Will David Hasselhoff and Fremantle Revive What's My Line?
Sunday July 27, 2008
David Hasselhoff is apparently working with Fremantle, the company that owns the rights to a slew of classic game shows, to bring back one of the all-time great game shows of, well, ever. In an interview with Mark Simone on WABC radio this weekend, Hasselhoff mentioned that he's been talking to Fremantle about reviving What's My Line? - and possibly hosting the show himself. He does have reservations about hosting, however, citing a fear of being "typecast as a game show host." At any rate, he's hoping to be heavily involved in the show, perhaps as a regular panel member.But wait, that's not the bad news. Apparently Fremantle has a "new twist" to the game, which Hasselhoff said was a "new take" that was "so friggin' cool." Hmm. I'm all for updating the old shows for prime time - look at how well Million Dollar Password is doing - but this particular show might not fare so well with any drastic updates. That said, I'm willing to be optimistic and hope for the best. There's no official word yet on whether or not the show is even out of the idea stage at this time.
What's My Line? featured a celebrity panel who had to ask yes-or-no questions of contestants in order to guess their occupation. The original version ran from 1950 to 1967 on CBS. It was brought back as a syndicated series in 1968, and lasted until 1975.
Photo by Kevin Winter, courtesy Getty Images
I LOVE What’s My Line! I’m guessing they won’t be filming in black and white.
I’m all for a What’s My Line? revival, but Hasselhoff?! This show was always a class act…at least when it was on in prime time. I wouldn’t use “classy” to describe The Hoff. The guy who should be behind this is George Clooney. He has an appreciation of Television history and would have access to the A-listers needed to pull this off. (The thought of tonight’s mystery guest being Kathy Griffin scares me.) J. Keith Van Stratten should be the host, as he does a great job on the live stage show. In fact, Fremantle should just cut Hasselhoff out of the project, see if they can get Clooney on board as an EP/part-time panelist and hire Van Stratten to produce/host.
The original What’s My Line could not be duplicated or “updated” without losing everything that made it great – a panel with class, intelligence and great wit! Hasselhoff? Oh My God. Please just bring back the original. I stayed up until 2:00 AM daily only to see you cancel it. A new WML would only be a huge disappointment.