Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

With his "Wheel of Fortune" now celebrating its 25th nighttime season, Pat Sajak admits, "If you went in today and tried to pitch the show, they'd say, 'No — it's too old-fashioned. You need women with suitcases,' or whatever you need. I tell people it's like the sunset — you may not watch every day, but it's nice to know it's there."

Sajak, Vanna White and the "Wheel" team were in New York's Radio City Music Hall to tape some special celebratory shows over the weekend. They'll air during November sweeps. 

Sajak notes that the show has its renewal in place for the next five years, while he's committed for three more years, including this one. With Bob Barker having retired, Pat's now the longest-running host of a major current TV game show. (He took over "Wheel's" daytime version from Chuck Woolery in 1981. Alex Trebek began the current incarnation of "Jeopardy" in '84.) 

"There will come a time when I'll leave, and it won't be because I'm disgruntled," says Pat, who's 60 and proud of it. "If this was like old-time TV and I had to go in every day, I'd be taking hostages by now. But we tape a bunch of shows at once" — and get long breaks. "I wish I could say it was hard so you'd feel sorry for me, but I can't."

When not charming contestants, Pat's busy with outside interests. "I own a couple radio stations, I'm part owner of a minor league baseball team, I'm in the game business — patsajakgames.com. … 'Wheel' is a great base of operations."

And he enjoys the fact that "we're on our second and third generation of viewers. I've had people tell me, 'My grandmother and I used to watch together.'"

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: As the motor-mouthed Angela in Tyler Perry's Oct. 12-opening "Why Did I Get Married?" Tasha Smith pretty much steals the movie from her co-stars, including Janet Jackson and Jill Scott. 

She wants to make it very clear her role of a domineering, abrasive wife in the flick, about eight couples whose dirty laundry gets aired during a weekend getaway, is not just another stereotypical ABW — Angry Black Woman. 

In Perry's last film, "Daddy's Little Girls," she played Jennifer, Idris Elba's ex-wife with an attitude. "Jennifer was a woman that had one way of dealing, which made her very unlikable.

Tyler was clear he needed Angela to have some different colors and versatility," she says. 

Perry's made megamillions with his Christian plays and movies featuring his female alter ego, the blasphemous, pot-smoking, gun-toting Madea, but "Why Did I Get Married?" marks his first real dramatic role in film. "He kept saying Angela is Madea for him, so he wanted her to be likable and funny." She adds, "As women, we can all be hard when we're uncomfortable or feeling betrayed, but if you see your auntie being mean to Uncle Such-and-Such at the end of the day, you still know she loves him. And I think Tyler really wanted people to see that in my character."

NOW FOR HIS NEXT FEAT: Lucas Grabeel, who plays Ryan Evans in the "High School Musical" movies, says he plans on striking while the iron's hot. "I've been auditioning like crazy. I'm also going to be starting a production company and will be making my own stuff," claims the actor, who tells us acting is his primary passion, though he grew up surrounded by music. "I want to create projects with people that I want to work with — stuff that really means a lot to me. It might be kind of a guerilla film-making style, just going out and shooting things on the fly." 

HOT "FLASH": Gorgeous Gina Holden says she finds a bit of herself in every character she plays — hippie Haley in "Supernatural," blond bombshell Rachel in "Reunion," occult-loving Corinne in "Blood Ties." But "Flash Gordon's" gal Dale Arden, who is "Yale, very preppy and sharp," may be closest to Holden's heart and soul. "I find so many things we do that are so similar. She's got so many things going on in her life — I relate to that, real women will relate to that. She wears her little suits and is keeping it all together, but inside, it's: 'Aughhhh, I love Flash!!!"

Holden notes that there is a lot of sexual tension between Dale and Flash (Eric Johnson) on the Sci Fi channel series based on the classic comic book. "Chemistry-wise, this is what I love about the story. They're normal people, as far as relationships go," she says. "They were high school sweethearts who went separate ways — the one love she never really had any closure on, that keeps coming back."

Speaking of coming back, this Friday's (Oct. 5) episode of the show features none other than Sam J. Jones, the actor who portrayed Flash in the 1980 film version of "Flash Gordon."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read there past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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