'Wheel of Fortune' Host Pat Sajak Lands Next Gig After Exit

The long-time 'Wheel of Fortune' host will play Roy Flemming in a stage production of 'Prescription: Murder' next summer.

By Allison Schonter

Pat Sajak may have only just retired from Wheel of Fortune, but he already has his next gig lined up. After stepping away from the long-running game show he'd hosted for 41 years on June 7, Sajak, 77, will star in a production of Prescription: Murder at the Hawaii Theatre Center next year.

Described by the theater as a "theatrical predecessor" to and "inspiration" for the TV series Columbo – which spawned from the TV movie of the same name, which itself was an adaptation of the 1962 mystery-thriller play Prescription: Murder, written by William Link and Richard Levinson – the play will reunite Sajak with his "long-time buddy" and KHON-TV Hawaii newscaster Joe Moore. The pair will be supporting cast members Bryce Moore (Moore's son), Therese Olival, Amy K. Sullivan, and Aiko Chinen.

Sajak will star in the play as "brilliant psychiatrist" Roy Flemming, who hatches a plot to murder his "neurotic and possessive wife" (Sullivan) with the help of his mistress (Olival). The murder plot "depends on a bizarre impersonation to create a perfect alibi." Moore will star as Lt. Columbo, who is "assigned to the case and engages the psychiatrist in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits right up till the play's surprising climax." Moore's son, meanwhile, will appear as the assistant district attorney.

The play will mark Sajak's return to theater and will mark the ninth he has starred in with Moore. After first meeting in 1968 and serving together at the American Forces Vietnam Network in Saigon, per Variety, Sajak and Moore shared the stage in 1993 for Moore's original play Prophecy and Honor. They have since gone on to star alongside one another in The Odd Couple in 2001, The Honeymooners in 2004, The Boys in Autumn in 2010, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway in 2014, Dial M for Murder in 2018 and, most recently, 2023's The Sunshine Boys.

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Multi Po'okela winner Rob Duval directs Prescription: Murder, which will debut at the Hawaii Theatre Center on July 31, 2025, and run through Aug. 10. Tickets for the production are now on sale, with VIP tickets including a meet and greet and photo opportunity with the stars, as well as an autographed playbill. The play will serve as a fundraiser, with net proceeds supporting the Hawaii Theatre Center.

Prescription: Murder is Sajak's first gig post-Wheel of Fortune. Sajak first joined the long-running game show in 1981 after he was recruited by creator Merv Griffin to take over for the outgoing Chuck Woolery. He remained the show's host as Wheel became syndicated in 1983, and has since hosted various spinoff shows including 2021's Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. After announcing in June 2023 that he would be stepping away from the show, Sajak hosted his final episode on June 7. Vanna White, the show's long-time letter turner, has since been joined by Ryan Seacrest as Wheel's new host.

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