A game show based on the popular New York Times puzzle Wordle is in development at NBC, with Today anchor Savannah Guthrie set to host.
The project comes from Universal Television Alternative Studio and Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog company. The Times is also a production partner. Fallon, who has talked about his love of Wordle a number of times on The Tonight Show, will be an executive producer. (Guthrie has also talked about her obsessive love for the game.)
Wordle, which the Times acquired in 2022 and logs billions of plays from the paper’s games site annually, gives players six tries to guess a five-letter word, revealing only if letters are in the right place (via a green background) or part of the word but in the wrong place (with a gold background).
Should it go forward, the Wordle show would join another Fallon-produced game show, Password, on NBC’s unscripted roster. The Tonight Show emcee also executive produces and hosts the network’s On Brand, a competition series that revolves around advertising and marketing.
Guthrie has a bit of game show experience herself, having served as a guest host on Jeopardy! in 2021 following the death of Alex Trebek. In addition to Today, Guthrie also co-hosts NBC’s annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade coverage.
