Goen circa July 1989...
...and June 1991.
Robert Kuehl "Bob" Goen (born December 1, 1954 from Long Beach, California) is an emcee and news anchor who early in his career was a radio host at KFOX and later at KPRO. His first television experience was as a sports anchor on Palm Springs' ABC affiliate, KESQ-TV.
Goen began hosting game shows around November 1982, specifically the unsold pilot What's On Your Mind?; another unsold pilot, Fast Friends, taped in November 1984, followed by Beat the I.R.S. in 1985. His first sold series was Perfect Match (1986), followed by The Home Shopping Game (1987) and Blackout (1988), the last being notable for having replaced and being replaced by The (New) $25,000 Pyramid.
Amusingly, Bob played a game show host in the February 1989 movie Wicked Stepmother, on a fake show that involved a "Wheel of Questions" and a Vanna White parody.
Wheel of Fortune[]
On July 7, 1989, CBS announced that Goen (sans mustache) would become the new host of the daytime Wheel; his first show taped on the 14th, then aired three days later. On the 17th, he and Vanna appeared on CBS This Morning to promote the change. Strangely, against precedent (Pat Sajak and Rolf Benirschke), he was not introduced as "your new host" on his first episode. When Pat returned to the daytime Wheel for the first time since leaving to do his talk show, he welcomed Bob to CBS and wished him the players good luck. Later, Bob jokingly offered to take over the nighttime show as well, after which Pat gave one piece of advice: "Be good to Vanna."
During the CBS run, Bob appeared in show promos and a CBS "Stop the Madness" PSA. He also appeared as himself, along with Vanna and Charlie O'Donnell, on the November 29, 1990 episode of NBC's L.A. Law ("Vowel Play") which involved the daytime show. He remained with Wheel when it moved back to NBC on January 14, 1991, and stayed until its end on August 30.
Hosting Style[]
Goen was somewhat like a more straitlaced Pat. His jokes were less sarcastic than Sajak's, and his mannerisms not unlike Chuck Woolery's casual style.
After Wheel[]
Bob hosted The Hollywood Game (1992) and Born Lucky (1992-93), followed by the 1993 CD-i video game version of Name That Tune (based on an unsold pilot hosted by Peter Allen, who had also hosted the pilot of The Hollywood Game in April 1991).
Goen's longest-running role was on Entertainment Tonight, which he joined on April 12, 1993 as a reporter, substitute anchor and weekend co-anchor. During this time, he hosted the 1994-96 Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants for CBS. In May 1996, he was promoted to co-anchor with Mary Hart after John Tesh left to pursue a music career.
Bob left ET in August 2004 to pursue other interests, and was replaced by Mark Steines. Goen went on to host That's the Question (2006-07) for GSN, The Price Is Right Live! (around 2010-11), Wheel of Fortune Live (around 2023) and Family Feud Live (late 2012).
Bob has appeared twice on Jeopardy! – on the September 18, 1999 episode of the Rock & Roll spinoff (playing for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Chicago),[1] then on the January 4, 2000 episode of the regular show for a "TV Pilots" clue regarding the 1974 Wheel pilots.[2] Both times, his tenure on Wheel was mentioned.
He appeared at a Wheelmobile event in Monroe, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati) on October 13, 2012 with wife Marianne Curan,[3] and even asked the crowd if they actually remembered his hosting stint from 1989-91.[4] Despite Wheel itself almost entirely ignoring his contributions, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Personal Life[]
Goen married a woman named Sabrina in 1988, having a son in 1994, but the two divorced in 1997. Since 2004, he has been married to Marianne Curan, an actress who hosted many of GSN's 1990s interactive games. They hosted GSN Radio from 2008-09.