Elon Musk will be on the new season of Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC. Season seven begins September 7. There are eight episodes. 

CNBC has not yet shared when the Musk episode will air. Leno gets “unprecedented access” to the SpaceX “Starbase” facility in Texas from Musk, and an “exclusive look,” according to CNBC, at the most advanced rocket engine ever made.

Musk is co-founder and CEO of Tesla, and co-founder and CEO of SpaceX. 

Brie Larson, Post Malone, Gaten Matarazzo, Kelly Clarkson, Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Pitbull, James Marsden, Danica Patrick, Alfonso Ribeiro, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Tig Notaro, Reggie Watts, Tony Hawk, Mike Rowe, Jim Jefferies, Jeff Dunham and Diego Boneta also hang with Jay this season.  

“Jay’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the ever-evolving automotive industry is truly unmatched,” said Denise Contis, executive VP and head of content, CNBC Primetime. “This series captures the spirit of innovation and inspiration that is at the core of all of our primetime programming.”

Larson, creator of upcoming Disney Plus series Growing Up, and Ribeiro, co-host of Dancing with the Stars, are in the season premiere. 

“I am a huge believer in innovation,” said Leno. “This season I went down to Starbase in Texas to talk with the only person to send an actual car into outer space, Elon Musk. And Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things gets to drive some strange things as well as Brie Larson, Post Malone, Pitbull, Kelly Clarkson, Jamie Lee Curtis and racecar legend Danica Patrick comes out of retirement to drive with us in an exclusive hypercar.”

Jay Leno’s Garage is produced by Original Productions, a Fremantle Company, and Kitten Kaboodle, with Leno, Jeff Hasler, Jeff Bumgarner, Ernie Avila, Brian Lovett and Abby Schwarzwalder the executive producers, while Deb Savo exec produces for CNBC. ■

You Bet Your Life, Fox First Run’s reboot of the game show made famous by Groucho Marx, is tweaking its format for next season, its second in national syndication. Instead of having host Jay Leno open every episode with a few minutes of standup, as he did when he hosted NBC’s The Tonight Show, Leno will spend that time mingling with the show’s contestants. 

Leno always chatted with the players, but the new format will expand on that time and mine it for more comedy.

“It’s more fun to get right to it,” Leno said in an interview. “I’m always anxious to get to the contestants.”

“We’ve found that the interviews are comedic enough,” said Stephen Brown, executive VP, programming and development, Fox Television Stations. “We were hedging our bets when we first started, thinking, ‘What if these people are not that funny or entertaining?’ As we were watching more and more, we realized that the interviews were more funny than we first thought they would be. That’s really the meat of the show.”

Leno has long incorporated talking to real people into his act and his show, like on his Tonight Show segment “Jaywalking,” in which Leno would meet people on the street and ask them questions such as, “Who is the vice president?” How often people did not know answers to what seemed like basic questions was always good for a laugh.

“That’s where ‘Jaywalking’ came from — watching Groucho react to people,” Leno said. “My favorite one was when we were at a college talking to students as they got their diplomas. We asked, ‘Can you name a country that borders the U.S.?’ and they would say things like, ‘Geography wasn’t my major.’”

“I generally like talking to people,” Leno said. “I’m always amazed when celebrities don’t want to meet anyone.”

When it comes to hosting You Bet Your Life, Leno tries to treat the contestants a little bit like the celebrities that used to sit on his Tonight Show couch.

“I think the real trick is to listen and … be a comedian when you’re called upon,“ he said. On the Tonight Show, Leno said, “I was a comedian when I did the monologue, and then I was the host. My job was to not embarrass or humiliate the guests. You learn to pull back a little bit. That’s how you get guests to come back.” 

You Bet Your Life -- which Fox often pairs with 25 Words or Less, starring Meredith Vieira -- has been renewed for a second season in national syndication. It averaged a 0.8 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen, in the week ended April 10. Next season, Pictionary, starring Jerry O’Connell, will be a new addition to Fox’s game block. ■ 

Fox First Run is bringing back four of its original syndicated shows: rookie game show You Bet Your Life, starring Jay Leno and his Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks; 25 Words or Less, starring and executive produced by Meredith Vieira; Dish Nation, starring Sherri Shepherd and radio teams from around the country; and Divorce Court, hosted by Judge Faith Jenkins. All four shows will continue to air on the Fox Television Stations through the 2022-23 TV season. 

“Fox First Run's main priority is to always focus on our audience first, by allowing them to appear, contribute, play and win. All of our programming both, present and ones in development, have two key elements--extensive interactivity and pure entertainment,” Stephen Brown, executive vice president of programming, Fox Television Stations, said in a statement. 

Also: 'Wendy Williams' Swaps in Michael Rapaport as Sherri Shepherd Undergoes Surgery

The Fox Television Stations will see some changes across its programming lineups in January, when Sony Pictures Television swaps out Dr. Oz for The Good Dish, as Dr. Mehmet Oz fully launches his run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania and his 13-season daytime syndicated talker comes to an end. 

Also: 'The Good Dish' to Replace 'Dr. Oz' in January 

Fox also has picked up game show Pictionary, hosted by Jerry O'Connell, to premiere this fall. Pictionary aired as a test on select Fox stations last summer. The show will be distributed by CBS Media Ventures, which is also selling the national advertising time.

Also: 'Pictionary' Heads to Fox Stations in Fall 2022

You Bet Your Life, a reboot of a format made famous by Groucho Marx, debuted in September. It’s cleared in all top 100 markets and in Canada. David Hurwitz is showrunner and executive producer along with Tom Werner.

“Here’s what You Bet Your Life is all about: laughs plus money equals, who cares what it equals! It’s laughs plus money!” Leno said in a statement. 

25 Words or Less first debuted on select Fox stations as a preview show in August 2018 and then went into national syndication in fall 2019. Executive produced by Vieira along with Lisa Kudrow, Dan Bucatinsky, Mary McCormack, Michael Morris, showrunner Michael Canter and Bruce Sterten, 25 Words or Less is cleared in 98% of the U.S.

“I feel honored to host 25 Words or Less, especially now. To bring laughter and great game play into people’s homes every day is a gift. Thanks to our loyal fans and to those just discovering us, it’s on to season four,” Vieira said. 

Dish Nation has been airing on the Fox Television Stations since July 2011 and is now cleared nationally in 85% of the country. The Dish Nation deejay teams include Atlanta’s Headkrack, Gary with da Tea and Da Brat; Los Angeles’ Sherri Shepherd with Heidi Hamilton and Frank Kramer from KLOS’s “Heidi and Frank;” and iHeartRadio’s Chuey Martinez. 

Divorce Court is cleared in 94% of the country and is produced by Lincolnwood Productions. ◾

While Nick Cannon and Jay Leno are both debuting shows this fall — alongside such stalwarts as Kelly Clarkson and Drew Barrymore — the real stars of syndication in 2021 are regular people doing amazing things in their communities across the country.

Whether it’s a new talker, like Nick Cannon, or a veteran program, like Rachael Ray, almost every show is looking to spotlight people who serve their communities. After a year and a half spent slogging through a global pandemic, producers hope to keep audiences enthralled with a balance of inspiration and entertainment, of everyday people and of flashy celebrities.

“One of the things we are looking forward to most is showcasing people doing amazing and incredible things,” said Matt Strauss, one of four executive producers on Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon, along with Katy Murphy Davis, Michael Goldman and Cannon. “We’re looking forward to telling stories about people making a difference in their communities.”

“Community is important to Nick and using his fame to make a positive impact is also important to him,” Murphy Davis said. “First and foremost, we want the show to be fun, inspirational, entertaining and positive.”

Nick Cannon, which will replace Warner Bros.’s The Real as a lead-in to Debmar-
Mercury’s Wendy Williams on many owned-and-operated Fox affiliates (The Real will continue to air on Fox-owned duopoly stations) when it premieres on Monday, Sept. 27, is being produced at the NET Metropolis Studios at 106th and Park in Harlem. Featuring Harlem-based organizations, charities and community leaders as a regular part of the show also is important to Cannon, Strauss said.

The show — which will air live three days a week, with two days taped — will also include a mix of pop culture, celebrity, music and fashion, “all viewed through Nick’s unique lens,” Murphy Davis said. “In daytime, it is all about people wanting to spend that hour with that person,” she continued. “I think it’s really important to Nick to have a really authentic connection to his audience. He calls his audience family. He’s fun to spend time with and we want people to experience that.” 

Betting on Leno

The Fox stations also are introducing another new series this year: You Bet Your Life, starring Leno and his Tonight Show band leader, Kevin Eubanks. The show will start with three or four minutes of comedy from that duo before the contestants — all of whom have some interesting claim to fame — are introduced. The contestants will then answer trivia questions for the chance to win money. 

“We specifically go out and find people who have unique, fun stories,” said Stephen Brown, executive VP, programming and development, Fox Television Stations. “The cool thing about the show is that it really fulfills the promise of America — it’s two strangers coming together to work together. We’re seeing people from completely different sides of the country, in all different colors, shapes and sizes, working together, high-fiving each other, laughing and having a great time. That’s what we need right now.”

All episodes of You Bet Your Life, which is cleared in 98% of the country, are being shot this fall. The show debuts in national syndication on Monday, Sept. 13. 

Getting a Drew-Over

Headed into its season-two premiere on Monday, Sept. 13, CBS Media Ventures’ Drew Barrymore is looking forward to building connections to its audience, especially since the year-old show hasn’t been able to be produced in front of a live audience until now. 

Drew Barrymore, which was shot in a New York City studio without an audience all last year, will open season two with a week of shows shot from the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, with a live audience joining Barrymore in an outdoor setting. 

“We’re coming out of the gate swinging,” executive producer Jason Kurtz said. “The premiere that we’re planning is the one we deserved last year and that we earned this year having been through what we’ve been through. Instead of one season-two premiere episode. we’re building a two-week event under the umbrella of ‘there’s no place like home.’ We were talking about how we can celebrate everyone’s hometowns and Drew was talking lovingly about her hometown of Los Angeles, so we’re taking the show on the road for our first week back. 

“We are planning five eventful episodes that feel big and loud and exciting. Within those five episodes, we’re celebrating different hometowns with our viewers, whether it’s Dallas, Washington, D.C., or Denver. Then we’re continuing that when we return home to New York and create five more eventful episodes in our new hometown or New York City.” 

Drew Barrymore plans to continue with “Drew-Gooder” segments that feature “heart-warming, inspiring human-interest and lifestyle stories,” Kurtz said. “Drew does such an excellent job of making people feel comfortable and we want to continue that. We now want to bring the audience in and make them part of the conversation.”

Kurtz means that literally. Every time a show is taped, one audience member will be chosen to sit in the “co-host chair,” where they will be given a binder about that day’s guests, have a camera on them and be given the opportunity to ask their own questions. 

“We’re looking at that as a way to incorporate the studio audience with the at-home viewers,” Kurtz said. “Last year, we would offer the at-home audience a pop quiz and whoever first answered three questions correctly about what had happened on that day’s show would win $1,000. This year, that will be fun to do with studio audience members.”

Although the cast and crew of Drew Barrymore are excited to finally be shooting in front of a live audience, they also plan to keep some things in place they used during the pandemic — such as technology that allowed a guest to join them from Los Angeles but look like they were on set in New York City. 

Other shows plan to keep some things they did during the pandemic in place, even though they don’t necessarily have to. 

Rachael Ray at Home

CBS Media Ventures’ Rachael Ray was forced to shoot shows from Ray’s home in Lake Luzerne, New York, in the Adirondacks when the pandemic hit. The show moved to her guest house all last season after the main house burned down late last summer. 

Never daunted, Ray just kept on shooting while her home was rebuilt. She’ll provide an update on the house when the show returns for season 16 on Monday, Sept. 13. 

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said Janet Annino, an executive producer of Rachael Ray since it debuted in 2006. “What we learned doing the show from Rachael’s house was that viewers loved it and she actually enjoyed it too. It really opened up a whole new layer with her that the audience connected with. We’re building on that this season with a hybrid model in which some shows are shot from her home and some from the studio.”

Rachael Ray also is redoing the in-studio set to more closely reflect Ray’s home to maintain that intimate connection with viewers no matter where the show is shooting from.

“The new set is a little bit scaled down and very cozy,” Annino said. “It reflects a lot of the elements that you see in her house — more casual seating on the floor that’s closer to Rachael. There will be less of an audience behind a proscenium and more people on love seats and chairs and cushions on the floor.”

“When we are in the studio, it is our fond wish and plan to have people there in person,” Annino said. “That might not always be possible so we’re still open to having people Zoom in or whatever. When we’re [shooting the show] at [Rachael’s] home, that is what we’ll do.”

Rachael Ray, which is celebrating its “sweet and savory 16th season,” also will focus on community service this year, with such segments as “The Nice List” and “2021-ders” carrying over from last year. In these segments, the show found people who were doing “incredible things in their communities and making a difference one thing at a time. That’s something we are going to continue — high­lighting people who are bringing food to food deserts, packing backpacks for kids in need and so forth. That’s become one of the hallmark staples of this show. For Rachael right now, it’s really about showing that one person can make a difference.”

Finally, Wrigley Media’s new court show, Relative Justice, which is cleared in more than 82% of the country and premieres Monday, Sept. 13, sees Judge Rhonda Wills solve the problems of average people who are in conflict with someone in their family — whether it’s their parents, siblings or cousins. 

“The feelings people express on this show are so genuine, the viewers will be so drawn in with the families and feeling compassion for them,” said Misdee Wrigley, CEO of Wrigley Media, which is based in Lexington, Kentucky. “Several viewers will say ‘I’ve been in that situation, and that’s happened to me.’ We’ve been surprised by how open people are once they get in front of Rhonda and start to talk about their lives.”

While the pandemic is not over, prod­ucers are relieved to be getting back to some semblance of normal. 

“Last year, the challenges upon us were ever-changing,” Drew Barrymore’s Kurtz said. “Our motto became ‘turn every obstacle into an opportunity.’ It was hard to plan when you were constantly being challenged with new parameters. That still exists to an extent but now nothing is even giving us pause this year — we’re able to pivot quicker, even while we’re ever mindful of what’s happening out there.” 

Game show You Bet Your Life, hosted by Jay Leno, has been sold in 98% of the country, according to Fox Television Stations. The show premieres Sept. 13 and launches on the Fox-owned stations, along with stations owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps and Tegna, among other groups. 

“Our broadcast and advertising partners recognize what we do: America needs to laugh again,” said Stephen Brown, executive VP of programming and development, Fox Television Stations and Fox First Run. “And there’s no one better to do that than Jay Leno.” 

Groucho Marx hosted the original show. The reboot will couple two strangers for the opportunity to win prize money by correctly answering questions about pre-determined categories. Each episode will present two pairs of contestants. 

The Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks shares hosting duties with Leno. Tom Werner executive produces with showrunner David Hurwitz. 

“We are thrilled that the reaction from the stations has been so positive,” said Werner. “We can’t wait till the launch in September!” 

You Bet Your Life is cleared in all of the top 100 markets, as well as in Canada. Some 80% of the 190 cleared markets have double runs and the program is primarily running in early fringe and access time periods between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.  

Fox First Run will distribute 180 episodes. 

You Bet Your Life, emceed by former Tonight Show host Jay Leno and Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks, has been sold across 85% of the U.S. for a fall 2021 launch, said Stephen Brown, executive VP of programming and development, Fox Television Stations and Fox First Run on Tuesday. The game strip will be distributed by Fox First Run.

“Combining the expertise of two of Hollywood’s top producers, Tom Werner and David Hurwitz, with the joint hosting experience of the tremendously talented Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks, You Bet Your Life will deliver a fun series filled with the warmth and laughter that America needs now,” said Brown in a statement.  

Added Leno: “One of my favorite things to do is to talk to regular people and draw humor out of them. This is a comedy show wrapped in a game that allows me to do just that.”  

The reboot of the classic game show is sold to the Fox Television Stations as well as to other station groups, including Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps, Meredith, Gray, McKinnon, Standard Media, Block, Sun Broadcasting and more.

Besides You Bet Your Life, other first-run shows in the market for fall 2021 include Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon, the 2020 launch of which was postponed due to the pandemic; and Sony Pictures Television’s The Good Dish and its off-GSN game show, Common Knowledge, starring Joey Fatone.

Also Read: As TV Evolves, So Does Syndication

You Bet Your Life was originally hosted by Groucho Marx. In this new version, the game will couple two strangers together to play for prize money by correctly answering trivia questions. Tom Werner will executive produce along with showrunner David Hurwitz.

Some 180 episodes of You Bet Your Life will be distributed domestically by Fox First Run. The international format rights for You Bet Your Life are represented by NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group. Tapes of the produced shows will be available for international distribution through Propagate Content.  

Like all of television, syndication is transforming.

With audiences continuing to fragment across linear, digital and streaming landscapes, it’s getting increasingly difficult to earn sufficient revenue from producing and distributing a show on linear broadcast alone. As a result, syndicators are looking to create more revenue streams with every piece of content they produce.

Syndicators are still bringing major shows to market with the intention of landing them on TV stations first and foremost. For fall 2021, these include Fox’s You Bet Your Life, starring Jay Leno; Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon, the launch of which was delayed last year; and Sony Pictures Television’s The Good Dish. That said, don’t be surprised if these new shows also show up on non-broadcast platforms.

One of the biggest changes to TV has been major media companies — and particularly WarnerMedia and The Walt Disney Co. — shifting focus almost solely to streaming and to new services, HBO Max and Disney Plus, respectively.

While Disney has long only produced first-run shows chiefly for its owned stations and then sold those shows, such as Tamron Hall, to other stations in non-ABC-owned markets, Warner Bros. is a large third-party producer of shows such as Ellen DeGeneres, TMZ and Extra. Warner Bros. also was always actively developing and testing new shows, frequently partnering with Fox Television Stations. With those studios no longer very active in first-run syndication, it could, on one hand, mean less programming for TV stations, but on the other, it could mean production vacuums that other companies can step in to fill.

“The studios have abandoned this space,” Byron Allen, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios, said. “The studios broke up with the TV stations and didn’t even email them. The studios basically said, ‘Check me out on social media and streaming.’ Stations’ studio boyfriend is all over the internet and it’s called streaming.”

Finding New Revenue Streams

Companies remaining in the space are considering how streaming platforms fit into their overall distribution models. Some shows are still produced specifically to air on TV stations in linear schedules, but most executives are thinking about additional revenue models as they develop shows and take them to market.

“The TV audience has declined so now stations don’t pay as much for syndicated shows as they once did,” John Weiser, president, first-run production, Sony Pictures Television, said. “TV stations have the same high standards but they don’t have the same money, so we have to explore complementary revenue opportunities. The good news is, digital viewers are not linear viewers. One does not cannibalize another. 

“I think it’s the natural evolution of the market,” Weiser continued. “The way you distribute a program is by evaluating where it will work best. Right after that is figuring out the best way to extract full value for the program.”

Said another syndication executive: “The reality is with the license fees that stations are paying and trying to pay, they are effectively requiring us to go find other money. There needs to be a balance, and it’s good for the stations if a show is profitable. If you’re Tubi or YouTube, you’re happy to have the show, and if you’re a TV station, you’re OK with that because you want to pay X per week, not Y.”

For example, NBCUniversal’s The Kelly Clarkson Show, which has been renewed across the entire country for two more seasons, also has a run on Peacock, the company’s nascent streaming service. 

“Being on streaming is a must,” NBCUniversal Syndication Studios executive VP, syndication sales Sean O’Boyle said. “For everything we do going forward, we’ll have a consideration for streaming. That’s baked into the contracts now and I would think it would be industry standard going forward.”

Along those lines, SPT earlier this month said Dr. Oz was getting a run on advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service Pluto TV, and Fox station executives have said they would be willing to share syndicated shows with their co-owned AVOD Tubi. In addition, Allen Media Group late last year bought MGM diginets This TV and Light TV, automatically expanding Entertainment Studios’ distribution opportunities.

Getting Creative with Financials

Other creative financial models also are popping up.

NBCUniversal’s original conflict talker, Maury, starring Maury Povich, who turned 82 on Jan. 17, will go out of first-run production after the 2021-22 season. As the show wraps up its 30-year run, having launched in 1991, NBCUniversal is developing a new series featuring one of the show’s guest co-hosts that it plans to offer to stations. But stations also will be able to license the show’s repeats, just like they are doing now with Jerry Springer, which went out of production in 2018.

“These shows are not day-and-date and they do have a very long library life, so we’re looking at all angles for what we should be doing with these libraries, which have very loyal fan bases,” Tracie Wilson, executive VP, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, said. “It’s all exciting because the business is evolving and we’re evolving with it.”

Not so long ago, repeats were anathema in syndication, and to some extent that remains true. Day-and-date talkers such as Warner Bros.’s Ellen, Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams and CTD’s Dr. Phil tend to see ratings decline when they go into repeats.

But for some long-running shows, viewers turn up whether the show is in originals or not. NBCUniversal has offered Springer repeats to stations for the past two years. Starting this fall, the renamed CBS Media Ventures will provide stations with repeats of Judge Judy when that show ends first-run production after this season, the show’s 25th. (Meanwhile Judge Judy Sheindlin, 78, is taking a new first-run version of her show to Amazon’s IMDb TV.)

Also as part of monetizing existing content, NBCUniversal is deploying other off -network series across the television landscape. A syndicated version of Dateline, which airs only true-crime stories, is in its fourth season with a fifth sold and on its way; and NBCU has cleared Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a strip in 80% of the country. NBCU also is looking at bringing out Chicago Fire, which is in its ninth season, as a weekly and possibly a primetime offering this fall.

Entertainment Studios found a treasure trove of content when Allen Media Group acquired The Weather Channel in 2018 for $300 million. As a result, Entertainment Studios has three new off -Weather Channel series coming out this fall: strip Highway to Hell and weeklies Top Ten and SOS How to Survive. Last year, Entertainment Studios sold two other off -Weather Channel weeklies, Weather Gone Viral and Storm of Suspicion, in 99% of the country. 

“We got into The Weather Channel and realized it was a gold mine,” Allen said. “We have enough content to fill these television stations for years. We took them into the syndication marketplace and ended up with our best station lineup ever.”

“These traditional affiliates’ No. 1 driver is weather,” Entertainment Studios president, domestic television distribution Andrew Temple said. “When they have access to weather content, they’re going to take it and use it to promote their own brand. The great thing about the landscape is that it’s evolving. It’s the digital revolution and content is the new gas and oil that’s fueling it.”

Turning Assets Into Shows

Meanwhile, station groups are looking at their assets and figuring out how they can use them to provide their own programming. Tegna’s Daily Blast Live, which is produced from KUSA Denver, is in its fourth season and headed into its fifth. It airs on 80 stations in 76 markets and in one-third of its markets, the show is on non-Tegna owned stations, including stations owned by E.W. Scripps, Hearst Television and Gray Television.

Daily Blast Live was always a linear and digital play from its inception. Two hours of content is produced each day for linear broadcast as well as four and a half hours streamed live every day on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube; on Daily Blast Live’s own website and app; and on Tegna’s over-the-top station apps.

“We believe in digital as strongly as we believe in broadcast,” Tegna VP, original programming and development Lisa Kridos said. 

“I think it’s the most relevant talk show on television,” said Daily Blast Live executive producer Burt Dubrow, who joined the show in its second season and previously launched such programs as Sally Jessy Raphael and Jerry Springer. “When you watch  us, there’s a freshness to us, a feeling of, ‘I’ve never thought of it that way before.’”

Meredith is airing People (the TV Show!), with hosts Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson and special correspondents Gretchen Carlson and Nancy O’Dell, in 12 markets after launching this fall. The show is based on People magazine, which Meredith added to its portfolio after its $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc. in 2018. Sony is currently selling the access magazine to stations across the country with a national launch target of fall 2022.

“We’re presenting stations with a multiplatform opportunity for People,” Weiser said. “We will have sponsorable vignettes and other sales tools for stations to use on their lifestyle and morning shows and on their digital platforms. We have a lot of experience with those because we’ve done the same thing with Dr. Oz.”

For Meredith, the acquisition of Time was just the starting point. “When we bought Time Inc., we took a clear look at the playing field and this was one of the most obvious opportunities that we identified right off the bat,” Patrick McCreery, president, Meredith Local Media Group, said. “People is a brand that’s been around for more than 50 years that didn’t have its rightful place in the TV segment.”

“We wanted to do this differently than we had done it in the past. We operated with two guiding principles: That this would be a viable product on the Meredith TV stations with or without anybody else, but that we would also create a product that everybody else would want. I think we have achieved that.”

Meredith is working on turning other Time Inc. brands into TV shows, McCreery said. Southern Living already is a weekly series with 26 episodes produced and a second season greenlit, and the company is developing something around lifestyle brand Better Homes & Gardens.

Off-Net Is Still in Business

Finally, off -network syndication remains a business, although a declining one. Warner Bros. Domestic Television this fall will launch The Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon off CBS, with Nexstar Media Group serving as the launch group.

“Young Sheldon is the No. 1 comedy in primetime and it held the biggest audience leading out of Bang than any other show,” Warner Bros. Domestic Television executive VP David Decker said. “And when it aired on its own, without Bang, it over-delivered.” 

Warner Bros. also has renewed The Big Bang Theory, syndication’s top off -net sitcom, for a second cycle starting in 2023, and Friends for a fourth cycle. NBCU is renewing Monk across the country, and Debmar-Mercury’s Schitt’s Creek just launched this fall. SPT is rolling out The Good Doctor off ABC and SWAT off CBS for weekend hours this fall, as well as selling new cycles of Seinfeld and King of Queens. Looking ahead, Disney has sitcom American Housewife coming as an off-net strip in 2022, as well as weekly hours The Resident and 9-1-1.

TV’s great disruption has finally pushed syndicators and stations to work in partnership for mutually assured success. “You need to give stations as many tools to be successful as you can,” Decker said. “It’s no longer a business where you are just trying to jam these things through. We are playing cards-up poker. We have to make this work for the stations or we also lose.”

The Fox Television Stations are rebooting classic game show You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno as host in fall 2021. 

“We need a familiar face to make us laugh and we are incredibly proud and excited to reinvent this renowned franchise with the enormously talented Jay,” said Jack Abernethy, CEO, Fox Television Stations, in a statement.

Related: Entertainment Studios Offers Three New Series for Syndication in Fall 2021 

You Bet Your Life was first made famous by Groucho Marx, when it aired on both radio and television at different times between 1947 and 1960. In this reboot, two strangers will be paired for the opportunity to win money by correctly answering questions. Two pairs of contestants will compete in each episode. 

“I’m thrilled to be hosting the latest version of You Bet Your Life. One of my favorite things to do is talk to regular people and draw humor out of them. This is a comedy show wrapped in a game show that allows me to do just that,” said Leno in a statement.  

The half-hour syndicated game will air on the 29 Fox owned-and-operated stations and 180 episodes will be sold into national syndication by Fox First Run, led by Ken Lawson and Bob Cook. The Fox TV Stations also air half-hour game strip 25 Words or Less starring Meredith Vieira, which is going into its second season this fall and would likely pair well with You Bet Your Life. Tom Werner is executive producing along with David Hurwitz, who will also showrun.

“David Hurwitz and I are thrilled to be working with Jay Leno and Fox on this classic Groucho Marx comedy. In these challenging times, we know America will be comforted to welcome Jay back every evening,” said Werner, who has been behind such other classic American TV shows as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Third Rock from the Sun and The Conners, in a statement. 

“Jay Leno’s sense of humor is perfect for this legacy brand and I couldn’t be more excited to be partnered with him and Tom Werner to bring this iconic game that is full of laughs, back to television,” added Hurwitz, also in a statement.

Leno is best known for his more than 20-year run as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He currently hosts Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC and jaylenosgarage.com on YouTube. Leno still performs more than 100 stand-up shows each year across the U.S. and internationally, besides guest-starring on such series as Disney’s Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen.

CNBC has signed comedian and Tonight Show host Jay Leno to host a primetime, car-themed series for the network.

The series, tentatively titled Jay Leno’s Garage, is based on Leno’s web series and will feature the comedian discussing all things automobile, including best investments, valuations and the inner workings of the car collector’s market, said network officials.

The program will premiere in 2015. Leno retired from The Tonight Show this past February after more than 20 years as host.

“Jay will add tremendous star power and exceptional content to CNBC’s primetime at the perfect time,” said CNBC President Mark Hoffman in a statement. “CNBC at night has real momentum and Jay’s personality, tremendous fan base and his passion for the subject will contribute mightily to our burgeoning primetime. We’re really excited Jay will continue his storied career with the NBC family and with us at CNBC.”

Added Leno: “This show will be about anything that rolls, explodes and makes noise. We hope to highlight the passion and the stories behind the men and women who made the automobile the greatest invention of the 20th century.”