PAT SAJAK SEZ 'LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME! SOMEBODY LOOK AT ME!'
'Wheel of Fortune' host Pat Sajak claims he made Keith Olbermann famous, MSNBC host slams that story
BY Meena Hartenstein
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
"Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak is a beloved American icon, but he says he owes the country an apology: Keith Olbermann is his fault.
In an essay for Richochet.com on Wednesday, Sajak takes the blame for the controversial MSNBC host's spot in the public eye, posting a video of the two on set together in 1989 during Sajak's short-lived CBS talk show.
"This YouTube video reminded me that I was the person who introduced Keith Olbermann to America," Sajak writes alongside the clip. "I thought Keith was pretty funny on the air, and I suggested we have him come on the show and talk sports. This was the first of several appearances he made on the show, and he always did a nice job."
The legendary game show host says he gave Olbermann, a sports reporter at the time, his first exposure on national television.
But Olbermann disagrees.
"Pat Sajak has made a claim picked up pretty widely - that he 'introduced me to America,'" the MSNBC host said in a statement emailed to the News. "He didn't."
On the contrary, says Olbermann. "I started on CNN the same year he started on 'Wheel' (1981) and by the time I guested on his show in 1989, I'd already spent three years as a national sports correspondent for CNN, had a feature done on me by The Today Show (1986), been on the CBS Evening News (1988), and begun guest-hosting on ESPN (1989)."
Sajak did give Olbermann a little credit, writing the "Countdown" host was talented, if not always well-liked.
"Keith tended to wear out his welcome at stations and networks, and he bounced around to several places before he found his niche at MSNBC," Sajak writes. "When he first went on the air there, he was actually quite entertaining. He was wry and amusing, and he looked at the news at a kind of cockeyed angle that I enjoyed."
But now, Sajak says, Olbermann bears no resemblance to the mustached man he helped catapult to stardom.
"I'm not sure how he morphed into the bitter-sounding, hate-mongering name-caller he's become, but I'm sorry he did," Sajak writes. "I liked the Keith Olbermann of 1989. This tape reminded me that I miss him."
The essay, posted by TVNewser among other websites, quickly went viral, along with the video of Olbermann rocking a porn star-worthy 70's mustache.
Olbermann, who was recently suspended by MSNBC for making unauthorized campaign donations, says Sajak is right to apologize - but that he's saying sorry for the wrong thing.
"I think if he needs to apologize for anything it needs to be that talk show," Olbermann said in his statement. "When he was canceled, he was replaced by a crime-and-skin series called 'Silk Stalkings,' for God's sake. Obviously we guests must've really stunk."
clip from the HIT LEGENDARY LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW "THE PAT SAJACK SHOW" at source
Methinks a certain Dan Patrick would strongly disagree with Pat, too. Dan and Keith built SportsCenter into the monster it is today with their snark and wit back in the 90's.