV had a thing where he would like to occasionally go on location you know do little trips and then I think there was a a trip to Venice somewhere over in Europe I believe where dick Carson when he came back he said that's it I can't I can't Tour all this stuff I I can't you broke me I can't do it and M said well why don't you just do Wheel of Fortune then you know it's only a couple of days each month and he's like yeah great and as in fact dick Carson was the first one to win a uh game show uh win an Emy from for The Wheel of Fortune of anyone connected with the show um and and and speaking of him he's this will this may blow your mind and surprise you too Wheel of Fortune has won outstanding game show exactly one time and hard to believe when it won it guess what show it tied with Jeopardy yep it can never Escape being compared by Jeopardy I note that in the book a lot of time because you know that's where it came from and they're they're intertwined that way and I think some of the U fans on the show are really defensive about how some people denigrate like Wheel of Fortune is an easier game than Jeopardy it is in a sense but that doesn't mean it's easy to do as anyone can tell you did they tweak the rules tweak the game along the way in terms of the rules and how things went went um originally they did not have the bonus round when the show started right 75 so they would just do that they do a couple rounds and then they tell you the tally on how they've got there uh then of course as I mentioned the shopping round was uh phased out there would be times it's incredible watching it now but someone would win the puzzle and then because they had commercials okay we're going to have a commercial and then you go back when we come back you'll go shopping and they could do that and then when they go shopping sometimes the players ran got as much uh money that they could buy everything that was in the Showcase which meant the announcer mg Kelly was a substitute announcer mg Kelly a big personality in Los Angeles there he substituted there for a while before they got um Charlie O'Donnell back he told me that there were times when just reading those you know trying to read all those things and you had to do them on less than 10 seconds for each one was just crazy you know and just everything dreaded that as an announcer but um that was phased out as well and then what really happened uh really changed things was when uh Nancy Joan was Jones was reduced was replaced as producer by Harry Freedman in the mid 90s and Harry was the one who came up with the idea of getting the puzzle more uh animated and so made made the puzzles quicker and they started doing those fast finger you know puzzles to start off the game so that made the show have even more puzzles and more exciting I think that's that's kind of how it evolved basically they they've tried various spaces over the years different things some have worked some haven't you know and the big element now of course is the the chance very small chance that you could get a million on the show if you landed on a sliver of one of those things and then of course you got the million dollar spot when you sp spend the wheel in the bonus round it's happened three times amazingly so but it's not really it's very rare to happen it's so amazing to know as well as as you and I know wheeler Fortune still ranks as the longest running syndicated game show in the United States with over 8,000 episodes taped and aired as of June 7th 2024 TV Guide named the top rated syndicated Series in a 2008 article in 2013 the magazine ranked it at number two and the list of 60 greatest game shows ever and the program has come to gain a worldwide following with 60 International adaptations Y and the syndicated series 41st season premiered again September 11th 2023 with the shows 36th season in 2018 and uh Pat sjck became the longest running host of any game show surpassing Bob Barker who hosted of course the prices right from 1972 to uh 207 2007 and the two spin-off versions exist as well the first was Wheel 2000 version featuring child contestants which aired simultaneously on CBS and Game Show Network between 1997 1998 and um yeah and the production locations as you know and uh I've had an opportunity to visit the locations not the wheel set but NBC Studios in Burbank California television City in Los Angeles California Sony picture studios Culver City California as well are they is that where they're still filming it at Sony and Culver City California yes they are they're doing that and they're um the right adjacent to the studio that has H Jeopardy to it there so Sony has control of the property that way and they wanted to that was a sticking point too with Nancy Jones letting her go and she wasn't about moving to Sony pictures um but I think they also wanted to shake things up because Nancy had been there nearly 20 years so I think that's why they replaced her with Harry fredman as well and uh some other incredible sort of behind the scenes knowledge the ending theme has a name to it called changing Keys the actual theme music the announcers as you mentioned uh throughout the years Charlie O'Donnell Jack Clark mg Kelly Jim Thornton and uh the theme MV Griffin Allan thick involved as well too right I thck had a a a career there for a time as writing game show uh music for game shows as well and uh he uh another talk show host involved in this area there that they had uh going that way uh yeah that was his main involvement with the the show uh but otherwise it was mostly uh MB driven I guess you could say tell us about more about the book itself for the game show fan The Wheel of Fortune fan the the Super Fan well even the Casual fan um this was something that I knew you were working on because you told us the last time you were here that it was something that was you were doing some intensive research and interviews and archival photos and all kinds of things put together a you know quintessential look at the 50 years and uh what was that process like and what was it about Wheel of Fortune in terms of the personal feeling you've had for that series that game show enough to want to celebrate it and write about it yeah well I was motivated in part because uh some other long running sh shows that in the 70s that Mark 50 years like pric is right and more recently Young and Restless uh there they came and went there were I would would thought there would have been books about them you know like big you know it's impressive for anything in broadcasting the last 50 years and there wasn't and I got to think about it then I realized oh my gosh in 2025 Wheel of Fortune is going to be 50 years let me go ahead and explain that and I knew some of the stories involved uh some of the people involved as well but I didn't know to what extent you know I was going to who I was going to get and um what sort of stories I'd get from contestants as it was I looked out in that one of my riter friends DJ named Boba bran connecting me with a woman named Erica Lee and uh a fellow DJ herself and she told me some stories and then she connected me with Alex Brun who was an administrator of a Wheel of Fortune alumni group on Facebook and they like my project so much that they graciously allowed me to be part of the private group even though I never competed on the show and that gave me an entree into meeting a lot of the former winners and talking to them and getting their stories that was good uh I also was able on my own to research some of the former Personnel on the show the key ones one of the directors on the show uh as I mentioned there stage manager John Lauderdale and a couple of others uh who had been key parts of the uh show from back to its early years and I just got the chance to talk with them and see what I knew and and hear their stories and what they had to tell me and um it was it was a lot to organize I I'm glad I had a good editor my friend Peggy Benson told me how to handle things when it was getting out of hand especially during the Harry fredman years from the mid 90s to the late uh uh 2010s I guess you'd call it there because I had so many interviews and so many things and I was trying to figure them out she said look just talk about the show on this part and then do devote this one to having the contestants tell their stories in it and that one worked really well for me to to get it together and um I think I've done a good job of getting them all in there yeah I did I did talk to someone involved with the wheel 2000 as you mentioned the children's version I got a hold of them to get their comments on what they think uh what their motive was on some of the changes they man the show and what they would have done to improve it um and um I I think I've got a pretty good perspective of everything I even cover you know the uh Vana White's TV movie The Goddess of love and how that's incredibly it was a big ratings hit at the time it got horrible reviews but it nearly knocked off waren remembrance which was a big miniseries on yeah it was uh the Apex of her acting career so to speak you know um yeah I have a couple of detours on there but uh it's mainly every time I was kind of like okay focus on Wheel of Fortune you know I I could have uh there there are parts of personal lives of them that I mention only because you know I think they're important to contextualize during the show you know um there was it's been written before there were a lot of stalkers basically for Vana White during the 1980s that they had to protect her against during the show uh she had her um boyfriend he died in a plane crash at age 36 it was a tragedy there she went through that um you know and there was the also that the lingerie pictures that she posted for at the play one Manch in the early 9 early 1980s that came out with her and she had to deal with the impact of that and and how they went there um but you know I try and keep it above Ward you know more than anything else um there's a you know there there there probably may be some Revelations there that may surprise some people anyway you know during what they have just because especially people who weren't weren't with the show you know Susan Stafford is uh pretty honest about what she did and didn't like about the show and um you know and I think some of the others are as well um but I always make sure to include their words it's their words and not mine you know my my my thing is just to Chronicle it and give you an idea of all the different facets as much as possible I try and include everyone's opinion on you know what they have going there uh but generally most people especially the forign contestants really enjoyed doing the show even if they lost it's a one lifetime time it's very hard to get on real fortune you know we're talking about basic Ally it's done now 39 days a week so five days a week so that's what 200 and some shows and then you've got three contestants show so we're talking less than 700 people able to compete every year um that's that that makes a challenge to have you ever tried to get on a game show yourself God no my college roommate and I almost got on the Joker's Wild really ja Barry there H we did the whole thing we did the audition the questioning uh the narrowing down the whole bit and um they wanted us to be on the show as contestants but we had been uh it was the year of graduation we went out to California because his sister was stationed in San Diego with her husband so we got to uh stay in San Diego and then go up to everywhere Hollywood Beverly Hills there was a a friend who graduated from college the year before us who said come out to California and he took us all around Costa Mesa I mean we went everywhere lagona you name it and saw it all and it was really fantastic it was the whole summer too and then my college roommate was you know I've always been into television and game show everything because of working in the industry and yet he his dream was always to get on the prices right and you could actually see at that time in the back of the newspapers there was clip you know in the classifies in Los Angeles if you'd like to be a contestant on this game show or that game show here's how you do it so Price is Right was out of the question because the the weight was extraordinary and we were there a limited time for the summer but uh the Joker's Wild had some opportunity and was responsive so we went and we did the whole thing and of course they mentioned who they were looking for they want people that get super excited even about a toaster you got to be really pumped about the toaster or the can opener that you win and uh the only reason why we couldn't follow through is we both were starting new jobs here on the East Coast where we're from and we had to go back East to start those new jobs in our respective Industries mine broadcasting and his journalism so um that's the only reason why we didn't do it but we were were there we saw the process and it was really really cool Joker Joker Joker ah yeah there were some some contestants especially back in the early days there were a couple of them who went during their vacation and they were able to get on the show um Wheel of Fortune uh no problem there because I think there were certain types they wanted there too if you were a military man they definitely wanted you on the show they didn't have enough of those you know they're they usually you know most of them were like women and older people because that's the main member of Their audience they had there so they wanted I could see that probably definitely would have had you guys on Joker's Wild because that's not the type they usually have on there right out of college all spry and excited right and uh yeah and they do want you to they do want you to have that personality showing through there as several contestants told me you know if you're going to do the show tell me something interesting about yourself you can say you know within a couple of seconds something fascinating couple of things and do it in engaging style if you can't do that if you can't do that I don't care how well you solve the puzzles they're not going to put you on the show and we had that East Coast Energy too me originally from New York he originally from Boston so there was that that spark now there's another thing too though um regarding prizes uh if you'd won anything there especially merchandise you would have had to pay taxes on it there not only federal taxes but also California state taxes for them and you would have to be at your residents whenever they're shipping them to you whenever they bring it to you at the time there so a lot of people when they won things they had to think okay do I really want this do I really need this is it going to increase me in a tax bracket you know it could do that there and several people have thought oh well you know if I won I just I'd just change the merchandise for uh money no you can't do that you had to get what they had on the show there what it was yeah now you could switch around for equivalent prize I some contestants told me when they won um vacations sometimes something would happen like I think there was one that was involved to Ukraine recently and they're like I don't you know we can't the political station was UN situation was untenable so they were able to rejigger it and go on different a different Excursion for the vacation for a similar price and uh they really enjoyed that feature you know I've heard no one complain about the quality of the prizes at all there and in fact if the show was known in the early years at least they would go out and shop on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills they wanted to make sure their prizes were distinctive from what was on the prices right and let's make it a deal because at that time prices right was on CBS Let's Make a Deal was on ABC NBC wanted to have something equivalent for that that's why ly Bolan said we want to have a shopping element in there basically to make it their own equivalent of prices right or Let's Make a Deal started bringing in cars and trips and big big money going up the you know a ladder there which was quite amazing I uh I think I mentioned it on this series I don't know know Mark Summers was a guest here and of course people him from double dare and the Food Network series he hosted and so much more another iconic television host game show host and I was we were talking about the Game Show Network GSN at that time they were I think they're still a Sony property they were with Sony and their marketing arm was a Synergy group and they were touring the country at that time in GSN The Game Show Network was relatively new and I being you know a broadcast host on radio and television throughout the years um found out very last minute that they were coming to the region and you know a couple of broadcast colleagues said hey Jim you know you would be perfect as a game show host you have a personality and the warmth and all the rest and so you should go you should go and I said well when is it and it's like it's happening tomorrow and the whole thing and it was amazing to see the turnout there were people that drove from several states away to get that one shot and it was really cool they were looking for a national game show host for a show they were going to create and launch on The Game Show Network and I went down and uh it was at a local venue and I went down and there was a lot of different screening that was happening and questions that had to be answered and I made it through all those different you know questions and paperwork and everything and then you had to go on what was a mock stage and they had a mock studio audience M and uh in the beginning there was no audience yet it was just you going on stage in front of Sony Game Show Network Synergy group and they were judging you on do you smile can you put two words together first we need to know if these people can do that and then we do the weeding from there and we pass that and then there was another so there was about 6,000 people that came through it was amazing and that was just one of the you know cities that they went to and um got narrowed down from the 6,000 you know through the various things he had to do 6,000 to, to 500 to 100 to 50 to 20 and then uh it came to the point where we were to come back after a couple more naring down sessions uh they picked three and I was one of the three out of the 6,000 I was like my God even if I stopped there yeah I'm good just because obviously I wanted to really see last minute doing this wanted to see what they saw if they saw anything anything that they thought would be uh a potential whether it was through this situation or just doing anything down the line with the networks and um so it got down to U at first it was the 10 people and then got down to five and got down to three and it was really cool because the way they did I was in a green you know sort of like a Master's golf tournament sport coat very uh game shsh with the Khaki white slacks and the whole thing and uh they had a set they had an audience Mark Summers was there I believe was one of the judges as well as other people because he remembered that whole evening and uh they had the set they had the set they had contestants they pulled out of the audience they had buzzers the whole bit and there were spe spefic I had to do as the host and it was really cool just the experience and uh I don't know if they had it rigged they might of to see how you'd respond yeah but a contestant had to answer one of the questions and their buzzer didn't work so they wanted to see how I handled it uh if you're froze if you're Panic if you run off stage if you're like oh no stop tape which you never as the host you don't tell them to stop tape they tell you when they're stopping tape and uh I said some funny witty line that sort of pulled it all together and the audience erupted with laughter and the judges I took a quick glance they were laughing and everything and and out of the 6,000 I came in third of it all which I was very happy with and the winner was a female co-host because they hadn't had any real many female hosts of game shows at that time and she won and we were she came down from Boston and we everybody was very happy for everybody and I was happy I got a 27 inch television from Sony delivered to the house we were there to get it beautiful letter from Game Show Network and just about the potential as a host for game shows and it was really fantastic to place that way uh to get a bronze out of 6,000 people it was really amazing and um and the other the second what had hosted many game shows before so that was the second person but the first person was uh uh female co-host but what happened was she uprooted her family from Boston moved out to uh LA and uh the pilot was made and then whatever the game show turned out to be that they were doing got cancelled in 30 days so she uprooted her whole family husband kids to go to La and then boom and then had to go back East so I was happy with the 27inch Sony television everything else that I got but it was a very very cool experience yeah that's um that's very interesting that you mention it because uh when it's happened on there for some people um who live out there in LA in terms of the contestants they have tried out for the show and it's taken some of them literally years maybe decades to get on the show when Co hit that's where one of them was able to get on the show finally because they're like they were short of contestants and they said okay we'll do that deer but they also have um several shows they D take with backup contestants just in case someone doesn't show up or get sick at the same time there so there's always that element and for the backup ones that's what they call the local people you know the ones who are if you're living anywhere from Santa Monica to maybe San Diego I guess you're considered local uh to to be a backup on the on the show as well um and and talking about the things that can happen there Pat sck is known very well for when he tells the audience you know please do not shout on anything he's very serious there have been times when they have they think they I heard someone say the answer to a puzzle out in the audience and they throw out the puzzle and would do over again yeah they they're very much strickler there they've got a Ser there's still standards and practices uh pretty strong on that show they do not want to have anything go arai there kind of like priz is right I was watching several of the past episodes with Bob Barker and there were often times uh especially in the early years where he had to yell out to the audience don't say the price don't help the you know and because in the beginning years you didn't really hear the audience screaming and cheering it was very silent it was very sort of respectful whatever you now they scream and cheer and everything uh and they helped the contestant along but there were times where I I guess um something was they can be seen don't say anything don't tell anybody uh don't say it out loud because it can throw the contestant off um which then they stop tape that's when they say uh stop stop we got to redo uh so that's going to be Ryan crest's job as he goes along now with uh taking the rein from Pat sack to keep uh everything in line as well that book again congratulations on the book the book is on Amazon folks and wherever books are sold uh it's it's going to be a great read for you if you love game shows you just love television you love behind the scenes stories you love Wheel of Fortune I'd like to buy a vowel 50 years or Spinning Wheel of Fortune celebrates the legacy of a series ingrained in the American psyche people easily recognize the Stars the catchphrases such as I'd like to solve the puzzle but most are unfamiliar with really about how it's become a success and has managed to maintain that status in the ever competitive world of television and Wesley has compiled exclusive interviews with participants backstage and Executive offices revealing there's as much drama and excitement behind the show uh behind the scenes as it is on the air and the book also tells the stories of several winners as Wesley has been sharing with us and memorable contestants on the show from how they competed to get on the show to what their lives have been afterwards be prepared to be amused surprised and impressed about what is revealed in these pages of the book you see there on the screen uh really something quite special and um congratulations on it my friend uh the timing of it is perfect again with the change you know between Ryan and pad and all and uh so the release is absolutely perfect uh as we celebrate all of them and um you you're probably knowing you you're probably working on the next book aren't you that's what everyone assumes I've been told that I I I probably will but I'm working on this right now more than anything else my next book would be the 12th and I think probably the final one for me uh 12's a nice even number I'm superstitious about doing 13 you know and U and it's getting harder to top because I've written you've seen the subjects I've written about that you know the ones that I about subjects that I love and people that I love the Carol brunette show white you know and Wheel of Fortune and you know these are ones that have great stories to tell and are wonderful people and just really um you know just kind of enriching to write about as well as uh you know read about uh for me so I'm going to take some time and see if anything can come up with it there but um it'll be a it'll be a tall order I do want to have something like these that are fun to right and I met a great deal of wonderful people Associated Wheel of Fortune Wheel of Fortune alumni are some of the best nicest most genuine people you'll ever meet in your life and then they've accepted me with open arms and I cannot say enough about them highly they're they're just fantastic and uh of course we wanted to say hello to our friend Randy West we know is another game show uh Fado and has announced for several of them including the Price Is Right he's a dear friend of our show and of ours yours as well and I know he's watching and enjoying this episode as well yeah and I've got him uh his book uh quoted in there too he talks about Chuck's leaving and uh I did you'll see it's a pretty extensive uh list of books that I use as well as some recommended reading along with the uh did about 60 interviews so I think I did a pretty good job of capturing as much as I could about this show you have you you always do you you have a great writing style and uh it sort of draws Us in as the reader and again you're talking about you know iconic people in all of our lives in the worlds of entertainment pop culture and so much more and um somebody that we lost matter of fact today uh and I'm thinking about maybe doing a special episode on it celebrating him but at least acknowledging it today um the iconic Peter Marshall host of Hollywood Squares and a phenomenal Entertainer performer singer so much more television veteran um I've always admired Peter Marshall always just his style his finesse his class his wit his humor uh he passed away today the iconic Peter Marshall Again original host of Hollywood Squares uh matter of fact we had several times John Davidson with us another iconic host big friend of ours we're gonna actually see him next month at his venue up in New Hampshire again and he of course was one of the hosts of uh Hollywood Squares as well but Peter Marshall again uh made it to 98 talk about a 100 we wish it was a hundred but uh he was in good health along the way and his beloved and is it's sort of breaking news now you know all day long any words you want to share about um Peter Marshall while you're here Wesley I think the biggest accomplishment for Peter Marshall is that he oversaw a game show with nine personalities sometimes more than that he had to deal with along with the game itself there which would be a Dawning task but he was able to keep them all in check kept the show running very well was a great straight man as you said to a lot of them could also get a couple of witty answers in the same time there uh he was just fantastic uh at at being an MC he also was very talented he also did Broadway several times you know he did skyscraper and um laajo um and just every every every everyone I've heard has just have nothing but wonderful things to say about him he was just as genuine and lovable offscreen as he was on screen and um just an incredible talent and one of the Giants of broadcasting in my opinion absolutely you know there were just something about their ways uh the pat s Jacks the Tom Kennedy the Chuck weres the um Peter Marshalls the Bob barkers there was just a warmth a certain finesse a certain wittiness um all of these hosts that were talking about um this congenial way that they've had which I've always enjoyed and pattered myself after as well a little bit after them because these were in my industry in this industry of broadcasting of Television radio station film you know they sort of set the tone first the Dick Clark's some of the really incredibly talented smooth and friendly um everybody wanted to sort of pinch their cheeks or take them home or marry them or just you know bump into them in the supermarket because there's a certain warmth a certain Class A Certain uh you know just a certain character the inte integrity and credibility and all these things that we talk about today like where did that all go uh I hope it never fully goes away because it's I think it's what has added to and I think Ryan has elements of that as well um which I think is what they pinpointed you know he has a credibility he does have a class about him he has a finesse he can be very witty uh as well and he was trained and sort of patterned himself after the broadcast Veterans as well with he being a broadcaster in radio and television similar paths um so when you think of these these iconic hosts who sort of paved the way for everybody who followed like the Peter Marshalls as well with that great smile and that terrific wit um I hope that doesn't you know it's up to us I guess Ryan and all the rest of us to keep the ones that want to be that way and want to share that that warmth and Congeniality um to keep it going right because I I think it's uh something important that people maybe click with it's a Rel relatability perhaps yeah and it's getting tougher to find those types because you know what's been happening with radio it's been uh just really sad to see a lot of the station look what's happening with the legendary WCBS news 88 New York in about a week or so that legendary station if folks didn't know one of the most iconic radio stations ever station that we listen to uh for a lot of what's going on in the world even though some say oh it's am and everything well I've worked in many AM stations and they're fabulous places but WCBS news 88 is the whole format the station is being dropped the call letters WCBS are being dropped and it's going to be ESPN Radio um and there's already WF sports radio in New York and there's already 1050 ESPN radio so now that's going to be on WCBS news 88 so there's only going to be one 247 news radio station in New York City a big the number one market in the world and that'll be 1010 WINS wns uh sad to read I know several of the people Steve Scott and some people who Craig Allen the weather forecaster for many years um people may remember him on channel 2 in New York 2 and elsewhere but uh legendary people uh that are going to be disappearing from the audio side of things and it's sad to see such a legendary station like WCBS news 88 which was a clear station you can get that across the country and beyond sad to see that go right wesle oh yeah it's it's a real loss what we're what's we're losing now because any who's grown up in broadcasting when you're a radio DJ you've got to fill that time you've got to be creative you've got to handle any kind of emergencies that happen there you know you've gotta deal with songs that won't work play sometimes or End early or start late you know and it really keeps you on your toes and and if you can do that you can do anything and I think it's telling that Pat sjck has said several times in interviews he really just wanted to be a radio DJ he did not plan for a big TV career he only went into TV because like everyone else it pays better you know but I think a lot of I I think a lot of TV hosts will tell you privately they rather enjoy the advantages of radio you know you can Pace things easier you didn't have as many distractions as you do with Studios going on at the time there um It's a Kind of Magic if you ever um can listen to a radio show that's really well done uh it's wonderful I used to love uh I love listening to AM radio especially the news stations because you know it's 247 and you know as you're driving your car on the highway at two o'clock in the morning coming from somewhere those that's live those stories are happening that person is in that uh announcer Booth they are in the studio there with you and what happens is when people get connected to and attached to the personalities on radio and in television and in this case you know at any time of the day the news radio station being on 247 you knew they were always there so while everything else came to a halt uh if you're still up at that time you could turn it on and it's almost like they're a friend and many times we drove to see family in Florida all the way up the East Coast all the way back up to the Northeast and as other stations would come in and out fade in and out if we weren't listening to satellite radio or CDs and the CD player or anything else i' put on news 88 WCBS and stations like that and uh you know that it was kind of like something comforting along the way as you're making your way driving yeah and that's and that's what you want to have too in a good game show host as well I think you want to have that sense of you know there's someone calm and you know able to talk with there and uh yeah it can be crazy a lot of celebration going on there but you want someone to be there and even ke to keep the proceedings moving well and treat you nicely in the process and uh it's a it's a definite AR doing that and I I'm worried about how we're going to get that you're not going to develop that necessarily by being a YouTube Star you know not you of anything like that Jim but oh no no this is right be accepted well well that's yeah if I didn't have the already established broadcasting career the real television career I might not have even started this you know I'm this I started this in the pandemic as a side side thing you know what I mean this was supposed to be something just connecting with people and talking with people and all these guests wanted to come on and people I've interviewed on television and PBS and radio and everywhere else and so it's turned into this uh Big Show that it is which is fabulous the the tough thing is the balance bance balancing the day work the the paid work the television and radio shows and everything that I do along with fish show on the internet in the evenings uh it's an interesting balance but you know how it is if you love what you do and do what you love and this is an extension of my professional broadcast career and professional work it just comes naturally and and that's why people ask me do you know can you send me questions you're going to ask me in advance and I'm like we don't kind of really do it that way at the gym master show it's free flowing and it's conversational we don't really prepare you know if there's specific things a guest has to talk about we can do that but you know I prefer the more warmer conversational approach like Carson and MV and uh Mike Douglas and and any of these shows that have been Legend bringing back the art of conversation and uh I think it's it's important there's not a lot of that out there a lot of things are either overly scripted or interviews are these questions pre-prepared and it's sort of stale and stedy and then done there's no feeling to it so uh you know I tell people when you come on the gym master show you're not going to get a 60 Minutes drilling yeah everybody in case you're wondering all I knew was that we're gonna talk about my book and that's it and so and the rest we just rolled with which is the absolute best Wesley and you're you're great uh you're great at doing that and a dear friend of our show and of mine as well and thank you for all the time we always have an epic conversation about uh shop talk but also in a way that brings in our audience because they learn so much uh about these people that they love and these shows they love and the icons in the industry uh of then and now in this case I was so happy we brought in Peter Marshall a little chat that we wish of course Ryan Crest all the best as he takes the reins of Wheel of Fortune along with Vanna White and we went back in time uh to their early days beginnings of the series as well and uh cool stuff thanks for stopping by as I said last time we were going to keep the porch light on for you my friend and we did you are welcome back um the YouTube episode link is available in the archive so you can share it again if anybody missed it live and uh congratulations again on the book and again it's available at Amazon and wherever books are available right Wesley yes it is uh good reads too if you want to get it on some of the other Alternatives rather than Amazon it's available there as well and I just want to thank you and I thank your wonderful viewers as well the nice words and comments I appreciate them I've been seeing them during our conversation and uh it's always good to be uh recognized and thank for people and I I appreciate it sincer all the JMS lovees the lovy family they already called you a lovy the first time first or second time you were with us you were with us first time singularly and then the Bob Barker special and now back as we celebrate 50 years of uh Wheel of Fortune and your fabulous book come see us again Wesley I truly hope you enjoyed the time with me as much as I absolutely have with you my friend I definitely have Jim and I wish you a great rest the night and uh thank you again you are very welcome take care and again congratulations on the book thank you thank you very much he's gonna spin out of here now thanks Wes bye bye now cheers celebrating 50 years of the iconic game show series Wheel of Fortune with our great friend prolific pop culture writer author extraordinaire uh many many many books yes and uh check out his repertoire of books we've talked about some of them when he was a previous guest on our show writing about Carol Bernett and Betty white and some of your her favorites we did want to pay heed pay a moment of respect to uh of course the iconic television game show host and so much more Peter Marshall uh the original host of Hollywood Squares and with Wally Cox and Rosemarie and and Paul Lind and just the cast of characters that were on that series and so much more he passed and uh I myself uh Jim Masters and all of us at the gym Masters show live series send our deepest condolences and heartfelt prayers to Peter's family at this very difficult time he will be missed and he certainly made extraordinary contributions to all of our lives and into the industry as well and again we wish Ryan CEST the best as he takes over the Reigns from Pat Jack who was great news that Wes uh Wesley shared with us that Pat will be still hosting the celebrity Wheel of Fortune episodes of the iconic series which is really really cool hope you enjoyed going back in time as we acknowledged and honored and celebrated one of the legendary series on television and game shows Wheel of Fortune one of the best and again side by side always with uh Jeopardy it's sister game show the original host of Alex tbec um iconic and all created by MV Griffin the Legendary game uh the legend legendary well Game Show creator but before that talk show host singer allaround Entertainer as well great stories a great time with all of you and we appreciate you being with us hey gang before you go don't go anywhere yet we would love it if you did this this helps us grow give this episode a like this really really helps our show when you do that click the thumbs up like button the little thumbs up icon on our YouTube channel share this on your social media from our YouTube channel subscribe to the YouTube channel you're watching right now Jim Masters TV click that subscribe doesn't cost anything be sure and click the notification Bell when you click subscribe too you'll get notifications about all our great guests and all of our episodes and um leave a comment even if you commented in our famous JMS lovery Hall chat room do leave a comment in the comment section uh during or even after the show anytime you can comment underneath the episodes of all of the episodes on our series we thank everybody who uh has done that commenting liking sharing subscribing so again even if you're a faithful commenter in our chat section we thank you for that we would love it if you could comment as well in the comment section and give this a thumbs up like and uh if this was your first time joining us here in the gym master show live we welcome you to the JMS lovy Hall family and to the gym Masters show live series lots of great comments that have come in we've sprinkled a few of them here on the screen we say thank you thank you thank you uh nice to see Mona here as well Mona is going to be sending me some more spices I can't wait we've run out of those Louisiana spices she's a big longtime fan of our show one of our original uh ledes and Maria as well thank you and thanks to everybody watching all around the world we love you guys love having you here and uh definitely come see us again on the gym Masters show live series don't forget to love one another take care of one another don't forget to love yourself as we always say relax breathe deeply have a laugh or two and come by and stop by lovey Hall and come see us again right here at the gym master show be right here waiting for you with more great episodes and a quick reminder you can see all the past episodes again or if you missed any and we've done hundreds and hundreds of of them you can see them archived on our YouTube channel uh and have a binge Fest and go back and see them either again or for the first time we love you all thanks for being with us we thank of course our great friend Wesley hayatt for joining us here on the show it was a great conversation celebrating uh his new book and also Wheel of Fortune again there is his book on the screen there for you check it out I think you'll love it and what a great episode celebrating 50 years of an iconic game show Wheel of Fortune really special Jim Masters here thanking you for your time this time till next time come see us again again we love you all be well and this has been a great episode with you involved watching and enjoying and participating on the gym master show come see us again cheers [Applause] [Music] oh [Music]