Old meets new in ‘To Tell the Truth’
Hilarity that’s no lie: Summer is officially upon us and it’s time to break out the barbecue and board shorts, take a trip to the beach and complain about the heat. Season finales have come and gone, making way for something different, fresh or perhaps nostalgic. Take a trip through time with host Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”) when the third season of “To Tell the Truth” premieres on Sunday, June 10, on ABC.
“To Tell the Truth” has aired at least one new episode in seven consecutive decades, a distinction only shared with the daytime staple “The Price is Right.” For a game show to achieve such a momentous milestone, it needs an entertaining, easy-to-follow premise and interesting contestants. It also helps to have a colorful host and potential for hilarious hijinks.
“To Tell the Truth” certainly checks all of these boxes, with the updated version remaining largely faithful to the original series, only slightly deviating from the original 1956 format. In the Anderson-hosted reboot, celebrity panelists still question three contestants who all claim to be the same person, possessing an incredible talent, job or achievement. While one contestant is sworn to tell the truth, the other two are encouraged to lie, and the celebrities must grill each participant, often in ridiculous, playful manner.
After the immense success and prime-time domination of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, the television landscape was flooded with a barrage of subpar programs trying to capitalize on an era of game show revivals. Nowadays you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who remembers (or enjoyed) Fox’s “Greed” or the Maury Povich-hosted “Twenty One” reboot.
In short order, prime-time television returned to a game-show-free environment until a few years ago when there was a resurgence. The current primetime game show comeback has been dominated by rebooted classics such as “Celebrity Family Feud” (hosted by Steve Harvey of “The Steve Harvey Show”), “The $100,000 Pyramid” (hosted by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan) and “Match Game” (hosted by Alec Baldwin of “30 Rock”). However, originals such as the Jane Lynch-(“Glee”)-hosted “Hollywood Game Night” and Ellen DeGeneres’s own “Ellen’s Game of Games” have made a name for themselves and become quite popular.
Premiering in 2016, this anarchic and funny reboot of “To Tell the Truth” has seen such guest panelists as former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Mike Tyson, Justin Long (“Live Free or Die Hard,” 2007) and Craig Robinson (“Ghosted”). This season, Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (“Hidden Figures,” 2016), Olympics gold medal winner Gabby Douglas, and Dermot Mulroney (“August: Osage County,” 2013) are all set to appear as judges. Enjoy more knee-slapping questions and head-scratching contestants when the third season premieres Sunday, June 10, on ABC.
Shut up and sing: Two superstars face off in the ultimate showdown paying tribute to the “Queen of Country Pop,” Shania Twain, in a new episode of “Lip Sync Battle” on Thursday, June 14, on the Paramount Network.
In its 35-year history, the Paramount Network has seen many changes. Beginning as The Nashville Network, the network primarily focused on country music and motorsports before it rebranded itself as The National Network and later Spike TV. These two iterations targeted young male viewers with wrestling, combat sports, original programming such as “Pros vs. Joes” and dude-approved classic television series “Married… with Children” and “The ATeam,” alongside James Bond movie marathons.
After decades of catering largely to males and being derided as “The UFC Network” due to its endless marathons of hammer punches and high kicks, Spike decided to finally branch out and create new gender-balanced series. The first of these was “Lip Sync Battle,” which originated as a recurring segment on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”