Now That Drew Will Replace Bob....

[byrd62]

Some age numbers for you:

Pat Sajak was 35 when he took over daytime Wheel of Fortune in the infamous "Woolery left Wheel" saga of Christmas 1981, and was not quite 37 when the Wheel went nighttime a couple of years later.  He's now 60.

Vanna White was 25 when she took Susan Stafford's place next to the puzzle board in Nov. 1982.  She is now 50.

Alex Trebek was 44 when he began his run as host of Jeopardy.  He's now 67.

As for each show's announcers, Wheel's Charlie O. will be 75 soon, while Jeopardy!'s Johnny Gilbert is 73, so if those two are still around at their ages, maybe Pat, Vanna and Alex are each good for another decade.

But if there's pressure, be it from advertisers or stations, to retire Pat, Vanna and/or Alex, who would be their replacements?

Pat Kiernan would make a great Jeopardy! host, and maybe also Todd Newton on Wheel now that he was passed up for Drew Carey on TPiR, but both are in, or close to, their late 30's, so would they be too old already if either were to be offered that chance?

And what about Roger Lodge from GSN's Camouflage, who's probably about as old as Todd or P.K., or maybe Jeff Probst of Survivor and R&R J!, never mind that he's not yet 45?  Ryan Seacrest of American Idol, given his game show hosting experience pre-Idol, could be an outside shot at age 32, or if that Temptation guy, Rossi Moreale, can prove himself, he might be given either of those.

Oh, and as for that Vanna slot on Wheel? I can't quite take a guess, but if she's not L. Lohan, B. Spears, P. Hilton or N. Richie, I would be happy with that.

Given that Wheel and J! are both well-established with long-term syndication deals into the next decade, I wouldn't see any changes being made--barring the unexpected.  But I thought I'd bring up the "what if" on that.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'byrd62\' post=\'158599\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 04:23 PM\']
Jeopardy!'s Johnny Gilbert is 73[/quote]
I believe Johnny G. is 83.
To answer your question about a replacement, perhaps Charlie O. could do both WOF and J!.
Or maybe whoever announces on Let's Do Crosswords could announce for Jeopardy!
Might John Harlan be interested in a return to the Jeopardy! announcer's microphone?

[WhammyPower]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'158619\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 05:26 PM\']
Might John Harlan be interested in a return to the Jeopardy! announcer's microphone? [/quote]
I certainly hope not.  A voice like his wouldn't work for Jeopardy!.  But maybe Gary Kroeger...

/Then again, Harlan's voice didn't really work for American Gladiators, either...

[LA the DJ]

Is this what's going to happen now that the 10 year long game show internet community debate on who will replace Bob Barker is over?

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'nWo_Whammy\' post=\'158621\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 06:42 PM\']
Is this what's going to happen now that the 10 year long game show internet community debate on who will replace Bob Barker is over?
[/quote]
Now that I think of it, who's waiting in the wings to replace Drew Carey a couple or three decades from now?

[MikeK]

[quote name=\'WhammyPower\' post=\'158620\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 06:35 PM\']
[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'158619\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 05:26 PM\']
Might John Harlan be interested in a return to the Jeopardy! announcer's microphone? [/quote]
I certainly hope not.  A voice like his wouldn't work for Jeopardy!.[/quote]
It worked for 6 months in 1978 and 1979.

83 sounds like a more accurate age for Gilbert.  He hosted Music Bingo half a century ago.  I doubt he was 23 back then...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'WhammyPower\' post=\'158620\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 03:35 PM\']
I certainly hope not.  A voice like his wouldn't work for Jeopardy!.
[/quote]
Erm, it worked fine once.

[bandit_bobby]

Probably me on Wheel of Fortune. But to many of you, that's a longshot.

[Jimmy Owen]

I wonder if anybody ever suggested Drew Carey back in the day on Usenet when the Price question came up?

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'158632\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 04:24 PM\']
Probably me on Wheel of Fortune. But to many of you, that's a longshot.
[/quote]
Well, hell. If we're gonna be that way about it, I'd sure give it a whirl...

/Replacing Pat or Alex, not Vanna.
//Wow.

[Jamey Greek]

I think Marc Summers should replace Alex.  Having hosted History IQ, I think he can handle something like J!  i can picture Marc hosting J!  Whilst, I can see Todd Newton host WOF.  As for announcers, I think John Cramer, Randy West, or Jim Thornton can replace Johnny on J! whereas John Cramer or Randy West can replace Charlie O on Wheel.  Hey, Charlie O' announced both TTD and TJW simultaneously and so did Jay Stewart.  Maybe John Cramer can announce both J! and WOF and so could Randy West.

[Tim L]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'158633\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 07:32 PM\']
I wonder if anybody ever suggested Drew Carey back in the day on Usenet when the Price question came up?
[/quote]


Not likely because in the heyday of usenet (The early-mid 1990's) Carey was just emerging out of standup comedy to begin his television career..He was just becoming a known quantity then..

[Dbacksfan12]

Todd Newton would be perfect for Wheel of Fortune.  He'd yell just as loudly as the contestants.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'158632\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 04:24 PM\']Probably me on Wheel of Fortune. But to many of you, that's a longshot.[/quote]The only host in history who would manage to forget the names of the contestants during the show.

Or the only one who would throw a hissy if the $100,000 was picked and not won.

To echo the earlier sentiment: Really, now. We just finished up one host choice. Why bother with a hypotheticall that might be a decade or more in the future.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'158657\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 11:34 PM\'][quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'158632\' date=\'Jul 25 2007, 04:24 PM\']Probably me on Wheel of Fortune. But to many of you, that's a longshot.[/quote]The only host in history who would manage to forget the names of the contestants during the show.
[/quote]
You don't think the contestant coordinators could make sure that every show had at least one Elizabeth or Deborah?