USA TODAY International Edition
‘Joker’s Wild’ revived with ‘Snoop-ified flavor’ for all
This is not your grandma’s game show
CULVER CITY CALIF. See if you can tell what these phrases have in common: Burger Was the Case, Go Yeezy on Me, ’Fro Back Thursday, Matzo Ball Snoop and Name that Strain.
If you said game-show categories that don’t sound anything like traditional gameshow categories, you’d be right — and ready to play Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild (Tuesday, 10 ET/PT).
The hip-hop star is hosting a cool, late-night revival of the classic format from the early ’70s — Game Show 42.0, perhaps, considering all the marijuana references — and it’s not just a random choice.
“It was one of the shows I used to watch with my grandmother,” Snoop, 46, told USA TODAY on set as he began taping the 10-episode first season in late August.
Snoop says game-show host is a natural progression for a man who’s been a rapper, emcee, awards-show host and roast participant and knows how to play to an audience. And he joins a list of unlikely quizmasters, including Alec Baldwin, Michael Strahan and (in disguise) Mike Myers.
Besides the family connection, Joker’s Wild, which also features Lady Luck Jeannie Mai (The Real), made sense as “a great show … that was based on money, and everybody loves money.”
The revival retains the original casino-style format: Two contestants pulling levers that reveal quiz-category choices on a bigscreen slot machine. The winner pulls a lever for the chance to win up to $25,000.
But that’s pretty much where the similarity ends, as the host is “putting my Snoop-ified flavor all over it.”
That was important to TBS. “Snoop is absolutely the biggest draw here, his voice and sense of humor,” says Michael Bloom, who oversees the cable network’s unscripted programming. “He approached every show like it was a performance.”
Quiz categories feature real but suggestive answers (Djibouti) and video clues provided by celebrities, including Wiz Khalifa, Seth Rogen and Karlie Kloss.
Joker’s Wild’s party vibe is amplified by a Snoop-inspired theme song; dancing before commercial breaks; and cocktail-lounge-style tables for the audience.
“This is a party in the middle of a game. That comes with Snoop,” says Holly Jacobs, who oversees reality and syndicated programming for Sony Pictures Television. “I think this is a highly original next generation of a game (show).”
Even Snoop, who has an upcoming gospel album, Bible of Love, is surprised by the creative freedom, citing a test-show category called Mount ’n Do. “We have (video of) animals having sex on the show. I couldn’t believe that was cleared.”
Snoop has long been a fan of game shows, and reels off a list of favorite hosts, including Pat Sajak, Alex Trebek, Wink Martindale, Dick Clark, Chuck Woolery and Bob Eubanks.
He says he spoke to some hosts — “maybe Bob Barker, maybe Michael Strahan, maybe Steve Harvey” — for advice “on what to do and how to do it. … I didn’t want to do it as a gimmick.”