TVLine Items: Lingo Ends Season Early, The Penguin Adds SOA Vet and More
Lingo is Lingone — but only for the time being.
CBS has announced that the RuPaul Charles-hosted game show will be replaced on Wednesday nights at 9/8c with drama series reruns, starting with FBI: Most Wanted on March 22.
Survivor opens CBS Wednesdays, while the freshman caper series True Lies closes out the night at 10 pm. Season to date, Survivor has been averaging 4.9 million viewers and a 0.7 demo rating (in Live+Same Day numbers), while Lingo has retained barely half of that (2.6 mil/0.4), followed by True Lies‘ 2.8 mil/0.3.
Lingo was recently ordered for a second season, and the remaining four original episodes will be scheduled for next season.
Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well….
* Geoff Stults (Enlisted, The Finder) has joined ABC’s The Company You Keep in the recurring role of Simon, Birdie’s (Sarah Wayne Callies) ex-husband, Deadline reports.
* Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy) is the latest addition to the ever-growing cast of The Penguin, HBO Max’s Colin Farrell-led spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie, Deadline reports. No character details have been revealed.
* Lonnie Chavis (This Is Us‘ tweenage Randall), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things), Ryan O’Nan (Big Sky), Joaquina Kalukango (Lovecraft Country) and Justin Hurtt-Dunkley (Mare of Easttown) have landed recurring roles in Bass Reeves, Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s David Oyelowo-starring series about “the greatest frontier hero in American history.” Deadline has character details.
Which of today’s TVLine Items pique your interest?
Why bench an already renewed show for next season for reruns? I wasn’t crazy about lingo but it’s watchable I wish Chuck woolery would host it again
Nah, he’s 82
Also, he’s a republican so I don’t think CBS is looking for a political head.
I think they are stockpiling some shows in case of a writers strike. March is typically littered with reruns anyway. Although, I was surprised Lingo was renewed so quickly, based on its ratings.
It’s not compatible with True lies and they are trying to save that show.
CBS putting drama (R) instead of True Lies (N) episodes shows they never expected it to succeed.
I really want to like true lies but the leads have zero chemistry
Omar Miller is the best thing about True Lies but I’m afraid even he can’t save it (@ least for me.)
I like aTrue Lies and the whole cast. Hate to see it go.
TL is crap. It should have been a streaming series. Bigger budget and can be R rated. More similar to the film it’s based on.
Sounds like the Lingo move is a stockpiling plan on CBS’ part, in case a writers’ strike delays scripted production for next season.
That was 100% my thoughts on the matter… I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other game shows slated to premiere later this spring or during the summer get swapped for encores as well…
Why is CBS not simply moving True Lies to the post-Survivor slot to maximize eyeballs? I don’t understand the repeat at 9…. Survivor is their best launching pad and they will be using a repeat as a lead-out? Wtf???
Because CBS is stupid. The decisions of what to keep & what to cancel & what new shows to greenlight many of which gone or teetering on the brink ie all of Fridays at 8 in 2021/ 2022 season are they have made at least since the Pandemic started have been horrendous. It’s as if covid mushed the collective executive brain & is continuing to do so. They are pro-moing some of their new shows much too hard insisting they are hits & renewing then after a couple if episodes. Question: If a show is such a hit why do you have to keep promoting them in what seems like every single minute of every single day CBS?
Good riddance. Boring show.
Lingo should’ve been taken to Game Show Network maybe it was better suited there.
True Lies has actors I like but it doesn’t get my attention.
Happy for Ryan O’Nan since I know him from Hallmark films
My parents are angry about Lingo.
That’s what happens when you pick the wrong person to host the show and you mess up the format. All CBS had to do was copy GSN’s version from the early 2000s and get a decent person to host it. But no, they got rid of the bingo aspect, altered the gameplay mechanics and picked a polarizing person to helm it (RuPaul is the complete opposite of Chuck in every way, shape and form). No wonder why the ratings have been crashing. It shouldn’t have even been renewed for a second season based off the viewership numbers alone.
You apparently didn’t read the story. The show is not cancelled. The remaining episodes will be shown next season before the start of Lingos season 2. They are preparing for a possible writers strike.
Rupaul Charles “polarizing?” Why, simply because he’s also a famous drag queen?
It sounds even more strange when you mention Chuck Woolery, whose social media takes about Covid were, to say the least, cause for concern.
I also don’t think a two-decade-ago Game Show Network run of the concept (I barely recalled its existence until you mentioned it) is necessarily benchmark to future versions.
Totally wrong! The current Lingo is a lot like Wordle which is very popular now. RuPaul is one of the nicest and least polarizing people on the planet. Do I hear some discrimination in this comment? He’s a drag queen sometimes, but that’s not who he is. Get over it.
I love Lingo. This disappoints me but I can see CBS needing a stronger and more compatible lead-in for True Lies. If I was programming though, I would test True Lies at 9, following Survivor.
Unless if your The Price is Right or Let’s Make a Deal Network daytime game shows are dead.
And regarding the True Lies tv series, unless if your M*A*S*H, In the Heat of the Night or Weird Science, tv shows that are based on movies usually don’t succeed.
I didn’t see that announcement was coming!
Aw man that sucks. I enjoyed lingo but it’s the thought that counts I guess.
I like Ru Paul but, he is not a game show host.
I like that Lingo isn’t as manic as all of Jimmy Fallon’s game show offerings but I do wish there was a bit more energy to it.
I liked the 2002-2007 version with Woolery and even the 2011 version with Bill Engvall hosting. But the 2023 version is difficult to watch. I don’t like Rupaul as a game show host, it just doesn’t seem a natural fit for him.
It’s obviously Ru fits into the world of crossdressing more than guessing five letter words but that’s just me.
It was really quite obvious that CBS was trying to cash in on a trend here for Ru’s Lingo and of course that trend is Wordle. But the one and only credit that I will give it is that at least they didn’t re-hire Shandi Finnessey as co-host. Sure a lot of people liked here back in the GSN days but I thought that she was overrated AF plus she was cold-hearted to Chuck.
No Schwarzenegger + No Curtis = No True Lies.
I really liked Lingo. I thought RuPaul was the PERFECT host for it and I was very disappointed when it was cancelled.
Will it be coming on again? If so, when?