CBS bosses have postponed the reboot of their latest game show amid the ongoing fires ravaging Los Angeles.
Execs at the network felt that premiering the game show this week was not “tonally appropriate” given the ongoing crisis.
CBS postponed the premiere of Hollywood Squares[/caption]
Fans supported the move given the crisis situation in California[/caption]
Hollywood Squares had been due to launch on Thursday night, January 9, but the plug was pulled at the last minute.
A message shared on the official Hollywood Squares Instagram page confirmed that the show will now air next Thursday instead, January 16.
The post read, “In light of the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, the premiere of Hollywood Squares will move to Thursday January 16.”
Fans welcomed the decision to pull the transmission date for the revival, despite having to now wait longer to watch it kick off.
Replying, one wrote, “I respect this choice.”
Another added, “A very respectful and honoring gesture. Praying for California.”
And a third said, “A class move. Thank you.”
“The tenor of the show was seen as tonally inappropriate given the devastation in parts of L.A. county,” The Hollywood Reporter claimed. “In addition, the CBS stations in and around L.A. have been in rolling coverage of the fires.”
The return of Hollywood Squares was announced in May 2024.
The popular game show sees two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes.
The board for the game is a vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants.
The celebrities are asked trivia questions and the contestants judge the legitimacy of their answers to win the game.
NBC aired the show originally in the 1960s and it ran throughout the decade.
Drew Barrymore, 49, and Nate Burleson will host the game show revival with a coterie of A-list contestants signed on and an old-school set design.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is one of those contestants, and he gave fans a sneak peek at the studio in August.
He also posed for a picture with host Drew as filming got underway.
Other contestants include Whoopi Goldberg Joan Rivers, Kristen Schaal, Mario Cantone, Vicki Lawrence of the Carol Burnette Show, and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Hours before the reboot was pulled from CBS, Drew told Entertainment Tonight why she felt she was perfect for the job of host and Center Square.
Drew said, “It’s personal for me because I turned to it for entertainment, escapism but also laughter when I was a kid.
“And so when something takes good care of you, you sort of want to pick up the mantle and take care of it back and keep it going.”
Hollywood Squares first aired in the 1960s[/caption]
Drew says the job of Center Square is ‘personal to her’[/caption]
