Woolery, Benirschke or Goen?

[Teddy]

When it comes to Wheel of Fortune, we all know about Pat Sajak, the show's longtime host, but who's the best host that is not him? I was too young to remember Chuck Woolery, but I got to watch Rolf Benirschke (who hosted the daytime show after Sajak departed for a lucrative offer to host a late-night talk show) as well as Bob Goen. IMHO, I prefer Goen over Benirschke, because of his easygoing personality, and he was way more comfortable in hosting the show.

And go!

[JayC]

I haven't watched much of any of the daytime Wheel hosts but Woolery was definitely the best followed by Goen. From what I've read Rolf Benirschke did get better later on, but he was clearly out of his element. Remember he was a football player, not a real TV personality like Chuck and Bob.

[Alfonzo]

Chuck, hands down. Frankly, I've always preferred him and Susan Stafford to Pat and Vanna (Sue me, but I always thought that Susan was livelier than Vanna.)

[someguy23475]

Woolery by far. He’s even better than Sajak, especially the Sajak of the last 15 years or so.

Didn’t Trebek also briefly host circa 1980?

[howierules86]

^Alex Trebek did indeed fill in for Woolery for one week in 1980 (I've never been able to find any footage of that, though).

[geniusinmath]

Chuck Woolsey no doubt.

[left4thehouse]

Chuck is the best host. Period. And Alex did get a one day substitute gig for the daytime version in '85 as well (IIRC Pat had a dental emergency).

[dmaingame]

Chuck Woolery all the way.  I was a late-bloomer, only discovering Woolery's Wheel when it was on GSN's schedule shortly after that network was launched.  I was surprised to learn that daytime Wheel actually pre-dated the nighttime version by 8 years.   

[JayC]

Oh wow, how long was the Woolery Wheel on GSN? I thought all of the episodes other than a select few were tape-wiped. The only time I personally remember seeing Woolery episodes on GSN was when they did the marathon after Merv Griffin passed away.

[blozier2006]

Oh wow, how long was the Woolery Wheel on GSN? I thought all of the episodes other than a select few were tape-wiped. The only time I personally remember seeing Woolery episodes on GSN was when they did the marathon after Merv Griffin passed away.

To the best of my knowledge, that marathon is the only time Woolery Wheel (or any daytime Wheel whatsoever, for that matter) has ever been on GSN.

[Off_trak]

Benirschke never really stood a chance. When Pat left, daytime Wheel was basically at it's zenith for popularity. The nose dive in ratings was inevitable, and NBC saw the opportunity to save some big budget dollars, and cancelled it without a second thought. Goen was fine with the CBS version, but the cheap budget did the show in sooner than it should have.

[blozier2006]

The nose dive in ratings was inevitable, and NBC saw the opportunity to save some big budget dollars, and cancelled it without a second thought.

Actually, from what I'd heard, the ratings held. What led to the end of the show on NBC was them not being able to come to a license fee agreement with Merv.

[Reloaden]

I prefer Chuck and Susan over Pat and Vanna. Chuck is a better host i love his laid back personality, he really rooted for the contestants to win. Susan was better then Vanna she rooted for the contestants to win and sometimes you see her hand signals. I thought Bob Goen was a great host as well. Rolf was stiff and awkward you could tell he wasn't really as comfortable hosting the show.



There's tons of wheel episodes from the Rolf and Bob era
[url]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0cooAeAk4RuQWqRRVPToAg/url]

[rn]

To the best of my knowledge, that marathon is the only time Woolery Wheel (or any daytime Wheel whatsoever, for that matter) has ever been on GSN.

They did air Vanna's first, and Pat's last daytime appearances.

[dmaingame]

^Alex Trebek did indeed fill in for Woolery for one week in 1980 (I've never been able to find any footage of that, though).

I never knew this.  I always thought Alex Trebek's first ventures in game show hosting were High Rollers and the ill-fated but aptly named Pitfall.  The latter was the first game show I remember seeing him host when it used to air around 2pm weekdays on CBC.  I liked Pitfall's end game because it reminded me of the Gauntlet of Ghouls from "Whew!"