Ryan Seacrest takes a spin as new host of “Wheel of Fortune”

Just a heads-up, America: When you turn on your TV this week, something is going to be different. After 40-plus years, “Wheel of Fortune” has a new host, who is himself sort of an institution in America, the guy who seems to host everything these days: Ryan Seacrest.

Just listen to a list of his current jobs: “I’ll start with the beginning of the year, New Year’s Eve, the ball drops, that starts the year; ‘American Top 40’; ‘On Air with Ryan Seacrest,’ in the mornings on KIIS-FM, and then syndicated across the country; ‘American Idol’; and ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ And then some specials here and there.”

“Wheel of Fortune” (distributed by CBS) is the latest (and possibly the most high-profile) job for Seacrest, who grew up in tiny Dunwoody, Ga., where, even as a kid, he kept very busy. “Believe it or not, I played high school football,” he said. “I played strong safety. I was stronger, but not that strong. I didn’t play a lot, but I practiced a lot. I practiced so much but played less in the games.”

But high school football in Georgia is no joke. “It’s a big deal,” Seacrest said. “That’s my excuse!”

But you can’t get much further from Hollywood than Dunwoody, Ga., something that was not lost on Seacrest, who said he always dreamed of being on the air. “I would listen to Casey Kasem [while] mowing the lawn, on my Walkman headphones, and I would picture what it’d be like to be in Hollywood,” he said.

He made his way to Los Angeles in his packed Honda Prelude. “I had one contact at a radio station at the time called STAR 98.7, which was loosely affiliated with the station I worked at in Atlanta. I met the program director eventually. I remember coming home to my apartment in Burbank every day, playing my answering machine, like, hitting the micro tape, waiting for his voice.”

Eventually, the call did come, leading to radio success, and then the show that changed his life: “American Idol.”

He said, “I know the DNA of that show. I mean, that’s the house where I go into and say, ‘Oh, we built that bathroom, I know that door’s squeaky, you want to go over here for the spoons and the silverware.’ I sort of know that world really well.

“Everything that I do has somebody that’s a bigger star or a supporting group, and it’s not about me. It’s about a contestant, it’s about a story, it’s about something else or someone else. And I think that does make me feel a bit more comfortable,” Seacrest said.

Meanwhile, “Wheel of Fortune” was a house constructed by its creator Merv Griffin, and meticulously maintained by host Pat Sajak for over four decades. Now, Seacrest has to figure out the floor plan, including the rules of the game, which he says actually took a lot of practice: “Wherever I was working, the producers sometimes would come, and they’d bring contestants, and we would play ‘Wheel of Fortune’ in hotels just to get familiar with the rules and scenarios and things that could happen, so that at some point it becomes second nature.”

In the early tapings “Sunday Morning” attended, Seacrest seemed comfortable in the role of host, and co-collaborator with the TV royalty that is Vanna White.

“I’ve known Ryan for probably 20 years,” said White. “But in the past couple of months, we’ve done some traveling together for the show, and we got to know each other a little better, too. So, I think our chemistry is good.”

Asked whether she was nervous about the chemistry aspect, White replied, “I had no idea what to expect, when I’m used to one person for so long. I was very scared, but he’s doing a great job.”

Seacrest said, “This is such an incredible, special franchise. It’s more than a TV show. It is something that means something to people. And when I found out that this was an opportunity for me, there’s no thought to this. It was like, ‘Absolutely. Let’s figure it out, and let’s get started.'”

Of course, “figuring it out” meant fitting it into his famously-packed schedule, which occasionally does include some downtime for recharging. For Seacrest, that’s always happened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where these days he’s on the board of trustees.

So, why take up even more of his time as a museum board member? “It’s not really a job; it’s a way to escape it, you know?” he said. “You walk through this museum and you forget about all the things that are going on in the world, and you have a chance to look at the different works that are on display here.

“Interestingly, this is right across the street from the E! Entertainment building that used to be. It’s now over at Universal. But when I was working at E!, I was on the radio in the morning, I was doing E! News, I was hosting ‘Live from the Red Carpet.’ And I would walk across the street here to LACMA, just take a deep breath and walk around. I always came back reinvigorated. It was there for me, so I’m trying to be here for it.”

Asked whether he’s reached “peak Ryan Seacrest” and does not need to take on any more jobs, Seacrest replied, “I don’t know if I’ve reached ‘peak me,’ but I feel like I’ve reached for the moment ‘fully-occupied me.’ I don’t think I should take on another job right now. I want this one to go so well. I want all of them to go well, but this one’s new. And I want this to be something that people go, ‘OK, you know what? I get it, that makes sense.'”

He ended with how Merv Griffin described the show: “‘The beauty of “Wheel of Fortune” is it’s the kind of show you can sit in front of the TV or have on in the background, and play along, or yell at a contestant if they’re not getting it, and you’ve got it before them.’ I mean, that’s what the show is.“

     
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Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Mike Levine. 

     
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