Even then he aspired to host his own television show some day. Pat Sajak likes to say, 'I must have been born with broadcasting genes.' He remembers sneaking out of bed at age eleven to watch Jack Paar host The Tonight Show. Vanna replaced Stafford in December 1982, and the show moved from the network to syndication in 1983, placing it in prime-time slots and greatly increasing the audience. Pat Sajak made his debut on the show in December 1981, with Stafford continuing as co-host. The original Wheel of Fortune aired on NBC as a daytime game show on January 6, 1975, with hosts Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. In fact, Miss White is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as television's most frequent hand-clapper, averaging 720 claps per show and 28,000 per season. While the wheel spins, it is traditional for contestants to scream 'Big money!' and join Vanna in clapping hands. Producer Merv Griffin, popular co-hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White have awarded contestants over $98 million in cash and prizes for guessing the blank letters of mystery phrases, with the winning amounts determined by spins of a giant wheel. In the ubiquitous game created by executive
In 1998, America's most popular television game show, Wheel of Fortune, celebrated its fifteenth year in syndication by broadcasting for the 3000th time.
