SmashWhammy
Avatar by LemonJoel (from the Jackbox Games fan community)
Posts: 399 
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Post by SmashWhammy on Jun 18, 2024 15:22:24 GMT -5
the clickbait was not 100% my idea, btw (blame subject character limits), but i present a case of "What If..." with some sources to fuel the speculation when it comes to who'd be hosting Wheel of Fortune after Chuck's exit. We all know Merv went to Pat to host the show... but apparently, Nancy Jones had other ideas. Including hiring Jim Perry shortly after he finished his time as host of NBC's run of Card Sharks. pictured: two excerpts (including a quote from Jim himself) might make a reply later on with some accreditation of the linked source if i can find any (if you folks don't do it first)
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SmashWhammy
Avatar by LemonJoel (from the Jackbox Games fan community)
Posts: 399
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Post by SmashWhammy on Jun 18, 2024 15:37:20 GMT -5
like i said in the first post in this thread, here's that accreditation: Matt Ottinger, Adam Nedeff and the Narz family. (the same ones as the Bill Cullen Archive stuff)
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SmashWhammy
Avatar by LemonJoel (from the Jackbox Games fan community)
Posts: 399
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Post by SmashWhammy on Jun 18, 2024 18:31:47 GMT -5
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wheelfan910
The production values Bellamie SHOULD strive for.
Posts: 572
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Post by wheelfan910 on Jun 18, 2024 22:25:08 GMT -5
According to Adam Nedeff, David Letterman was also approached by NBC to host the show after Chuck left. Bob Eubanks and Alex Trebek were also offered the position, with Eubanks taping test shows on the actual set in mid-November.
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Post by jjc927 on Jun 19, 2024 10:54:17 GMT -5
It's funny that NBC apparently was looking for an experienced host to replace Chuck and they were hesitant on Pat, since Chuck left as a result of a salary dispute and a more experienced host would've probably wanted more money than someone like Pat with no previous hosting experience.
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SmashWhammy
Avatar by LemonJoel (from the Jackbox Games fan community)
Posts: 399
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Post by SmashWhammy on Jun 19, 2024 11:47:37 GMT -5
plus, in Jim's case, they didn't want to re-hire him so soon after Card Sharks ended
and if Alex had the Wheel job, then would Jeopardy '84 be where it is today? heck, would Wheel be paired with it like it is in our timeline
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Post by billygr on Jun 19, 2024 20:11:26 GMT -5
plus, in Jim's case, they didn't want to re-hire him so soon after Card Sharks ended
and if Alex had the Wheel job, then would Jeopardy '84 be where it is today? heck, would Wheel be paired with it like it is in our timeline
And of course the question of what several decades of late night television would have looked like had Letterman been the one chosen for Wheel. So many situations like that, where any of the people in question could have done a fine job hosting a given show, and no one would have actually known what was missing (since these other shows would have been done with other people, possibly just as well, possibly not and maybe even better), but certainly the whole setup would have been different than what we know actually occurred. |
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Post by speedandstrategy on Jun 20, 2024 15:29:32 GMT -5
It was Merv who refused to give Chuck the salary he wanted, not NBC. Wouldn't be surprised if salary considerations were also part of the reason Merv opted to hire someone unknown instead of a Perry, Eubanks, or Trebek. Of course Alex did end up hosting a show for Merv a few years later, but that was coming on the heels of the massive success of syndicated Wheel, so maybe Merv was willing to shell out a little more money at that point.
As for what might have happened if Letterman hosted... well, Pat *did* leave the daytime version to host a late-night show on CBS. Maybe David would have done the same and had more success at it? Then again he did already have his daily NBC morning talk show, and he might have decided by 1981 that he didn't want to be known as a game show host.
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Post by jjc927 on Jun 20, 2024 16:13:52 GMT -5
It was Merv who refused to give Chuck the salary he wanted, not NBC. Wouldn't be surprised if salary considerations were also part of the reason Merv opted to hire someone unknown instead of a Perry, Eubanks, or Trebek. True. Merv obviously saw something in Pat, and to say it worked out incredibly well would be an understatement. As for David Letterman if he did become the host of Wheel, he did retire from hosting The Late Show in 2015 so assuming he also would've left Wheel at the same time, who would've become the host then? Does Ryan Seacrest take over 9 years earlier? |
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Post by newt on Jul 20, 2024 9:46:36 GMT -5
History would be different if David Letterman had been the host. He was about five and a half months younger than Pat. I was happy when Merv Griffin was persistent having Pat Sajak on board.
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