NBC is developing a Wordle game show / Netflix orders a Clue competition series / Gilgo Beach serial killer is getting another docuseries
PLUS: Aziz Ansari was grilled on Jimmy Kimmel Live! over performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in his first late-night visit in eight years.
NBC is developing a Wordle game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie from producer Jimmy Fallon
The popular New York Times-owned online trivia game that attracts billions of plays each year may be coming to TV. Deadline reports NBC has ordered a pilot with Guthrie as host. “Jimmy Fallon is involved in the adaptation, which is filming in the UK, via his Electric Hot Dog banner. His company is producing with Universal Television Alternative Studio and the New York Times,” reports Deadline’s Peter White, who adds: “The New York Times began exploring the idea of a Wordle television game show and chose to partner with Fallon and develop the idea with UTAS for the broadcast network. It comes after the newspaper acquired the game, which was created by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle, in 2022. Last year, it was played 5.3B times, up from 4.8B plays in 2023.” Fallon, who has admitted he is addicted to Wordle, played the game on The Tonight Show in 2022.
Aziz Ansari was grilled on Jimmy Kimmel Live! over performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in his first late-night visit in eight years
Ansari visited Jimmy Kimmel Monday for his first late-night visit since his 2018 sexual misconduct scandal, to promote his new film Good Fortune. (His last late-night visit was on Late Night with Seth Meyers in May 2017.) Kimmel opted to put Ansari on the hot seat for being one of a slew of high-profile comedians participating in the controversial Saudi Arabia comedy festival. “People are questioning why you would go over there and take their money to perform in front of these people,” Kimmel said, per The Daily Beast. “This is something that’s become a big part of the news because people, a lot of comedians especially, are very upset because the people who paid the comedians to come to this are not good people. It’s a pretty brutal regime.” Ansari stood behind the choice. “There’s people over there that don’t agree with the stuff that the government’s doing and to ascribe like the worst behavior of the government onto those people, that’s not fair,” he said. “Just like there’s people in America that don’t agree with the things the government is doing.” Ansari’s appearance was reminiscent of Louis CK’s visit to Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday. Both comedians last appeared in late-night in 2017 because of their respective sexual misconduct scandals amid the #MeToo movement. And both defended performing at the recent Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Netflix orders a Clue competition series
The iconic Hasbro murder mystery classic board game is becoming a reality game show. “The series will feature a group of contestants facing physical and mental challenges to collect clues before stepping into a real-life game of deduction and deception,” according to Deadline. “To win, they’ll have to outwit opponents and identify the who, where, and with what of the crime. Guess right and add money to the prize pot; guess wrong and they may be eliminated. They’ll be surrounded by familiar suspects such as Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum and Mrs. White.”
Bad Monkey adds Sam Jaeger in a Handmaid’s Tale reunion with Yvonne Strahovski
The Parenthood alum will reunite with his Handmaid’s Tale co-star Strahovski, who is also joining the Season 2 cast. Jaeger’s role is being kept under wraps.
Bari Weiss tells CBS News staffers: “Let’s do the f*cking news”
CBS News’ polarizing new editor in chief was introduced to staffers this morning. Weiss told staffers in a 9 a.m. call “she wants to ‘win,’ which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: ‘Let’s do the fucking news,’” according to Semafor’s Max Tani. CBS News president Tom Cibroski, who will work alongside Weiss but won’t be her boss, praised her, saying: “Bari’s energy and passion is infectious and you will feel it, big time.” He also added that the Free Press and CBS News “are going to learn a lot from each other...that’s what this is all about.” Meanwhile, one CBS News staffer told The Guardian that Weiss’ hiring is “utterly depressing. Somebody who has zero experience in television news or even hard news for that matter... but with a clearly defined political agenda.”
Amazon animated series Kevin casts Aubrey Plaza, Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Jason Schwartzman and more
Amy Sedaris, Gil Ozeri and Aparna Nancherla will also star in the animated series Plaza co-created with Joe Wengert. The official logline states that the show is “inspired by a real life break-up and the cat who was caught in the middle. Kevin is a hilarious and heart-warming story about finding where you belong in the world. After the unexpected break-up of his human ‘owners,’ Kevin (Schwartzman) moves into a local pet rescue in Astoria, Queens where a chaotic band of misfit animals will help him to figure out what he really wants out of life.”
Amazon orders the umpteenth docuseries on the Gilgo Beach serial killer
“In case Netflix’s Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, Peacock’s The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets, Hulu’s Truth and Lies: The Hunted, Liz Garbus’ Lost Girls (2020), multiple A&E shows, random Nightline and 20/20 episodes, and countless podcasts and YouTube were not enough Gilgo Beach serial killer content for you, Prime Video has you covered,” says The Hollywood Reporter’s Tony Maglio. “On Tuesday, Amazon’s Prime Video ordered its own docuseries about the Gilgo Beach serial killer, Killing Grounds: The Gilgo Beach Murders. Emma Cooper (Depp v Heard) will direct the series, produced by Nacelle Company and Empress Films.”
SNL’s Season 51 premiere was down 24% from last year’s Season 50 premiere
About 4.4 million total viewers watched the Bad Bunny-hosted premiere on Saturday night.
Hulu is no longer filming a docuseries on Bill Belichick’s North Carolina football program
Amid Belichick’s struggles — his team is currently 2-3 — the plug has been pulled on the docuseries that was announced in July.
Jimmy Kimmel confirms Seth Rogen’s theory that he is banned from presenting at the Emmys
On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, three-time Emmys host Kimmel confirmed Rogen’s theory that he was banned from presenting at the Emmys for accusing producers of lying about COVID protocols at the 2021 ceremony. “Can I tell you something? I checked today because, you know, I’ve hosted the Emmys quite a few times. And you are indeed banned from presenting,” Kimmel replied.
Paul Finebaum returns to ESPN after he was reportedly banned from the air
Everything appeared normal when Finebaum appeared on First Take this morning after reports Monday alleged that he was being benched because he expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate from Alabama. ESPN insisted he was not banned. ALSO: Why did Paul Finebaum break the news of his U.S. Senate interest to Outkick’s Clay Travis, ESPN’s most high-profile critic?
Brady Quinn shares what it was like as Mark Sanchez’s last-minute replacement for NFL on Fox game
Quinn was in Ann Arbor, Michigan last Saturday ready to go on air for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff when he was called to work Sunday’s Las Vegas Raiders-Indianapolis Colts game in Indianapolis after Sanchez was stabbed and hospitalized. “It’s been a whirlwind to say the least—not much sleep and mixed emotions,” Quinn told Awful Announcing via text message. “Obviously concerned for Mark’s health and the well-being of all those involved, but at the same time excited for the opportunity to call a game. However, it’s not ideal. I pride myself on preparation, and there’s not enough time to prepare in the manner I am accustomed to. I’m very appreciative of all the folks behind the scenes at Fox and coaches on both teams who went out of their way to help.”
One-Punch Man Season 3 is coming to Hulu on Sunday
Leading manga and anime platform Viz Media has revealed that the highly anticipated third season that Season 3 of the beloved superhero satire will premiere on Oct. 12.
RuPaul’s Drag Race alums will join RuPaul on Adam Shankman’s upcoming action-comedy film
Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Monét X Change and Symone will appear alongside RuPaul in the as yet untitled and sure to be diva-licious film.
LeBron James’ “second decision” teaser turned out to be a Hennessy ad
Some were wondering if the NBA great was teasing something consequential because he didn’t use the required “#ad” in Monday’s teaser.
Hilaria Baldwin insists she’s no “nepo wife” who was cast on Dancing with the Stars because of husband Alec Baldwin
“If he ever made a call, that would make things easier on me, I would feel like I didn’t deserve it,” she said on Tuesday’s episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, per Page Six. “I’m a hard worker. I want to earn things on my own merit. I think especially because anybody who marries a celebrity is going to be accused of being …” “A nepo wife,” host Amanda Hirsch chimed in, to which Hilaria agreed.
Glen Powell’s Chad Powers faces off with Eli Manning’s Chad Powers
The two Chad Powers met as part of this week’s Eli’s Places episode.
R.L. Stine’s Stinetinglers is being developed as an animated series
This will be the first time the Goosebumps author’s books have been reworked as an animated series. “Stinetinglers is Stine’s latest,” according to Deadline. “Published by Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, four volumes have already been released, with a fifth scheduled for 2026. The series is set in the seemingly idyllic town of Blooming Hills, where unknown forces unleash chilling terrors on local teens.”
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell spent 10 minutes eviscerating CNN’s Jake Tapper over a Trump interview conducted via text
O’Donnell slammed Tapper for his CNN Sunday morning show including an “interview” with President Trump that was entirely over text, with no proof that Trump was actually sending the replies.
Murder Most Unladylike book series is being adapted for TV
Robin Stevens’ 1930s-set book series is being adapted by Anna McCleery for StudioCanal Television. Murder Most Unladylike tackles murder mysteries through the eyes of two unlikely boarding school best friends with grand ambitions.
Real Housewives of Miami’s Todd Nepola sues Bravo and NBC Universal over his portrayal
Nepola, whose ex-wife Alexia Nepola stars in the Bravo reality show, alleges in his lawsuit that Bravo misrepresented “his finances to juice up storylines around his ex-wife,” according to TMZ, which adds: “The suit calls out multiple episodes, in which castmate Adriana de Moura supposedly spread false claims ... from saying Todd’s business was tanking, to suggesting he might have to break his lease and downgrade his apartment.”
Keri Russell reacts to Taylor Swift calling her the “coolest celebrity ever”
Flattered and honored, Russell called Swift a legend and a queen. Both Swift and Russell were guests on Monday’s Tonight Show.
Dick Van Dyke jokes about turning 100 on Dec. 13: “It’d be funny if I didn’t make it”
“I brag sometimes about how I made it to a hundred and the truth is, if I had known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself,” Van Dyke said Sunday at an event Sunday. “And it is frustrating because I don’t know what I did right. Other than her (Arlene(, I didn’t do anything right.” Van Dyke married Arlene, 54, in 2012.
Nicolas Jean, co-creator of the French series that was adapted as ABC’s High Potential, dies at 63
The French screenwriter, who co-created HPI with Stéphane Carrié and Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, died Sept. 29. He is best known at home and internationally for HPI, starring Audrey Fleurot as a struggling single mother of three with “high intellectual potential” who is a hired by the serious crime squad as a consultant when her innate detective skills come to light. HPI premiered in 2021 and was adapted for ABC as High Potential starring Kaitlin Olson in 2024.
The Witcher is “reborn” as Liam Hemsworth in Season 4 trailer
As TVLine’s Andy Swift notes, “unless it’s all a bit of clever editing, the trailer implies that The Witcher will address the major casting change, at least to a degree, with talk of Geralt being ‘in a state of flux’ and ‘becoming something new.’” Hemsworth officially makes his debut as Henry Cavill’s successor on Oct. 30.