(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE")
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: (Shouting) "Wheel Of Fortune."
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK, Noel, time to spin the wheel and pick a letter.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHEEL SPINNING)
NOEL KING, HOST:
I will take V for Vanna White.
INSKEEP: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE")
JIM THORNTON: And now, here's our host, Vanna White.
INSKEEP: Here's our host. For the first time, the show's famous letter-turner is hosting the show instead. Pat Sajak normally does that but was out sick while taping in November.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VANNA WHITE: We've been together 37 years, and it's not the same. It's just we are a team. We're together. It just felt weird with him not being here on the set.
KING: Still, she did her best. She leaned out to grab that giant wheel.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE")
WHITE: That wheel is heavy. Oh, no. My first spin, look at that. Oh, whoa, no, I'm looking at the wrong arrow. How do you do this show?
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Well, Vanna White has time to get it down because her recorded episodes as host will last for three weeks. And until then, Noel, you want to buy any more letters?
KING: I sure do. How about an N, a P and an R?
INSKEEP: Four more letters.
KING: N-E-W-S.
INSKEEP: Yes. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.