With spring upfronts only weeks away, viewers are anxiously waiting to hear if their favorite TV shows are returning or being cancelled. Well, ABC just fired some shots into the latter basket, as it has slashed its "Summer of Games” in half. And among the casualties was a game show hosted by Alec Baldwin.
TV Line reports that the Big Four network canceled the Alec Baldwin-hosted Match Game along with Card Sharks, The Celebrity Dating Game, and The Hustler. The news was confirmed by one of the news outlet's sources. While these shows may be headed out the door, fellow “Summer of Games” staples Celebrity Family Feud, Press Your Luck, and The $100,000 Pyramid are expected to return during this coming summer season.
Of the axed programs, Match Game may be the most high-profile production of the group. This is mostly due to the fact that its cancellation comes months after its host was involved in a deadly on-set accident on the set of Rust, a western he was in production on. As of this writing, the situation is still being arbitrated, and the actor is currently set to return to acting. This doesn't appear to have played into the end of the game show, though. Per the site, the series (which aired its fifth season back in July 2021) actually hasn't been in production since the COVID pandemic shut down Hollywood in 2020.
The other three cancelled game shows ran into the same problem as the Alec Baldwin-led series. Hosted by actor and comedian Joel McHale, Card Sharks’ fate seemed grim, as the sophomore season saw ratings dip significantly from its first season. The final season was split between Summer 2020 and 2021. The Hustler, hosted by Craig Ferguson, suffered from a similar kind of ratings drop as the guessing game show. The Celebrity Dating Game, which marked Zooey Deschanel's first post-New Girl gig, aired its first and only season last summer and received decent ratings during its run.
Major announcements are expected at the ABC upfronts, so the cancellations might make way for new TV competitions (or revivals of classic ones) to fill the summer lineup. With so many game show reboots, there's really a plethora of possibilities when it comes to what might be added to the network in the near future. It'll be interesting to see what the powers that be come up with. And of course, we'll also be waiting to learn how some of the channel's other programs fair when it comes to renewals and cancellations.
It's currently unknown when the returning shows will premiere on ABC during the summer of 2022. In the meantime, though, there are plenty of returning and new TV shows that you can get info on through CinemaBlend's schedule.
