With all the high-profile video game adaptations currently making waves, from HBO's The Last of Us TV series with Pedro Pascal to the long-awaited Uncharted film franchise fronted by Tom Holland, it doesn't look like the overall trend is going away anytime soon. (Still waiting on that Legend of Zelda TV show, though, Nintendo.) The latest classic digital pastime that will get a live-action adaptation is the 40-year-old arcade game Frogger, and I think most TV fans would agree that this new show definitely needs get Seinfeld vet Jason Alexander involved.
Thankfully, Frogger won't be some kind of a far-fetched dramatic reinterpretation of the initial navigation-based game. Instead, the in-development project coming from NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service will be a "larger-than-life physical competition" in the vein of Netflix's popular Floor Is Lava. Basically, the TV version of Frogger will feature a variety of epic courses set within game-centric settings that contestants will aim to traverse in a timely manner. And the game's mascot won't be the only greenback involved, as there will definitely be a cash prize involved.
So yes, the new game show will make its contestants go through twelve, giant, real-world representations of Frogger stages. That means players will have to "dodge treacherous traffic, leap over snapping gators and hop over hungry hippos" as a way to complete the courses. It'll take the same kind of smarts, planning and timing as the original video game, but combined with the physical skills and dexterity needed to be victorious.
Which brings us back to the easy-to-make argument that Peacock's Frogger producers should definitely try to get Seinfeld's Jason Alexander involved as a host. For those who might not have any clue why that connection exists, might I refer you to the Season 9 Seinfeld episode titled "The Frogger," which features the 1981 Konami arcade game as a big plot point.
In the episode, the George B-story revolves around Jason Alexander's character taking possession of a classic Frogger arcade cabinet from a restaurant that is set to close down. (He still had the high score on it!) Despite hiring a team of guys to handle the arcade transferral – with Fargo's Peter Stormare making a cameo – it comes down to George himself to take the game from one side of the street to the other. And to be expected, he treats the situation like a round of Frogger, and the show uses a top-down P.O.V. to follow George as he moves back and forth across the traffic-filled New York City street. It was a classic moment from the show's final season, and it was all the more heartbreaking and infuriating to witness the arcade game getting subsequently destroyed by a big truck.
Check out the behind-the-scenes look at "The Frogger" that was included in the Seinfeld DVD set, and try to picture someone else hosting Peacock's upcoming game show.
Granted, this entire argument is based on the actions of a fictional character, and Jason Alexander might very well have fewer than zero inclinations to host a game show for a streaming platform. But he might be interested, considering that hilarious Super Bowl commercial he was in, and that's the point. As an alternate, I would also accept Peter Stormare in character as Slippery Pete as the host.
Frogger is confirmed to be getting 13 hour-long episodes for Peacock, but with filming still yet to happen, it's unclear when it will hit the streaming service.
