Saturday Night Live fans lamenting the hiatus will soon have something to hold them over for the summer. ABC’s revival of Match Game is set to bring a handful of SNL stars to primetime, along with a few other familiar faces of late-night.
The summer game show entry, which minted Martin Short as its new host earlier this year, will re-team the SNL alum with several Not Ready for Primetime Players: Ego Nwodim, Kevin Nealon, Ana Gasteyer, Jay Pharoah, and Jim Belushi are all scheduled to be panelists on the program.
While Gasteyer and Pharoah guested on ABC’s previous run of the game show, the new season will mark the Match Game debuts for Nwodim, Nealon, and Belushi.
But perhaps the standout among the upcoming panelists is someone whose SNL ties are more circumspect: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Triumph, of course, originated on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, but the canine puppet character is the creation of former SNL writer and Saturday TV Funhouse creator Robert Smigel.
Smigel and Triumph have made a makeshift home for themselves on comedic panel shows in recent years, appearing on CBS’ revival of Hollywood Squares and hosting a show of their own, Let’s Make A Poop. (Despite the latter’s name evoking Let’s Make A Deal and its game board styled after Jeopardy!, that show’s improvised answer format brings it closer to Match Game than anything else.)
ABC’s last iteration of Match Game wasn’t without its Saturday Night Live cred. That version, which ran for five seasons between 2016-2021, was hosted by SNL regular Alec Baldwin. Over its run, the show saw several SNL alumni serve as panelists, including Horatio Sanz, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, and Chris Parnell.
But the show’s new season appears to be cranking the SNL angle up a bit—perhaps a result of many past and current cast members being eager to work with Short. That certainly seems to be the case for Selena Gomez. One of Short’s Only Murders in the Building co-stars, the actress and pop star also agreed to serve as a panelist on Match Game this year—a decidedly A-list get for the show. (Only Murders actress Andrea Martin, who also co-starred with Short on SCTV, will also appear on the new season, having previously appeared on CBS’ 1973-79 revival of the series.)
Short’s new gig also harkens back to his Canadian comedy roots beyond his reunion with Martin. He recorded the new season last month in Montreal.
The Martin Short-hosted Match Game will air on ABC Wednesday nights at 9 PM ET beginning July 23rd, and will stream the next day on Hulu. The season premiere will feature Nealon, Gomez, BD Wong, Anthony Anderson, Cara Delevingne, and Ziwe as panelists.
