The realm of TV trivia was shaken up significantly recently when longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak announced that he was retiring from the game show. It marks the end of an era, just a few years after the death of longtime Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. Just over two weeks after Sajak’s retirement was revealed, American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest was named the new host. It was a very quick turnaround compared to how Jeopardy handled the task of finding a new host, and former champ James Holzhauer cracked a pretty great joke about it.
How well Ryan Seacrest will do as new host of Wheel of Fortune (particularly in light of the fact that Vanna White’s future is uncertain) remains to be seen, but there’s no denying that there was a lot less fuss in finding Pat Sajak’s successor compared to Jeopardy in the wake of Alex Trebek’s death. James Holzhauer, whose strategy turned him into a history-making champion of the show, didn’t let his Jeopardy and Jeopardy Masters success stop him from finding a funny side of the situation:
Wheel of Fortune went about this all wrongFirst you subject the contestants and viewers to an endless parade of temps who don’t prepare before hostingThen the producer in charge of the search says “Actually, *I* would be the perfect host”Then “jk we have two hosts now” pic.twitter.com/7pj55RFeg6June 27, 2023
Anybody who paid attention to the search for a new Jeopardy host may be flashing back to the show’s string of guest hosts who seemed to be auditioning for the new top job in the wake of Trebek’s death, with fans picking their favorites and a passionate campaign for LeVar Burton. Then, despite not being famous, Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards was announced as the new permanent host.
If the name “Mike Richards” doesn’t ring a bell, that’s probably because his stint as permanent host was very short in the wake of scandals being uncovered about his past. James Holzhauer actually blasted Mike Richard after he was ousted in a series of social media posts in 2021, and then took a hilarious shot at Jeopardy’s host situation later when hosting The Chase. Mike Richards was actually cut from Wheel of Fortune as well as Jeopardy, as he had been an executive producer on Pat Sajak’s show.
So far, Ryan Seacrest being named the successor to Sajak has been going much more smoothly than what went down on Jeopardy, although there were plenty of jokes from fans about the news after it was announced. There is some uncertainty about Vanna White’s role, as she has hired a lawyer with reports circulating that she hasn’t received a raise in nearly two decades and is seeking a salary increase.
The transition from Sajak to Seacrest would undoubtedly be smoother with White still handling the letters on the board, so hopefully she gets the long-awaited raise she’s reportedly seeking and will be joining forces with the new host once the switch happens. As for whether James Holzhauer will have more to say on the subject… well, I wouldn’t rule it out if it gets messier!
