Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Keith Olbermann Responds to Pat Sajak: He Needs to Apologize for That Talk Show
Pat Sajak apologized Wednesday for being the first to put Keith Olbermann on the air. However, the MSNBC anchor thinks Sajak needs to atone for something else. "I think if he needs to apologize for anything, it needs to be that talk show," the Countdown host told The Hollywood Reporter. "When he was canceled, he was replaced by a crime-and-skin series called Silk Stalkings, for God's sake. Obviously, we guests must...
Pat Sajak apologized Wednesday for being the first to put Keith Olbermann on the air. However, the MSNBC anchor thinks Sajak needs to atone for something else.
"I think if he needs to apologize for anything, it needs to be that talk show," the Countdown host told The Hollywood Reporter. "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."
Keith Olbermann returns to work after suspension
On Wednesday, Sajack, 64, wrote an article titled "Mea Culpa: I Put Keith Olbermann on National TV" on the political website Ricochet.com. In the article, the Wheel of Fortune host took credit for introducing Oldermann, 51, to America because he was a guest on The Pat Sajak Show in 1989.
At the time, Olbermann was a sportscaster for the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles that also aired Sajak's show. "I thought Keith was pretty funny on the air, and I suggested we have him come on the show and talk sports," Sajak wrote. On the show, Olbermann (correctly) predicted that the San Francisco 49ers would win the Super Bowl.
In his story, Sajak went on to call Olbermann's first MSNBC show, 1997's The Big Show with Keith Olbermann "wry and amusing," but criticized Olbermann's current work.
"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 wrote. "I do know that to whatever extent the political well has been poisoned, Keith has dumped more than his share of venom into the water. I'd like to think he knows that and maybe even regrets it."
Olbermann did not comment on Sajak's criticism, but he told the Reporter that Sajak was not the one to introduce him to America, because he first appeared on CNN as early as 1981. Also before 1989, Olbermann also appeared on the CBS Evening News and Today, and guest-hosted on ESPN.
The Pat Sajak Show ran for 15 months in 1989-1990. Sajak, who has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1983, is an active supporter of conservative causes and contributes to the conservative magazine Human Events.
Watch a clip of Olbermann's appearance: