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‘Wheel of Fortune’: Pat Sajak Explained Show’s Appeal in the ‘Nasty’ Era of Television

Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak believes that the show has been a bright light in an era of “nasty” television.

Back in 2013, WWLP 22 News — a Springfield, Massachusetts-based station — took a trip to New York City to get a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the popular television gameshow. Meanwhile, the crew also had the chance to sit down with longtime host Pat Sajak for a glimpse of his life, both on and off the show.

Sajak admits that he isn’t quite sure why the show became as popular as it did. He says that maybe it was because they were on around dinner time. But, either way, Wheel of Fortune became a big part of people’s lives. And Sajak says it has been wholesome to see, especially in a time where today’s television shows can be “kind of nasty.”

“In this day in age in particularly television is kind of nasty,” Sajak explained.

He says that Wheel of Fortune offers viewers a throwback of old-fashioned, family fun.

“Now, I don’t mean to bite the hand that feeds me. But, you know, the reality shows screaming at each other and the 24-hour news, we’re kind of a throwback in a way,” he said. “Nobody gets hurt, everybody gets treated with respect. We have fun, we laugh, we play our game, and we go home.”

You can watch the entire interview with Pat Sajak down below:

Pat Sajak Never Dreamed That He Would Have This Kind of Success on ‘Wheel of Fortune’

Even to this day, it is hard for Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak to put into words how the show became so successful. After all, Wheel of Fortune is the longest-running television game show in TV history. But he never would have dreamed that he would still be hosting the show decades later.

“Well, of course not. I mean nobody does. It’s a fluky business and nothing lasts that long. I mean almost nothing. Who knew? Vanna and I used to sit around early on and say, ‘How long can this go on?’ I remember 10 years into it, how long can this go on? And 20 years, how long… and now we don’t even ask the question,” Sajak said during the interview.

But it’s hard to argue with Sajak on why he keeps coming back despite being 74-years-old. He has a pretty sweet gig on the show.

“It’s a great schedule. [Currently] we’re here in New York. We’re going to do four weeks of shows in five days, and I’m not going to work again for another several weeks. So in dog years, I’ve only done about six years of shows,” Sajak laughed.