I come from the days of the Cumber Wars, so this story tickles me to no end. The Cumber Wars, for the newer readers, were the days that Benedict Cumberbatch had blasted into stardom with Sherlock, and many readers here were fighting over him. It’s kind of hard to believe the site would erupt in fictitious but incredibly creative battles over Benedict but it did. Every time his name was posted. And if those days were still here, we’d all have to launch an assault on Pat Sajak today, because that little twerp admitted on national television he has no idea who Benedict is. What made it even more offensive is that Benny was the answer to a Before and After puzzle that Tatyana Ali solved. Pat, trying to be crafty even in his ignorance, tried to get her to explain who “that” was. So when Tatyana threw it back to Pat to confirm, he had to admit he didn’t know.
On Sunday’s Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, we discovered that host Pat Sajak is unaware of Benedict Cumberbatch. In fact, even Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Tatyana Ali, who had solved the puzzle “Eggs Benedict Cumberbatch,” seemed a little unsure when Sajak asked her to explain for those who may not know.
Ali asked with some hesitance, “Benedict Cumberbatch is an actor, right?”
Sajak admitted that his “little host trick” was to pretend like he was familiar with Cumberbatch by throwing it to Ali to explain, when really he had no clue, which surprised viewers.Fortunately, no MCU fans came for Sajak before Wheel of Fortune and its longtime host issued an apology to Cumberbatch during the show and on social media.
How do you not know who Benedict Cumberbatch is if you work in Hollywood? I could see some septuagenarians maybe missing the Benny train, but not if they’re in the industry. Pat made a joke to Tatyana that he “sits in his basement” so he had no clue who Benedict was. That sounds about right. It also explains Pat’s right-wing politics. I understand why Tatyana questioned herself when she asked “Benedict Cumberbatch is an actor, right?” I do that all the time. I’ll question the spelling of my own name if someone looks at me sternly enough. Or, maybe Tatyana is much cleverer than I am and knew exactly what she was doing, which was to expose all the egg on Pat’s face. How hard is it to familiarize yourself with the few answers you have to read off per night? Although, considering the contempt Pat’s shown in his hosting duties in his latter years, it’s clear he doesn’t care how he comes off. Since he’s leaving in two years, his short-timers is starting to take hold. Either that or spinning the same wheel for 40 years has finally snapped him. I guess it’s no surprise why his talk show failed.
I think Benedict himself will get a kick out of this, though. Someone like Jimmy Kimmel is going to bring this up and Benedict will be tickled over it. His friends won’t let him live it down. Celebs are always talking about how becoming an answer on a gameshow is a marker of making it. It makes a much better story to become an answer and then the host admits he has no clue who you are. I disagree with the Yahoo article, though. There’s nothing “fortunate” about Wheel getting an apology out before the Marvel fans came for them. I hope they still do. I’d love to see that fan base take this on. And once they’re done with them, the Cumberbitches will finish them off.
Our apologies, Benedict Cumberbatch! 😂 #CelebrityWheelOfFortune
— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) January 24, 2022
Here’s Benny’s bestie asking him if he caught Wheel the other night:
Embed from Getty Images
Photo credit: InStar Images, Getty Images and Avalon Red
Um, my parents in their 80s have never voted Republican in their entire lives and still wouldn’t have a clue who Benedict Cumberbatch is. Pat’s an old guy on a show that generally does not require him to know anything at all (it’s not Jeopardy by a long shot). The older you get, the more likely the star needs to be able to transcend their medium because your kids aren’t there bringing new stuff to you constantly. For example, my parents do know who Beyonce is because she’s talked about outside of music, but not a chance with Cumberbatch because they don’t care about either pop culture or films that don’t show up on network TV ever. But it’s not a huge insult. It’s just how aging works.
You don’t have to be that old. His name is familiar to me but I don’t know much about him because I am a book person and not into much TV and movie stuff.
Then Pat should retire. He’s hosting a game that occupies a pretty fair share of pop culture, so if he’s not interested in pop culture and he can’t be bothered to be nice to contestants, it’s time for him to give someone else the job.
So you think it is possible for him to be familiar with everyone and everything? Maybe the show needs to be run better and the people who make the puzzles actually brief him. I wonder if he even knows the answers ahead or if they keep him in the dark so he won’t let anything slip.
He could make an attempt to be a least familiar with the 15-20 pop culture things that are going to come up in the show he is hosting. Particularly when he’s being paid big money to host.
Also it does give a hint to his failed talk show: if you’re not going to be at least somewhat curious about current events, mainstream/pop culture, you’re not going to be a very engaging host, particularly when you’ve got a bland personality to begin with.
I think it’s hilarious; the best part is he exposed his little trick for not showing his ignorance.
My husband only knows who BC is because he was in a Star Trek movie. My mom would probably recognize his face because she’s seen a few movies he’s been in, but not his name. I can see how someone younger would be unfamiliar and definitely how someone as old and probably set in their ways in their day-to-day life as my mom would be unfamiliar.
I mean, he’s been acting for 20 years. It’s not like he’s a Tik Tok star who’s just famous this week.
Who cares? Pat Sajak and Wheel of Fortune are practically an institution at this point. When he’s gone, an era is over.
As long as whoever answers the question correctly is given credit, big deal?
This is nothing to be “annoyed” over.
The older i get the more i realise how many stars, singers and general pop culture i dont know anymore. And everytime my son goes ‘ mama you dont know so and so’ i think thats how my parents must have felt.But i could write the encyclopia for the 90s and naughts. It happens!
It’s not just the getting older thing; there are many more celebs and outlets than there were in the 90’s. A lot of shows and movies seem like (and in some cases are) what has been done before. Some of it just kind of blurs together. Then there are the many stars who attempt to look or be just like other celebs.
I had no idea who he was until recently. I’m not even sure why he seems like a big deal. Why is he a big deal again?
Who’s Pat Sajak?
That was what BC asked whoever told him this ride story about PS!
Plus, I call bullsh!t on this! I don’t watch his show but PS has heard BC name at least a dozen times by now, or more. Maybe PS personally doesn’t like him and it was a dig, like the pr!ck he is.
Meh. I consider myself reasonably up on pop culture. I’m here most days, after all, but there are still lots of people whose name I still have to Google even after reading the story, because I never watched the incredibly popular show they were on. I usually have to know someone from two projects and an interview/interesting article about them before they stick in my mind.
Okay…so? I don’t think he has kids that he’d take to marvel movies. I’m sure that he does other things that are worth “mocking” him for. This isn’t it.
The lack of intellectual curiosity to even check the answers is … well, not surprising with all we know about Pat. We often have it on for at least a few minutes before Jeopardy and I find his rudeness and patronizing behavior astonishing.
Oh, Pat, you’re so cool. You’ve proved to me just how erudite and wise you are by not knowing who a current actor is or even having the curiosity to look it up. /s
I hate when people do this with big names. It reeks of intellectual snobbery. Sometimes there are “celebrities” I’ve never heard of that I look up, only to find out that they’re from some reality show, and that’s why I don’t know about them. But have the intelligence to google. Even if you find out that they’re a nobody, at least you know. And Benedict Cumberbatch is well above “nobody” status.