‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant jokes about miserable family life

Any avid fan of game show culture will tell you there is a certain informal protocol for contestant introductions.

Offer the viewer an unusual fun fact or charming anecdote. Compliment your spouse or children. Banter with the host.

In an episode of “Wheel of Fortune” that aired Monday, contestant Blair Davis did none of that and all of that — briefly baffling those watching at home.

Host Pat Sajak introduced Davis as the owner of a small trucking company from Cardiff, California.

The bald, heavily bearded man nodded his head.

“Good for you,” Sajak said. “And talk about your family.”

“I’ve been trapped in a loveless marriage for the last 12 years to an old battle-ax named Kim,” Davis told the chuckling crowd. “She cursed my life with three stepchildren named Star, RJ and Ryan, and I have one rotten grandson.”

“Yayyyyy!” Sajak offered in response, with a first pump. “No wonder you came here, you just wanted to get away from everybody.”

The joke was exposed when Sajak revealed he knew Davis was just “being facetious.”

“Absolutely, I love them like nobody’s business,” Davis said.

That’s when his charming anecdote came in. He began growing his long, gray beard a few years back – and his “rotten grandson” has become rather attached.

“Every time I shave it off, he gives me a really hard time,” Davis said.

Insert obligatory banter with the host.

“Don’t let it get tangled up in the wheel,” Sajak said. “That’s all we ask.”