Fox’s Jay Leno-Hosted ‘You Bet Your Life’ Reboot Sold In 85% Of U.S. Ahead Of Fall Debut

A new spin on You Bet Your Life, the personality-driven game show that gave Groucho Marx a new level of fame on the then-emerging medium of television, has been sold in 85% of the country ahead of its fall debut.

Hosted by Jay Leno, the new version of the show will launch across Fox’s portfolio of 29 stations as well as stations owned by Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps, Meredith, Gray and other companies. The announcement came during NATPE, whose annual Miami confab is happening virtually this year in the latest adjustment to Covid-19.

The team mounting the new version said it will retain many elements of the Marx-hosted original, which ran on both radio and television and was a defining show of the 1950s.

Related Story ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Sets Broadcast Syndication Return As ‘Dateline’ Clears 75% Of U.S. Markets

In the reboot, the game will couple two strangers together for the opportunity to win prize money by correctly answering questions about pre-determined categories. Each episode will present two pairs of contestants. Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks will share hosting duties.

Tom Werner will serve as the executive producer, along with showrunner and executive producer, David Hurwitz.

“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,” Stephen Brown, Executive Vice President of Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations and Fox First Run.

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

In all, 180 episodes of You Bet Your Life will be distributed by Fox First Run. The show’s international format rights 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.

Werner described meetings with station groups as positive and reflecting “a real excitement.” Hurwitz added, “Jay Leno’s sense of humor is perfect for this legacy brand and I couldn’t be more excited to be partnered with him, Tom and Fox to bring this iconic game that is full of laughs back to television.”