A new spin on You Bet Your Life, the personality-driven game show that gave Groucho Marx a new level of fame on the then-emerging medium of television, has been sold in 85% of the country ahead of its fall debut.
Hosted by Jay Leno, the new version of the show will launch across Fox’s portfolio of 29 stations as well as stations owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps, Meredith, Gray and other companies. The announcement came during NATPE, whose annual Miami confab is happening virtually this year in the latest adjustment to Covid-19.
The team mounting the new version said it will retain many elements of the Marx-hosted original, which ran on both radio and television and was a defining show of the 1950s.
“Combining the expertise of two of Hollywood’s top producers, Tom Werner and David Hurwitz, with the joint hosting experience of the tremendously talented Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks, ‘You Bet Your Life’ will deliver a fun series filled with the warmth and laughter that America needs now,” Stephen Brown, Executive Vice President of Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations and Fox First Run.
“One of my favorite things to do is to talk to regular people and draw humor out of them,” Leno said. “This is a comedy show wrapped in a game that allows me to do just that.”
In all, 180 episodes of You Bet Your Life will be distributed by Fox First Run. The show’s international format rights are represented by NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group. Tapes of the produced shows will be available for international distribution through Propagate Content.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Deadline