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It’s hip to be square again! Hollywood Squares will see Drew Barrymore take center stage (or make that square) on CBS starting in early 2025.
The network announced its midseason premiere dates on Wednesday (November 13), including a January 9, 2025 series premiere for Hollywood Squares. Although the classic game show has been reworked many times over the years, it’s returning to its roots and original home with Barrymore in the center square and Nate Burleson as host.
The show airs on Thursday nights for the first three weeks before moving over to Wednesday nights alongside The Price Is Right at Night and Raid the Cage starting on January 29. Those two shows both premiere on January 8, 2025.
CBS describes the format as follows: “Two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes. The ‘board’ for the game is a vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The celebrities are asked questions and the contestants judge the legitimacy of their answers to win the game. … Drew Barrymore will take her place as the famed ‘center square’ answering questions for the contestants.”
The announcement came with the official first-look photos of Barrymore on set. She can be seen posing in old-school game show eleganza alongside host and former NFL player Burleson (above), and seated for a solo snap (below).
CBS Midseason Primetime Schedule & Premiere Dates:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9
8 p.m.: Hollywood Squares (Series Premiere; moving to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. starting January 29)
9 p.m.: Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (Encores)
9: 30 p.m.: Ghosts (Encores)
10 p.m.: CBS Drama Encores
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26
6:30-10 p.m.: (approx.) AFC Championship Game
10 p.m.: (approx.) Watson (Series Premiere)
MONDAYS, starting JANUARY 27
8 p.m.: The Neighborhood
8:30 p.m.: Poppa’s House
9 p.m.: NCIS
10 p.m.: NCIS: Origins
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28
8 p.m.: FBI
9 p.m.: FBI: International
10 p.m.: FBI: Most Wanted
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29
8 p.m.: The Price Is Right At Night
9 p.m.: Raid The Cage
10 p.m.: Hollywood Squares (new time period premiere)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
7 p.m.: 60 Minutes
8 p.m.: Tracker
9 p.m.: Watson (Episode 2, Regular Time Period Premiere)
10 p.m.: The Equalizer (New Time Period Premiere)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
8 p.m.: Survivor (Season 48 Premiere)
10 p.m.: Hollywood Squares
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5
8-9:30 p.m.: Survivor
9:30 p.m.: The Amazing Race (Season 37 Premiere)
Hollywood Squares is yet to announce its celebrities, but in August, Gabriel Iglesias revealed a swath of them when he shared an Instagram video mid-taping; many of A-list names visible in the squares.
Some names include former NFL player and current co-host of The Talk, Akbar Gbajabiamila, former Community star Yvette Nicole Brown, comedian Whitney Cummings, and The Cleaning Lady actor Oliver Hudson.
Other names spotted in the background of Iglesias’ Instagram Stories are Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, comedian Tig Notaro, What We Do in the Shadows star Kristen Schaal, And Just Like That… actor Mario Cantone, The Neighborhood stars Tichina Arnold and Beth Behrs, and The Carol Burnett Show alum Vicki Lawrence.
The video gives fans their first sneak peek at the set, which looks to take inspiration from the original 1960s version of Hollywood Squares. Nine cubes are stacked on top of one other in a 3 x 3 grid, and the studio floor is wood-paneled.
Fans took to social media loving the old-school look. “Well I’m surprised but pleased,” wrote one fan on X at the time.
“They made a new Hollywood Squares set for this version. It’s not the old Hip Hop/Nashville/Celebrity Squares set again for another decade. Looks nice!” wrote another.
“I’m actually digging the wood-like flooring. Definitely a different feel from the Black Shiny Floor of the Bergeron Era,” said another.
Original Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall died from kidney failure at the age of 98 over the summer. Marshall hosted the show from 1966 until 1981 and won four Daytime Emmy Awards.
