Pat Sajak retired as host of “Wheel of Fortune” with a rare grace seldom seen in this overwrought age.

Sajak took the last minutes of his final episode to give thanks to his co-host Vanna White, the game show’s crew, the contestants, and the audience whom, he said, granted him the “incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes, night after night, year after year, decade after decade.”

“I’ve always felt that the privilege came with the responsibility to keep this half hour a safe space for family fun,” Sajak said. “No social issues. No politics. Nothing embarrassing, I hope. Just a game.”

Sajak has politics, of course. He has described himself as a conservative Republican and has occasionally publicly spoken about his views.

But Sajak kept such talk far away from the nightly broadcasts of “Wheel” — and the audience was happier for it.

Celebrities have as much right as anyone to speak their mind on politics, but Sajak and the “Wheel” provided a needed respite from the age of constant snark.

Sajak the host was funny and witty, but never biting or cruel. He showed genuine interest in the contestants’ stories.

He seemed empathetic to contestants who hit the dreaded bankrupt wedge on a spin or one who just couldn’t figure out a puzzle that might have been obvious to most of the show’s nine million nightly viewers.

Sajak and “Wheel of Fortune” are reminders that not everything in life needs to be of apocalyptic importance.

“Wheel of Fortune” airs after the national and local news.

In Des Moines, some stations begin local news shows at 4 p.m. Combined with the network’s national news, viewers receive two and a half hours covering matters hackneyed and hyperbolic.

“Wheel of Fortune” slows the world down for a half hour. Ordinary people — all colors, all sizes, all genders — spin a wheel and try to guess letters in a puzzle for money and prizes.

Sajak worked on the show for more than 8,000 episodes from 1981 through last week.

This season sporadically showed clips of Sajak and White through the years in various venues and iterations of the game, but never gave into sentimental pap — just warm memories.

The cynic might argue that there are more serious matters than who hosts “Wheel of Fortune.”

This is true.

It is also true our media — from film and television to what remains of news and the offal of social media — bombards us with rage and anguish in an unrelenting barrage that exhausts even the most ardent culture warrior.

Late-night talk shows, once the home of oddball comedy, are just a different version of the political wonk shows on cable TV.

Sajak and “Wheel of Fortune” provided a medium setting in a world obsessed with turning it up to 11.

Heck, the show even gave us a break from economic woes. The price of a vowel has remained the same since the game show began in 1975; you can’t say that about the price of a gallon of milk or a tank of gas.

Sajak’s departure was the classiest in modern media since David Letterman retired from “The Late Show” in 2015.

Like “The Late Show,” “Wheel of Fortune” will go on with a new host — Ryan Seacrest, a professional host known for his work on the original “American Idol,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” and a range of radio work.

“Wheel of Fortune” is a franchise. The show has survived host changes in the past.

Sajak replaced the original host Chuck Woolery. Others hosted the former daytime version of the show.

Seacrest knows his trade. He likely will be fine, but it will take a bit to get used to him the same way it took some time (and unnecessary kerfuffle) to get used to a new host for “Jeopardy!” when Alex Trebek died.

Only Sajak knows if he will return to our screens in some form, but if he truly retires from public life then applaud that.

Sajak left on his terms after holding the same job for 41 years.

That’s an increasingly rare sight in any trade or profession — especially the fickle and fumbling media of the 21st century.

Dignified exists are an endangered species.

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