More than two decades later, the Wheel's still spinning
Joshua Aromin
Issue date: 9/11/09 Section: Entertainment
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Wheel of Fortune visited Boston last Friday for the first time since 1993 to tape its annual College Week.
Aside from the technical difficulties, seeing all the TV equipment, flashing "applause" signs, and watching the contestants turn around while the wheel's pieces were being changed, the taping was exactly like the version seen on TV. In short, it was completely different.
The mystique and overall tidiness of the Wheel of Fortune TV presentation was lost during the taping. In just three days, the Wheel of Fortune crew taped 15 episodes. By amassing a week's worth of shows this meant five sets of contestants, five suits for Pat Sajak and five dresses for Vanna White during each day of shooting.
With Wheel of Fortune's shelf life lasting more than two decades, the names Pat Sajak and Vanna White are just as recognizable as the show itself.
Sajak, who has been hosting the show since its beginning, prides himself in giving each contestant the full Wheel of Fortune experience by keeping every episode fresh and not making a distinction between his first show of the day to his last.
With all the different faces, puzzles and events, Sajak doesn't have a favorite memory or contestant.
"By the time it's over, it's just like a big blender in your head and you don't really remember the stuff," Sajak said.
During an interview, White, who dons a dress for every taping, showed up in a white T-shirt and jeans and seemed more like a soccer mom than one of the most famous personalities in game show history.
Auditioning along with 200 others, White was selected personally by Merv Griffin in 1983 and has stayed with Wheel of Fortune since.
When White started, she physically turned each letter on the puzzleboard. Now she simply touches a TV screen for the letters to appear.
Though she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, White feels unchanged. "I still feel like the southern girl I was when I was growing up," White said.
Because the concept of Wheel of Fortune has never really changed, past audiences have remained loyal while events such as College Week draw new viewers. The objective to complete each puzzle while making as much money as possible, Sajak said, is the primary appeal of the show.
Viewers at home try to complete each puzzle while watching it unfold on TV. Sajak said that the game has become a part of people's lives and routines.
"I mean we're just playing hangman and spinning a wheel but here we are."
With the genre of reality TV constantly spitting out new kinds of shows that feature Tony Danza teaching his own English class or trying to find the next big star, Wheel of Fortune has a special aura that maintains its status as an ageless relic among short-lived flops.
Sajak and White said they have no plans to stop hosting the show, and while the popularity of the game remains, their legacy as one of the greatest game show duos keeps growing.
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