NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – It’s a simple game everyone learned to play in grade school.

But add a colorful 2-ton wheel, cameras, a spirited audience and hosts like old friends and you have “Wheel of Fortune,” which has lit up TV screens for more than three decades.

“It’s hangman with prizes,” said Harry Friedman, the show’s executive producer, who said it’s hard to put a finger on the show’s appeal. “I wish I could say exactly what it is because then we would bottle it and sell it – or at least clone it.”

“This is the one half-hour a day that crosses generational lines and I think it’s had something to do with the success,” host Pat Sajak suggested in between recent tapings here. “Television is very splintered now. It’s not a mass medium anymore.”

But the masses still know Sajak and America’s favorite letter-turner, Vanna White.

“Wheel of Fortune,” now in its 24th season in syndication, is seen by an estimated 46 million viewers across America each week. CBS Television Distribution recently announced the show will air at least through the 2011-2012 season.

The show debuted on network television in 1975 with Sajak joining in 1981 and White a year later. It moved to syndication in 1983. About 500 contestants appear yearly and last season the show gave away $9 million in cash and prizes.

It is one of several game shows, including “The Price is Right” and “Jeopardy,” which have been on the air for decades and are as much a part of America as rock ‘n’ roll. (“The Price is Right,” the longest-running game show in TV history, debuted in 1972.)

Chris Lamb, a communications professor who teaches a course in mass media and society at the College of Charleston, said the reasons for the show’s longevity include familiarity – and the dream anyone could be a contestant and win.

“We live vicariously through the players on ‘Wheel of Fortune,'” he said. “‘Jeopardy’ is ‘Wheel’ with a master’s degree – it requires a little bit of work.”

White is a native of North Myrtle Beach and the show was taping in North Charleston as part of a “Vanna Comes Home” week of shows. She joined “Wheel of Fortune” after heading to the West Coast to pursue an acting career.

“I just thought ‘I’m so happy to have a job, even if it lasts a couple of years.’ I never thought it would last for 24,” she said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s just been a great run for me and I’m thrilled.”

“Even if you don’t watch the show every day, it’s comforting to know that it’s there,” Sajak said. “It’s like the sunset. You might not go out and see it everyday, but it’s nice to know it’s happening.”

Friedman said Sajak and White have been crucial to the show’s longevity.

“They’re like dear friends who come into your home every evening,” said Friedman, executive producer since 1999. “Pat is witty and affable and smart. Vanna is warm and friendly. These are people you want to be around and it comes through very clearly.”

The three weeks of shows taped in South Carolina, which are airing this month, were recorded on a set featuring the facade of a Southern mansion along with trees dripping Spanish moss.

The show has seen changes over the years. The letters now light up after White touches a puzzle square. In the early days, she manually turned boxes containing the letters with the puzzle clues.

“Don’t mention anything but, they could do the show without me,” White laughed. “They have computers now and they can just light up themselves. But we won’t tell them that.”

“Wheel of Fortune” also stays fresh by hitting the road. The show has taped in more than 25 cities before an estimated 350,000 fans, Friedman said.

The heart of the show is still the game – a game anyone can play. “It’s so simple,” Friedman said. “And you can join the show in progress and jump right in and start playing.”