Word: showing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Well, at least they seem nice so far. Pat Sajak is the low-key, dryly sardonic host of TV's most popular game show, Wheel of Fortune. Starting next Monday, he will appear, bereft of Vanna White and those fabulous prizes, as host of the Pat Sajak Show, CBS's first late-night talk program in 17 years. Arsenio Hall, who co-starred with Eddie Murphy in the movie Coming to America, made his own TV splash as Joan Rivers' boyishly enthusiastic replacement on the Fox network's Late Show. This week he will rejoin the late-night fray...
Sajak and Hall will compete against each other in many cities, but their main target is that unyielding edifice of late night, the Tonight show, starring Johnny Carson. The mission might seem suicidal. A gaggle of talk hosts, from Joey Bishop to Alan Thicke, have emerged over the years to challenge Carson, only to slink away in failure. But Sajak and Hall have one potential advantage: they could simply outlast Carson. After 26 years behind the desk, the NBC veteran may be nearing retirement, though neither he nor NBC will comment on whether he expects to continue beyond September. Even...
...paper at least, Sajak, 42, has the right credentials. While growing up in Chicago, he used to sneak out of bed to watch Jack Paar and decided that doing a talk show "would be a fun way to earn a living." He became a radio disk jockey, TV weatherman and local talk-show host; then in 1981 he replaced Chuck Woolery on Wheel of Fortune. Part of the show's success can be traced to his laid-back, let's-not-take-this-seriously attitude. Indeed, Sajak has trouble taking even himself seriously. "No matter how charming and delightful...
Many already know what Hall can do. His 13-week stint on the Late Show was a ratings success and ended only because Fox had previously committed itself to the Wilton North Report (yet another late-night failure). A Cleveland native, Hall started his show-biz career as a stand-up comic and became host of the TV series Solid Gold. But he claims he has wanted to do a talk show since age twelve: he calls Carson his "idol" and, like Johnny, was a child magician. When Paramount TV initially offered him his own show, Hall was reluctant...
...young audience and says he will have a "melting pot" of guests: "You'll see ((rap singer)) L.L. Cool J and ((country star)) Reba McEntire meeting each other." Sajak, who appeals to an older crowd, will have Barry Goldwater and Vanna White on one upcoming program, and hopes his show's 90-minute length will allow time for more than the usual plug-happy celebrities. "I've always admired Paar's knack of finding witty, interesting conversationalists from the ranks of character actors, politicians and authors," he says. A worthy goal -- maybe too worthy for the glitzy, competitive late-night...