Ryan Seacrest talks ‘Wheel of Fortune' future, honors Pat Sajak and Vanna White: ‘This show means something to people'
Ryan Seacrest wants his Emmy for hosting Wheel of Fortune and he's not afraid to ask for it.
Six months after taking the reins from Pat Sajak, who spent over four decades behind the wheel from 1981 to 2024, Seacrest sat down with TV Academy members at the game show's iconic Sony Pictures Studios lot to discuss the future of the iconic game show.
More from GoldDerby
'The Masked Singer' is skipping the fall season 'to regroup'
'Grotesquerie' star Niecy Nash-Betts on that shocking coma twist, and Travis Kelce's 'greedy' appetite
TV Cinematography panel: 'Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire,' 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' 'Étoile'
"You have memories of your grandparents watching this show," Seacrest said. "Everybody who's here, and certainly every contestant who comes on, has a story to tell about when they first saw Wheel of Fortune. I remember having to mow lawns and bag grass — because you got paid extra to bag it — to buy a Zenith TV. My mom wouldn't let us watch TV at dinner time, so I bought the Zenith TV with the ears, put it on the butcher block in the kitchen, and that's when I began to watch Wheel of Fortune with my family while we had dinner."
"This show means something to people," he continued. "It means something to families. I have fun with the job, but I take that responsibility very seriously."
Following the discussion, Vanna White surprised attendees as she walked out in one of her signature gowns and asked, "Should we play a game?" Holding Seacrest's arm, she looked at him and said, "This is an incredible man. I am so happy to be working with you. We've known each other for over 20 years, but we've worked together over a year now — and it's such an honor. You make it so easy and you're doing such a great job. I adore you and enjoy working with you."
After a couple of impromptu rounds with three lucky guest players, Seacrest and White invited everyone to join them for a cocktail and an up-close look at the famous wheel and letter board. The dynamic duo also stuck around for well over two hours, taking photos and chatting one-on-one with each person in attendance.
In its 50th anniversary season, Wheel of Fortune still ranks No. 1 in its time slot across most of the country and reaches 22 million viewers each week. Seacrest took over hosting duties for Sajak on Sept. 9, 2024, but conversations about the transition began years prior. Sajak's letter-turning cohost White decided to remain on the show with Seacrest after working with Sajak since 1982.
"When you look at what Pat and Vanna have built over the years — they are your friends! They're your companions. You feel like you know them," Seacrest said. "What they built being in peoples' living room every night is such a special thing." To fill Sajak's iconic shoes, Seacrest watched the duo tape their shows for a year, closely studying the rules and what made the game show work so well. Six months before he started, producers gave Seacrest a small wheel he could travel with that allowed him to play in hotel conference rooms with random guests. "I wanted to come on day one as if I knew what I was doing," he said.
Seacrest also revealed his relationship with the show's creator, Merv Griffin (who died in 2007), started 31 years ago. "When I was 19, I auditioned to host a game show called Click for kids on Saturday mornings," he said. "I got the job, and Merv was the first person to teach me the mindset of game. It was a different game — but the mindset of game and how to interact with contestants. He told me the story of how he created Wheel of Fortune on an airplane — it's basically Hangman — and that's why it's worked forever. It's a very simple game."
"When I was working for Merv, he let me come and sit in meetings about Wheel of Fortune at the Beverly Hilton Hotel," he continued. "I had no idea I would eventually be sitting here. Merv is the one that taught me to be as focused on the business show business as the performance, which is why I produced a lot at the beginning of my career. He wasn't just the guy that was on camera, he was a force behind it. I found that so fascinating. He was so charming. He could get anybody to say yes to anything."
When asked how his hosting gigs on American Idol and Live With Kelly and Ryan helped prepare him, Seacrest shared, "With American Idol, I have a chance to really connect with contestants and their families. I get to meet them early on. I'm interested in where they've come from. That's something that is part of this show. The one thing I forget about Wheel — that I'm often reminded of by our producer — I think we're live. I'm like, 'We have to start in one minute! What's going on?' And sometimes they're like, 'If anything happens we can fix it,' and I'm like, 'We can fix it?' I forget we're on tape. I like to not stop ever and try to do this as fast as possible."
"Live With Kelly and Ryan was interesting because we would show up and we didn't discuss anything we were going to talk about beforehand," he continued. "You really get comfortable on national television just sitting and telling stories."
The new Wheel host also revealed that his chemistry with White came naturally because they've been friends for over 20 years. "We first met through Merv Griffin and we sat together at Merv's funeral as well," he said. "We have remained friends over the years. When I first got the job, I tracked her down at a golf course and said, 'I want to make this as seamless for you as possible.' This crew is a well-oiled machine. You don't want to be the guy that slows things down. I wanted her, also, to feel comfortable. She has been a tremendous supporter and dear friend through all of this."
Seacrest describes White as "very casual" in real life — far different from her glamorous persona on TV — and recounted how she hand-made him a quilt that he has in his home. "She's just a lovely person," he shared. "Have you ever met someone famous and they let you down? Shout their name! No — but you see her, you know she's a treasure, and when you meet her she's even better."
"Wheel of Fortune is simple, it's never changed, and will always be a protected safe space for anybody to watch," he said about why the show has resonated with viewers for so long. "We're never going to have an uncomfortable puzzle. We're never going to have an uncomfortable conversation about something you've got to explain to your kids. This is a safe place for fun and it will always be that way. I think that's special."
Wheel of Fortune has won seven Daytime Emmys, including Best Game Show in 2011. Last year, the show won its first Primetime Emmy for host Pat Sajak in his final year.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
'Grotesquerie' star Niecy Nash-Betts on that shocking coma twist, and Travis Kelce's 'greedy' appetite
TV Cinematography panel: 'Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire,' 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' 'Étoile'
'Étoile' cinematographer M. David Mullen on reuniting with the Palladinos
Click here to read the full article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fallout Season 2: Everything We Know About the Amazon Megahit's Return
More Fallout is coming. Eventually. More from TVLine Lester Holt Signs Off as NBC Nightly News Anchor - Will You Miss Him? What to Watch in June: Your Guide to 110+ Premieres Across Broadcast, Cable and Streaming Nicole Kidman Is Kay Scarpetta, Jamie Lee Curtis Her Sister in First Look at Patricia Cornwell Thriller Adaptation It has already been more than a year since Season 1 of the Prime Video series, based on the popular video game franchise, exploded onto our screens. But rest assured, there is much more to look forward to, as detailed below. Fallout — which with its freshman run delivered Prime Video's most-watched season globally since Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — is set 200 years after the apocalypse, where Lucy (played by Ella Purnell), a denizen of a luxury fallout shelter/'vault,' found her peaceful nature tested when she was forced to the toxic (?) surface to locate her father (Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan). Aaron Moten (NeXT) co-stars as Maximus, a young soldier rising in the ranks of the militaristic Brotherhood of Steel, while Walton Goggins (Justified) plays Western star Cooper Howard and his post-apocalyptic persona The Ghoul, a morally fluid bounty hunter. The three parties collided in Season 1 when chasing a researcher (Evil's Michael Emerson) who was in possession of an artifact with the potential to change the power dynamic in this dystopian hellscape. What all do we know about Season 2, and the hit series' future beyond that? Well…. Oh, it was big. Huge, really. Season 1 became one of Prime Video's top three most-watched titles ever, and it set multiple records along the way. In Nielsen's weekly U.S. rankings of streaming originals, Fallout 1) racked up the most minutes viewed for any Prime Video title, 2) became the first series outside of the Netflix platform to rack up 2 billion minutes viewed in consecutive weeks, and 3) was the first Prime Video series to top the Overall Top 10 chart three times in a row. What's more, Nielsen's 'Streaming Unwrapped' report for 2024 crowned Fallout the Top New Original Drama Series after it amassed 11.95 billion minutes streamed last year. Season 1 garnered 16 Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor in a Drama (Walton Goggins), Special Visual Effects, Prosthetic Makeup, and Production Design. (It wound up grabbing Emmy gold once, for Outstanding Music Supervision.) Fallout's many kudos also include three Writers Guild of America Award nominations, Television Critics Association Award nods for Best Drama and Best New Program, and it won at the Art Directors Guild Awards for Excellence in Production Design for a One-Hour Fantasy Single-Camera Series. The new season will 'pick up in the aftermath of Season 1's epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas,' says Amazon. Said finale saw Lucy process a gut-punch of an epiphany — that her father, Hank, had a hands-on role in bombing Shady Sands — and in turn ally with the Ghoul to, among other things, go find his (meaning, Cooper Howard's) family. 'Will Lucy be able to hang on to her core?' in the wake of that bombshell and not devolve like The Ghoul, co-showrunner Graham Wagner asked in a THR Q&A. 'It's sort of a nature vs. nurture question. Has her time in a happy cozy vault steeled her against that? We will find out. What we're already into in Season 2 is exploring how far we want to push this character, how much do we want to see her hang onto to herself. It becomes the game of the show in its own way.' Goggins, meanwhile, told Deadline in February (see video below) that while he personally thought 'Season 1 was extraordinary,' the second season 'blows it out of the water, what these writers have done and the artisans that have come together to tell this story. It's really gonna be something. I can't wait for people to see it.' Walton Goggins teases #Fallout Season 2 : 'I thought Season 1 was extraordinary… This blows it out of the water' — Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 11, 2025 Returning cast members from Season 1 include, of course, Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets, Sweetpea), Walton Goggins (The White Lotus, The Righteous Gemstones) and Aaron Moten (Emancipation, Father Stu) — as Ella, The Ghoul/Cooper Howard and Maximus — as well as Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as Lucy's father Hank, Moisés Arias (The King of Staten Island) as Lucy's kid brother Norm, and Frances Turner (The Boys) as Cooper's wife/high-ranking Vault-Tec exec Barb Howard. The only reported cast addition for Season 2 is Macaulay Culkin in the recurring role of 'a crazy, genius-type character.' Culkin, of course, is best known for playing resourceful tyke Kevin McCallister in the 1990 holiday smash Home Alone and its 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. As a child actor, he also had memorable roles in My Girl and The Good Son. Culkin returned to acting as an adult, earning acclaim for his work in Party Monster and Saved!, among others. He more recently co-starred in Season 10 of FX's American Horror Story, dubbed Double Feature, and HBO's The Righteous Gemstones. If one looks closely once Season 2 arrives, you might detect that Fallout relocated its base of operations from New York to California (specifically, Santa Clarita aka NCIS-land) after receiving a $25 million tax credit. (Season 1 also filmed in New Jersey, Utah and, for the Wasteland scenes, Kolmanskop, Namibia.) As one result of the move to the West Coast, you might spy 'less gray skies,' co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet told THR. 'That was tricky about New York. We were shooting partially in the summer and partially in the middle of winter. And some of those exteriors, the gray skies, they're just not as beautiful.' Would you settle for a release month…? At Prime Video's Upfronts presentation on May 12, cast members Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten and Walton Goggins appeared onstage to announce that Season 2 will premiere this December, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. That means some 20 months will have elapsed between seasons. TVLine will of course keep you posted on the precise release date for Season 2. In a way, there already is! At Amazon's annual Upfront presentation held May 12, it was also announced that Fallout has already been renewed for a third season. 'The holidays came a little early this year — we are thrilled to be ending the world all over again for a third season of Fallout,' said executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. 'On behalf of our brilliant cast and crew, our showrunners Geneva [Robertson-Dworet] and Graham [Wagner], and our partners at Bethesda, we're grateful to our incredible collaborators at Amazon MGM Studios and to the amazing fans as we continue our adventures in the wasteland together.' So, then, maybe the question is: Will there be a Season 4, and maybe more? 'Look, we've talked about three seasons and we've talked about five seasons…,' co-showrunner Graham Wagner told THR. 'Given the success of the show, five is suddenly feeling a little more appealing. But the industry is a temperamental thing and we kind of have to go into each season being like, 'This is our last.' Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Best of TVLine Young Sheldon Easter Eggs: Every Nod to The Big Bang Theory (and Every Future Reveal) Across 7 Seasons Weirdest TV Crossovers: Always Sunny Meets Abbott, Family Guy vs. Simpsons, Nine-Nine Recruits New Girl and More ER Turns 30: See the Original County General Crew, Then and Now
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Loretta Swit, who played libido-driven Maj. ‘Hot Lips' Houlihan on ‘M*A*S*H,' dies at 87
Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning actor best known for her time as Maj. Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan on the TV version of 'M*A*S*H,' died Friday in her New York City apartment, her representative confirmed to The Times. She was 87. Swit was found by her housekeeper around 10 a.m., according to publicist Harlan Boll, who said he had been on the phone with her at 11 p.m. local time Thursday night — 2 a.m. Friday in New York. Her doorman saw her drop something in the mail at 4 a.m. Friday, New York time, Boll said, and six hours later, she was gone. The actor — born Loretta Jane Szwed on Nov. 4, 1937, in Passaic, N.J. — loved playing Hot Lips so much that she was the only performer other than Alan Alda who stayed on the series from its pilot in 1972 through its much-watched finale in 1983. 'M*A*S*H,' set during the Korean War, was a sitcom but also more than that to Swit. 'There is, I think, an intelligence behind the humor,' she told The Times in 1977. 'The audience is huge, and they deserve to be entertained on the highest level we can achieve.' Though her portrayal of the libido-driven blond in fatigues and Army boots catapulted Swit to household-name status, she had been in acting since before her 8th birthday in stage productions and musicals in New York. She left home at 17 to work in the theater, temping at secretarial jobs while studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. A confessed workaholic, Swit moved easily from comedy to drama, acting in 'Same Time, Next Year,' 'Mame' and 'The Odd Couple' before moving to Los Angeles to star in 'M*A*S*H.' She appeared in iconic series such as 'Hawaii Five-O,' 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Mannix,' and had a productive television career until very recently. Her most recent TV appearance was as herself in the 2024 Fox tribute special 'M*A*S*H: The Comedy That Changed Television.' Her theater work was plentiful, and in addition to Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and national work, included shows in Southern California. She joined Harry Hamlin in 'One November Yankee' at the NoHo Arts Center in 2012, three years after doing a reading of the play with a different actor at the Pasadena Playhouse. 'M*A*S*H' filmed its outdoor scenes at Malibu Creek State Park, where the set was re-created for fans' enjoyment in 2008. 'It's thrilling to be honored in this way,' Swit told The Times that year. 'I think if I had to sum it up, what we're most proud of is that we made everybody come together. And I think this will also bring people together.' Swit was nominated for five Emmys for her Hot Lips role and won for supporting actress in a comedy, variety or music series in 1980 and 1982. She garnered four Golden Globe nominations for her work on 'M*A*S*H,' in the lead and supporting actress categories, but did not win. She was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 1989, near what is now the home of Amoeba Music. An animal lover, Swit set up the SwitHeart Animal Alliance to prevent cruelty and end animal suffering. The alliance worked with numerous nonprofit organizations and programs to protect, rescue, train and care for animals and preserve their habitat, while raising public awareness about issues that concern domestic, farm, exotic, wild and native animals. She created an art book, 'SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit,' which includes 65 of her full-color paintings and drawings and 22 of her photographs. Proceeds went to animal causes, and the 2016 Betty White Award from the group Actors and Others for Animals was but one of the many honors she received for her philanthropic work. Former freelance writer T.L. Stanley contributed to this report.
CNBC
3 hours ago
- CNBC
Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning 'M*A*S*H' actress, dies at 87
Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning actress most well-known for her leading role on "M*A*S*H," has died, her representatives said Friday. She was 87. Swit died at her home in New York City just after noon Friday, her team said in a statement, citing a police report. It is suspected she died of natural causes, but a report from the coroner's office is still pending. Swit portrayed the quick-witted Maj. Margaret Houlihan on one of TV's most honored series and collected a number of awards for the "M*A*S*H" role, including two Emmys. She was nominated for 10 Emmys and four Golden Globes. Her sensuous, sensitive, comedic character was also known as "Hot Lips." The TV series, which aired from September 1972 to February 1983, followed the staff of an Army hospital during the Korean War. Swit starred in all seasons of "M*A*S*H" alongside Alan Alda, Jamie Farr and Larry Linville. Swit and Alda were the two longest-running actors on the comedy-drama. Its series finale, on Feb. 28, 1983, was two-and-a-half hours long and had more than 100 million viewers — the most of any scripted TV series ever. Swit was born Loretta Jane Szwed on Nov. 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey, to Polish immigrants. She went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before kick-starting her career with years of touring. She got her first on-screen acting credits in the late 1960s, with "Gunsmoke," "Hawaii Five-O," "Mission Impossible" and "Bonanza." She was cast in "M*A*S*H" in 1972 — her big break. Swit had more than 25 TV movie credits, her team said, including the role of Chris Cagney in the original "Cagney and Lacey," but she didn't appear in the series because she was filming "M*A*S*H" at the time, her representative said. She also had roles in "Games Mother Never Taught You," "Hell Hath No Fury," "The Execution," "Dreams of Gold," and "A Killer Among Friends." Swit also tried her hand on stage. She made her Broadway debut in "Same Time, Next Year" in 1975 and appeared in more than 1,200 performances of "Shirley Valentine," which earned her the Sarah Siddons Award, the most prestigious theater award in Chicago, according to her team. Swit also appeared in a number of TV musical specials, including "The Muppet Show" and the Broadway musical "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman." Her success on TV landed Swit film roles alongside major actors, including "Freebie and the Bean" with James Caan and Alan Arkin, "S.O.B." with Julie Andrews," "Race with the Devil" with Peter Fonda and "Forrest Warrior" with Chuck Norris, among others. Swit, who loved animals as much as she did the arts, her rep said, had a wildlife series on Discovery. "Those Incredible Animals" was shown twice a week for five years in more than 30 countries. She founded the SwitHeart Animal Alliance "to prevent cruelty and end animal suffering, to promote and cooperate with numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that protect, rescue, train, and care for animals and preserve their habitat," her rep said in the statement." She created and sold both a coloring book and a perfume to raise money for the animal alliance and other animal-related nonprofits and causes, and won a number of awards recognizing her efforts to help animals and their habitats.
