Common Questions and Uncommon Answers

I don't know how many Wheel of Fortune interviews I've done over the years, but I know how many questions I've been asked: seven. I'm exaggerating, of course, but the questions do tend to be the same. I try to offer some variety in my answers, but that's not always easy.

The answer to one of the most common interview questions has evolved over the years, however. The question is, "Why does the show continue to be so popular?" For the first few years the answer involved the format and the game and the puzzles and the glamor and all that kind of stuff. In recent years I've changed my response as I've gotten more and more feedback from viewers. So many people who write to the show or approach me out in public talk about the "tradition" of Wheel in their family.

They talk about watching the show with their parents or grandparents, or they tell me their kids learned the alphabet by watching. They'll get teary-eyed talking about losing a loved one who, to the very end, looked forward to our daily half-hour.

In other words, our simple little game has become a part of people's lives, and evokes good feelings and wonderful memories. I would be lying to you if I said that was our intention when the show began so many years ago, but we're delighted it's taken such an important place in people's daily lives.

I often joke that I'm a grown man who's made a very good living spinning a giant, multicolored wheel and playing hangman, but there's nothing funny about the regard our viewers have for our unassuming half-hour of entertainment. We appreciate it, and we all feel a special responsibility to live up to the trust and loyalty our viewers have shown from year to year and from generation to generation.

So, to all our Wheel Watchers, thank you.