Fun was definitely at the heart of "Hollywood Game Night." Jane Lynch hosts this new series that puts the "Hollywood" before the "Game" with six celebrities each episode. The game sees two ordinary people partnered with three celebrities each. The teams compete throughout the night in a series of ridiculous games. In the end, one team stands victorious and that contestant has a chance to win $25,000.
The premiere featured a couple of former "Friends," with Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow playing on opposing teams. Between games, Lynch poked fun at the celebs, taking particular aim at Perry. When she introduced him, all she did was insult his hair. Later, she talked about his role on "Friends."
“Wasn’t there some story that someone else got your part and they turned it down’” she asked him. Perry confirmed the story, and then Lynch turned to Kudrow. "And did you get on ‘Friends’ right away?” she asked.
“Yes, I was the second person cast," Kudrow said.
That sense of light teasing went throughout the show, with Martin Short hamming it up so much at times that he forgot to pay attention to the fact that there was a game going on. At the end of the hour, Alyson Hannigan had to get her partner to guess the name Sarah Palin, and so she described her as someone who wanted to be vice president and was "really dumb." Her partner didn't get it.
The LA Times quickly became fans of the new show with the very throwback formula. “The sight of beloved stars cracking wise in between attempts to win cash money for ordinary-folk contestants was once as ubiquitous as the variety show, and just as culturally influential," they wrote. "Show me a person over the age of 40 who claims to have never played along with ‘Password,’ ‘Pyramid’ or ‘Family Feud’ and I'll bet my chance to go to the lightning round that person is lying.”
Lynch spoke to "Access Hollywood" about her new show, saying that it's a "dream job." She promised a bunch of fun guests to come, including the show's creator, Sean Hayes. She did, however, call Matthew Perry "cranky." Maybe because she opened the show by giving him grief about his hair.
Come back for more celebrity hijinks on "Hollywood Game Night" each Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
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