https://www.connro.com/ (Note: In the years since this video, I’ve realized that some of what I say here about Pat’s achievements and his legacy is a little ridiculous, so I’m going to blame it on quarantine. I do still think it’s an interesting story, though!) Every weeknight across the nation, millions of Americans tune into Wheel of Fortune, an overgrown version of hangman that has proven remarkably resilient since its 1975 debut, and especially so since its current host took over all the way back in 1981. In this documentary, we take a look at the man who has made an exceptional career for himself over the past 40 years mostly by selling vowels and officiating these festivities...among other things. This is the story of Pat Sajak and Wheel of Fortune. Corrections can be found on my website (www.connro.com/corrections) 0:00 Intro 0:51 Early Life 1:45 Early Radio Career 2:53 Vietnam Radio 5:03 WNBS-AM (Murray, Kentucky) 5:49 WSM-TV (Nashville, Tennessee) 7:33 KNBC-TV (Los Angeles, California) 8:52 Merv Griffin 10:13 The Conception of the Wheel 13:47 The Chuck Woolery Years 16:50 Pat Takes the Wheel 20:01 Vanna White 21:31 Wheel's Ratings Surge 24:38 The Pat Sajak Show 36:15 The Wheel Without Pat 37:03 Pat's Other Endeavors 37:30 The Wheel's Impact 40:10 2019 Surgery 40:58 Final Thoughts Music used in order of appearance (Song Title - Artist): 1. Retrosoul from bensound.com 2. Hip Jazz from bensound.com 3. "Half Mystery" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 4. See #1. 5. "Danse Morialta" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 6. "Celebration" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 7. Althat from bensound.com 8. Tender Heart - Moments (used with license from Soundstripe) 9. Street Talk - Ghost Beatz (used with license from Soundstripe) 10. Alley Cat - Soul Shifters (used with license from Soundstripe) 11. See #8. 12. People - Laurent Dury All media used falls under Fair Use protections for educational content. I hope. (Please don't give me a copyright strike.) Thanks to Ryan Vickers for providing some footage I was having trouble hunting down. Thanks to Mark Malkoff for allowing me to use some of his fantastic podcast (The Carson Podcast) in this video.