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Pat Sajak may be most well-known as the long-running host of Wheel of Fortune — at least until he officially retired in 2024. But for everyone who would love to ask Sajak to buy a vowel, there's a Millennial who is still deeply haunted by his cameo appearance in a 1994 episode of Rugrats.
Sajak — who voiced himself in the role — appeared as a caricature of himself in the season 3 episode "Chuckie Is Rich." As the plot goes, Chuckie's dad, Chas Finster, wins $10 million via the American Dunderhead sweepstakes — "the only sweepstakes with Pat Sajak's picture on it!" he declares — and Sajak himself arrives to present Chas with the oversized check.
However, Sajak the Cartoon looks notably different than Sajak the Man. The animated version of the beloved game show host boasts large, saucer-like eyes and a bulbous head.
When he announces to Chas that he won the $10 million prize, "his mouth opens wide enough to eat Chaz's head," one social media user described.
But that comment is just a drop in the bucket.
"WHY DOES RUGRATS PAT SAJAK LOOK LIKE THAT," one person commented on a YouTube clip from the episode.
"pat sajak on rugrats should be considered a national threat," another shared.
Over the years, Milennials across all social media platforms have seemingly been waking up in a cold sweat only to remember Sajak's cameo.
"My sleep paralysis demon is Pat Sajak in the Rugrats," one person quipped.
"Those beady eyes are nightmare fuel," another commented. "It's like he has no soul."
Some "had nightmares about Pat's face for weeks as a child," as one person tweeted. Others still do.
"Woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep because I started thinkin about the time Pat Sajak was on Rugrats," they wrote.
And it wasn't just Cartoon Sajak who induced the nightly disturbances — it was also the animated depiction of his son, who attends the rich preschool Chuckie starts attending. (In real life, Sajak's son, Patrick, is a doctor, while his daughter, Maggie, is a social media correspondent on Wheel.)
Like Sajak in cartoon form, the TV host's kid was animated with the same button-like eyes.
"anyone else still have night terrors about the pat sajak baby from that one episode of the rugrats, or is that just me," another person asked.
Perhaps the backlash is best summed up by a fan who simply wondered, "what the f**k did they do to Pat."
Rugrats is available to stream on Paramount+, Hulu and more.
English (US) ·