Television series
Hollywood Game Night
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
- Dip in and out
Hollywood Game Night drops regular people into a glamorous celebrity game show where they compete in silly parlour games alongside A-list stars. Jane Lynch hosts with infectious warmth. It's comfort TV — low stakes, high energy, nobody's mean. Perfect if you want celebrity culture without the cruelty, or just to watch grown-ups laugh at charades.
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Password2022
Kathy Griffin hosts this revival of the beloved word-guessing game with celebrity pairs. Fast-paced, genuinely funny, and the format lets personalities shine without needing big set pieces or manufactured drama.
But If you haven't seen the original, you might find the premise thin—it's really just people saying words. The comedy lands hardest if you know the celebrities.
Don't Forget the Lyrics!2022
Contestants fill in missing lyrics to hit songs while celebrities cheer them on. Nostalgic, joyful, and surprisingly moving when someone nails a song they've loved their whole life. No one gets humiliated.
But The songs skew heavily toward 80s and 90s hits. If that's not your era, you'll be lost half the time, and the sentiment can feel saccharine.
The Celebrity Dating Game2021
Zooey Deschanel brings genuine charm to this reboot where singles go on dates with mystery celebrities. It's flirty, awkward in the best way, and surprisingly sweet. The chemistry between contestants matters as much as star power.
But The dating outcomes feel predetermined and the format is repetitive. After three episodes you've seen every joke the structure allows.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Hollywood Game Night
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Schitt's Creek2015
Both centre the fantasy of stepping into a glamorous world and finding genuine community there. Schitt's Creek inverts it—they lose everything *except* community—but the core belief in found connection is identical.
A family loses everything and moves to a town they once bought as a joke. It's written as a sitcom but plays as genuine character drama about found family and belonging. Warm, frequently hilarious, occasionally devastating. Six seasons of steady excellence.
But The first season is visibly cheaper and the humour is broader. Patience required. It's also fundamentally about people being kind to each other, which sounds nice but means no cathartic cruelty.
More like this (7)
Lip Sync Battle2015
Celebrities lip-sync against each other with full theatrical production. It's pure spectacle—inventive, hilarious, and impossible to look away from. LL Cool J's hosting is perfect, and the commitment is genuinely impressive.
But The novelty wears off. After the first season, you're watching the same three ideas with different faces. Some performances are too long.
Weakest Link2000
This revival trades the original's cruelty for genuine strategy. Celebrities answer trivia while playing coalition politics. Sharp, fast, and the banter between contestants becomes the real show—watch people actually get angry.
But Anne Robinson's hosting lacks the original's acid. Some celebrities clearly didn't prep and it shows in long dead air.
Match Game2016
Alec Baldwin presides over this panel show where contestants guess celebrity answers to absurd fill-in-the-blank questions. It's loose, very funny, and the celebrities actually riff. The format lets weird humour live.
But It can feel meandering. Some panels are sharper than others and flat episodes drag considerably.
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune2021
Pat Sajak hosted celebrities playing Wheel of Fortune for charity. Familiar, comforting, zero meanness. You get all the satisfaction of puzzle-solving without any edge. Perfect background TV that never demands too much.
But There's no actual jeopardy since money goes to charity. Stakes disappear and so does dramatic momentum. Watching celebrities fail at basic words gets old.
The $100,000 Pyramid2016
Michael Strahan hosts this revival where celebrity-civilian pairs play the word-clue game. It's energetic and the constraints of the format force real comedy from watching people's brains work in real time.
But The show is dependent on which celebrities show up. Bad pairs make the whole episode drag. Some rounds feel like they take forever.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj2018
Both are built on a host's charisma carrying the show, and both insist that celebrity culture and entertainment can be spaces where truth lives. But where Game Night says 'everyone's nice here,' Patriot Act says 'let's burn it down.' Same DNA, opposite thermostats.
Stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj does topical comedy essays on a massive stage with full production design. Political, personal, sometimes angry, always smart. It's comedy as reportage, not games, but the energy is infectious and the writing is genuinely excellent.
But It's not game-show comfort. Topics include war, corruption, climate collapse. The tone is urgent and you can't zone out. Some episodes are heavy.
The Floor2024
Both use celebrity presence and a game-show structure to create entertainment, but The Floor proves celebrity isn't necessary for that magic. The real spectacle is competition and sudden reversals of fortune. It's Game Night without the gloss—just the game.
Ray Combs hosts contestants trying to earn spots standing on a giant floor facing off against celebrity experts. It's trivia-based but genuinely suspenseful—you can lose everything on one question. The pacing is relentless and the stakes feel real despite the silliness.
But It's niche in the best way. If you're not a trivia person or you find quiz-show tension exhausting rather than exciting, it won't work. Some categories are obscure enough to feel unfair.
People
Cast
Jane LynchHost
Joseph D. CiprianoAnnouncer
Recommended by
Family Game Fight!, Nickelodeon's Unfiltered, I Can See Your Voice