It’s not every day ABC decides to bring back a canceled show, but it seems the Alphabet Network has decided it’s not quite finished with one of its hit game show revivals after all!
Four years after being canceled, ABC is bringing Match Game back for a new season with a new host entering the mix. Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short has been tapped to lead the revival of the classic game show, which enjoyed a five-season run on ABC from 2016 to 2021, with Alec Baldwin helping bring the show into the modern era.
Although there was speculation at the time that ABC canceled Match Game in the wake of Baldwin’s accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of Rust, the real cause behind the show’s ending seemed to be the COVID-19 pandemic. While the show did air a pair of new episodes in 2021, those episodes had been filmed before the pandemic brought Hollywood to its knees, as Match Game never resumed production after the pandemic began. The show was then officially canceled by ABC in early 2022, nine months after the show aired its final episode on July 28, 2021.
That said, it is interesting that ABC is bringing the show back without Baldwin attached. However, host shake-ups are nothing new in the game show industry, so it’s possible the decision was simply a creative move in looking to keep things fresh as ABC brings back its revival based on the classic ‘70s hit formerly hosted by Gene Rayburn for over 1,400(!) episodes.
Just days after the renewal came through, ABC confirmed the new season will arrive on July 23 at 9/8c behind new episodes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It not a surprise the show is coming this summmer as it helps that the network is able to turn around episodes in a relatively short window of tim,e thanks to the nature of the show, which features four competing contestants vying for $25,000 each week as they try to match answers with the show’s celebrity panelists.
With Short taking over as host, we’re expecting the celebrity panelists will feature a mix of both new and familiar faces. This has always been one of the biggest draws of the show with fans tuning in weekly to see which celebrity players will join in on the fill-in-the-blank fun!
Among the new faces we’d definitely like to see join the show’s celebrity panel are some of Martin’s Only Murders in the Building costars, namely Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. While the duo don’t have to be recurring panelists, we’d still love to see them pop up from time to time or would even take a quick cameo in the premiere.
Regardless of which stars join the panel, we’re excited for Match Game to return and to see what Short brings to the show as its new host!