Add “Hollywood Squares” to the list of shows that have been impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles. CBS announced it was moving the premiere of its game show revival to Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Originally, the series was set to premiere Thursday.
The reason for the move came down to subject matter, an insider familiar with the matter told TheWrap. Because “Hollywood Squares” is a comedic and light-hearted game show, it felt insensitive to air the series in light of what was happening in California. CBS owned and operated stations in Los Angeles have also been on 24/7 news coverage since the start of the disaster.
A revival of the classic game show of the same name, this new take will see Drew Barrymore serving as the center square and Nate Burleson hosting. “Hollywood Squares” is about as fun and cheerful as shows come. Two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe where they can win cash and prizes. The catch is that each square is occupied by a different celebrity. As the host asks these stars questions, contestants have to decide whether their answers are true or false. Contestants only get to claim their square if they judge these stars correctly.
The first iteration of “Hollywood Squares” first premiered on NBC in 1965 and ran for 14 seasons. Though “Hollywood Squares” is technically a game show, the appeal of the original came from its cast of celebrity guests, who often supplied zingers and gave joke answers before providing their real answers.
CBS came to be the owner of this classic show in 2000. That’s when the network bought the rights to King World Productions, which previously purchased the rights to the show from the bankrupt Orion Pictures. Over the course of the series’ history, “Hollywood Squares” has been revived numerous times, reappearing as “The New Hollywood Squares” in the 1980s, a revival in the ’90s that saw Tom Bergeron as its host and Whoopi Goldberg as its center square, “Hip-Hop Squares” and VH1’s “Celebrity Stars,” which specifically focused on Black culture.
