Pat Sajak's final 'Wheel of Fortune' episode airs Friday: NPR

It was the game show's answer that almost broke the internet: Tavaris Williams, eager to solve one of the word puzzles Wheel of Fortune, gave an answer that wasn't quite ready for prime time. The board looked like this: _ _ _ _ I _ T _ EB _ _ T!

His guess for the correct sentence? “Right in the ass.”

But as some in the crowd gasped – and one of Williams' competitors said in disbelief: “Whaaat!?” – host Pat Sajak simply answered “no,” and smoothly moved on to the next contestant, who came up with the correct answer. (The solution was, for the record, “This is the best!”)

That incident aired on the show less than two weeks ago, went viral on social media and gave Williams enough visibility to land Jimmy Kimmel Livewhere he complimented Sajak for feeling better and joked about it despite such an embarrassing blunder.

But that's been Sajak's secret weapon for 41 seasons and more than 8,000 shows featuring the TV version of a Hangman-style word game. He taps into an easy-going, affable nature that allows the show to get over rough spots with ease – whether it's a contestant who loses thousands of dollars after mispronouncing an answer or a competitor who knows the show so well, he solves the puzzle and takes his reward with no clues from the host. (Sajak joked, “That's really not necessary at all.”)

Sajak will appear in his latest on Friday Wheel of Fortune episode, retiring from a job he started in 1981 as the longest running host of a single game show in modern TV history. He told daughter Maggie in an interview also mentioned Good morning America that he could probably continue hosting for a while, but “I'd rather leave a few years too early than a few years too late.”

Although it is true that Sajak's departure marks the end of an era Wheel of Fortuneit's also a pivotal moment for TV game shows in general.

Because Sajak is the last old-fashioned game show host on TV.

Pat Sajak and Vanna White prepare to explore cities across the country aboard the Wheel of Fortune Express in 1987.

Judy Sloan/AP

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Judy Sloan/AP

The rise of the traditional game show host

Game show fans with short memories may not remember decades ago when hosts like Sajak filled the TV dial. Dangeris Alex Trebek. The price is correct's Bob Barker. Let's make a deal host and co-creator Monty Hall. Original Wheel of Fortune host Chuck Woolery. The Hollywood Squares“Peter Marshall. Tic-Tac dough's Wink Martindale.

They were of a type. Generally white, middle-aged men with the kind of telegenic, affable charisma you find in local TV anchors — it's no surprise that Sajak was previously a weatherman at KNBC in Los Angeles Wheel of Fortune creator Merv Griffin called – these presenters were carefully inoffensive and positioned to appeal to viewers in Middle America.

Many of them were former radio hosts or aspiring actors. But their main fame came from prominent viewers through funny competitions on television.

'There was the feeling of an almost laboratory-created broadcaster, whose job it was to direct [the show’s] in a sense, traffic,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “The contestants were actually the rotating cast of the show… The hosts came from what I like to call the Wink Martindale School of Broadcasting. “

On paper the job was simple. Introduce the participants, explain the game, make small talk to turn the participants into characters viewers might invest in, and arrange the occasional moment when an errant guest says something bizarre or, um, explicit.

But watching the parade of celebrities is guest hosting Danger in 2021, following the deaths of Trebek – names like quarterback Aaron Rodgers, talk show personality Mehmet Oz and host Joe Buck – it's clear there's a secret sauce to successfully running such shows.

Hosts should be knowledgeable without looking like know-it-alls; empathetic without investing too much in one player. They have to explain the game in a way that the players and the TV audience can follow, while being fun and funny at the same time.

And they have to deal with the reactions of average citizens under pressure – calming down the people who get over-excited and making people so intimidated that they might not be visible on camera.

To viewers of a certain age, game show hosts like Sajak were comforting friends — fun personalities who made you feel better while you were home sick from school or pottering around the house watching daytime TV. Or, in the case of shows like Wheel And Dangerwhich often air on TV stations after the network evening newscasts, their hosts are a relaxed presence who eases you into the night.

Sajak channeled this innocuous style well – even when in 2019, amid the country's increasing political polarization, news broke that he appointed chairman of the supervisory board for Hillsdale College, the private, conservative Christian school.

When he was paired with actress and model Vanna White in 1982, the two had chemistry like a charismatic couple leading a game among friends.

So what do we lose as the last old-school game show host leaves his job?

New hosts with celebrity cachet

Today, thanks to network TV's waning interest in scripted TV series, there are more game shows than ever – from revivals of classic formats like Family feud And password to new inventions such as Defeat Shazam And The 1% club. But the old school hosts have retired and/or passed away, like Trebek DangerBarker out The price is correct and Richard Dawson of Family feud.

In their place are leaders who have already achieved fame as artists elsewhere, bringing their fame, fan base and personality to the screen. To consider cheerfulness alum Jane Lynch op Weakest linkactor/standup comic/musician Jamie Foxx Defeat Shazam or The West Wing alum Rob Lowe op The floor. Even new Danger host Ken Jennings was a champion on the program before he started hosting it.

Stand-up comics and improv artists accustomed to thinking on their feet have done well here, including Drew Carey, who succeeded Barker The price is correct, Let's make a deal's Wayne Brady and Family feud's Steve Harvey, who, according to Thompson of Syracuse University, is now the king of game show hosts — because of his ability to add personality and humor without derailing the game.

Old school hosts were never expected to be big crowd pleasers Wheel of Fortune's success seemed a bit of a happy coincidence. Paired with Danger in many TV markets, the two programs have become ratings hits together, with the tough, intellectually challenging questions of Danger balanced by the easy pun Wheel of Fortune.

And who can resist solving a good word puzzle?

Given all this, it makes some sense that Sajak's replacement would be the modern equivalent of an old-fashioned game show host: radio personality and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, who has amassed his own endless list of appearances.

Thompson expects the show's popularity to continue to rise when Seacrest takes over the show with Vanna White in September.

“If Barker and Trebek can be replaced… so can Sajak,” he added. “I think the formats in these shows have now become the star. All the presenters have to do is stay out of the way and keep things moving.”