A EMMY AW RDS

38th Annual Daytime Entertainment CREATIVE ARTS EMMY ® AWARDS
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Vanna with Pat on the 5000 th episode of Wheel of Fortune, 2009.
Alex featured on the cover of TV Guide.
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even remotely looks like a stunt.”
Instead, for “Wheel,” Friedman has kept the
excitement going by adding ways to let contestants win
more money. And he has kept “Jeopardy!” a part of the
current conversation with special events such as this
year’s playoff between the show’s all-time top money
winner, Brad Rutter; Ken Jennings, who had the longest
streak of wins; and Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence
computer system. Watson beat the two humans.
“Jeopardy!,” said Richmond, “is still the only
mainstream game on television that actually would
be considered intellectual by anyone. So many other
game shows have dumbed themselves down and
‘Jeopardy!’ never has.”
In Richmond’s mind, the two shows endure for
different reasons. “’Wheel’ is an American success story,”
he said. “It makes everyone at home feel like they are
smart. ‘Jeopardy!’ meanwhile makes everyone feel like
they want to be smart.”
At some point over the decades, both shows ceased
to be just the evening’s entertainment and became
something much larger. The famous “Jeopardy!” theme
music--titled “Think!”-- gets played whenever the
referees are taking too long at a ball game, Trebek noted.
“After a while we’re a part of Americana,” he said.
And “Wheel”? The reason the show endures, I
have no idea,” said Sajak. “It’s a flukey, weird, strange,
impossible to predict, impossible to explain business.
If I went to try to pitch the show today I’d probably get
laughed out of the office.”
Moreover, he said, the technology is “a throwback.”
But, he said, “You can’t get rid of the clunky wheel
because people love the clunky wheel. And you don’t
need someone up there turning letters.”
But “somewhere along the line, I don’t know where,
we became more than a popular show; we became
part of the popular culture,” he said, providing a
“touchstone in people’s lives.” Sajak said he likens it to
a sunset: “Even if you don’t go out on the patio every
night, it’s nice to know it’s out there. It may be the show
that’s never canceled.” n