Stars Center square: Barrymore to anchor ‘Hollywood Squares’ reboot
Center square: The most star-studded take on the classic game of tic-tac-toe, “Hollywood Squares” is about to be relaunched once more — and expect Drew Barrymore (“50 First Dates,” 2004) to be front and center (literally).
The latest iteration of the game show, which has been rebooted and reimagined several times already, is set to debut this January as part of CBS’s 2024-25 broadcast season.
Produced by Jesse Collins (“Rhythm + Flow”) and Barrymore via her Flower Films production banner, the new “Hollywood Squares” will stick with the tried-and-true format of having three vertically stacked, open-faced cubes each occupied by a celebrity who is chosen to answer a question. If the contestants correctly judge the truthfulness or accuracy of the celebrity’s response, they’ll claim the square on their way to winning the game by scoring three in a row — whether it’s three across, up, down or diagonally.
Barrymore, whose syndicated talk show
“The Drew Barrymore Show” is distributed by
CBS Media Ventures, will occupy the seat of honor in the hotly contested center square.
CBS Entertainment president Amy
Reisenbach and CBS president/ CEO George Cheeks revealed the lineup addition during a recent news conference. The plan is for “Hollywood Squares” to be the followup to “The Price Is Right at Night” and “Raid the Cage” on Wednesday nights in January, when the schedule takes a mid-season break between the fall pairing of “Survivor” and “The Summit,” and “The Amazing Race’s” springtime run.
“Drew’s already a part of our CBS family,” Reisenbach told reporters. “She’s adorable, she’s engaging, she’s going to bring her friends under the squares. We think this is going to be a great 10 o’clock show for us. We now have a really solid Wednesday night of game shows to bridge the ‘Survivor’ seasons.”
Paging Don Johnson: Prolific creator, producer and writer Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story”) has a new ABC series in the works, and given his reputation as a creative force to be reckoned with in the TV business, it should come as no surprise that “Dr. Odyssey” already boasts a star-studded cast.
Joshua Jackson, who first broke out in “Dawson’s Creek” and recently starred in Paramount+’s TV remake of “Fatal Attraction,” will star in the titular role, a character who is only being described as someone “whose charms help him get what he wants,” according to Deadline. This will be Jackson’s first network series since “Fringe,” which ended its run on Fox in 2013, and will add another executive producer credit to the actor’s resume.
Former “Miami Vice” and “Nash Bridges” star Don Johnson will also star in the series alongside Jackson and, similarly, not much is known about his character, either. Actually, the series’ premise is also being kept under wraps — Murphy is famously tight-lipped about projects that are still in development. Though, the title suggests it will be a medical procedural of some kind, while Deadline’s sources indicated it may be set on a cruise ship, given “9-1-1’s” (another Murphy series) splashy Season 7 opening disaster that kicked off its post-Fox era.
Other series regulars include Sean Teale (“Skins”) and Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton,” 2020).