Hollywood Squares (originally The Hollywood Squares, The New Hollywood Squares (1986-1989), then later stylized as H2: Hollywood Squares) is an American television game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a pilot on NBC in 1965, and debuted as a regular series in October 1966. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host and the contestants judge the truth based on their answers to gain squares in the right pattern to win the game. Though Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers (commonly called "zingers" by the production staff), often given by the stars prior to their real answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given the questions' subjects and bluffs prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. The original host Peter Marshall explained at the beginning of the Secret Square game, "the celebrities were briefed before the show to help them with bluff answers, but they are hearing the actual questions for the first time." Marshall hosted the original version of Hollywood Squares that aired on NBC from 1966 to 1980, as well as a nighttime syndicated version that ran from 1971 to 1981. It then returned to NBC in 1983 as part of a 60-minute hybrid series with Match Game, featuring Jon Bauman hosting the Hollywood Squares portion of that show. Following Marshall's retirement, the show has since been revived twice in syndication: a version hosted by John Davidson from 1986 to 1989, and another hosted by Tom Bergeron from 1998 to 2004. Three revivals were run from 2012 to 2024 with a different title all on Paramount cable channels: Hip Hop Squares, originally on MTV2 with Peter Rosenberg in 2012 and on VH1 with DeRay Davis from 2017 to 2019; Nashville Squares, on CMT with Bob Saget in 2019, and Celebrity Squares on VH1 with John "DC Young Fly" Whitfield from 2023 to 2024. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it at No. 7 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever. Internationally, there have been multiple versions produced under a variety of names (see International versions below). When combined with two spinoffs of the franchise, the show has been produced for seven different decades. In May 2024, it was announced that the show would be revived by CBS (which has owned the rights to the program since 2000, when it acquired format owner King World), with Drew Barrymore as a co-executive producer and center square, and Nate Burleson as host. The series premiered on January 16, 2025. On February 24, 2025, the revival was renewed for a second season, which premiered on January 7, 2026.
Gameplay Two contestants compete in every match, with one playing the letter X and the other the letter O (referred to as "circle") in a game of tic-tac-toe. The tic-tac-toe board features nine celebrities, each seated behind a square of a three-by-three grid game board. Taking turns, each contestant selects a square. The celebrity in that square is asked a question by the host and gives an answer, typically preceded by a comedic response known as a "zinger". The contestant may then choose to agree or disagree with the answer given by the celebrity. Correctly agreeing or disagreeing awards the contestant's symbol, while doing so incorrectly awards the opponent's symbol, unless doing so would result in an automatic win for the opponent. As in the regular game of tic-tac-toe, the objective is to create three in a row of the same symbol vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Should a game develop in such a way that it is impossible to achieve three in a row, the round is won by whichever contestant is able to place their letter in at least five squares (a majority of the board).
1966–1981
Bert Parks hosted the 1965 pilot of Hollywood Squares, which was taped at CBS Television City. A second pilot was taped with comedian Sandy Baron as host. Neither Parks nor Baron were considered to host the series, partly because NBC was "looking for a complete non-entity", and partly because Baron was considered "too New Yorky". NBC acquired the rights to the show, which debuted on October 17, 1966, with Peter Marshall as host, a job he held for 15 years. Marshall agreed to host because he did not want rival Dan Rowan to host. Hollywood Squares was the final addition to a short-lived game show powerhouse block on NBC, which for the next two years also included Concentration, Jeopardy!, You Don't Say!, Let's Make a Deal, Match Game and others. During most of its daytime run, NBC broadcast The Hollywood Squares at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central; it dominated the ratings until 1976 when it made the first of several time slot moves. During its peak at its timeslot, the show attempted an hour-long trial format for the week of November 3-7, 1975, but it did not last long. The show begin falling apart and declining after the premieres of Stumpers! and 50 Grand Slam and lasted all the way to its cancellation in 1980. The show officially announced its cancellation by NBC executive Fred Silverman in February 27, 1980, citing the fact the set was outdated and the host was aging in contrast to the neon-lit sets of their newer game shows at that time. The daytime show aired its 3,536th and last episode on June 20, 1980, when it was canceled to make way for a talk show with David Letterman that would become a precursor to his Late Night and Late Show programs.
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