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Graham Norton, Ryan Seacrest spin a new Wheel of Fortune.

Profile hosts join UK and US game shows in their home country.

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“I’d like to buy a vowel please…”

Wheel of Fortune is back in fashion in international markets with new profile hosts.

Graham Norton will host an 8 x 60 run, which includes two celebrity specials, in the UK.

Norton said: “I’m beyond excited to be bringing such an iconic American show to a new British audience. My first ever TV job was a game show on ITV so this feels like coming full circle. You might even call it a wheel.”

Meanwhile in the USA Ryan Seacrest will succeed longtime host Pat Sajak who announced his retirement earlier this month. Hosting since 1983, Sajak is the longest-serving host of any US TV game show, ahead of The Price is Right’s Bob Barker and Jeopardy!‘s Alex Trebek.

“I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,” Seacrest said in a statement.

“I can say, along with the rest of America, that it’s been a privilege and pure joy to watch Pat and [co-host] Vanna [White] on our television screens for an unprecedented 40 years, making us smile every night and feel right at home with them.”

Could Australia be next on the list for a revival, perhaps in a UK-style short primetime run? Nine is giving us Jeopardy! soon with Stephen Fry as a series of specials. Maybe filming Wheel in the UK could be a strategic move, given people have a lot of nostalgia for the show….

Aussie hosts have of course been John Burgess, Ernie Sigley, Tony Barber, Rob Elliot, Steve Oemecke, Larry Emdur and Tim Campbell -not forgetting the wonderful Adriana Xenides as co-host and John Deeks as announcer.

10 Responses

  1. We need to get a game show network. Everyone loves game shows but we only have a few weekly ones here. We need a network here so we can bring back local versions of the hits like Wheel, Price is right, Jeopardy, etc. And also be able to watch classic game shows. I know it would work. Please someone do it. I miss all these shows.

  2. Short primetime runs could work here for a revival show – like what we’re getting with Jeopardy. Shows like The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Burgo’s Catch Phrase could work in the short term. We had The 1% Club that rated well, and that was a short-run game show. So it could work.

    Speaking of Jeopardy, I wish that SBS would stop with the repeats of the US version and start airing new episodes again. The handful of fans like myself are wating patiently…..

  6. I wish we bring back old eps of WOF and put it on 7Two or 7+. It was fun to watch & they win a lot of good prizes. Rob Elliot was a good host back then. I feel the start of the end for WOF was in early 2004 when Steve took over, replacing Rob as host. The day when Steve took over, the show went on a downward spiral. Seven gave another chance in early 2006 with Larry as host but sadly it was too late and this saw the official axing of a long-running show. As a WOF fan, I was sad to see such a wonderful show come to an end.

  8. I’ve thought for some time that 10 could bring it back for nightly 6pm 30 min episodes to replace that useless extension of the news.
    They’ve had to bring back the format of the 90’s/early 2000’s with decent prizes.
    Seven’s Wheel of BigW Fortune was just terrible in so many ways from the sponsorship to the studio being the size of a single car garage.

    1. I think you meant to say The price is right which I agreed was terrible.
      Ps Sorry I was meant to reply to the user instead of making a new reply so David can you delete my original please, Thanks

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