King World Productions’ Hollywood Squares has not been renewed, and the show will go off the air after this season, King World confirmed Wednesday.
The writing has been on the wall for Hollywood Squares ever since Paramount—also owned by King World parent company, Viacom—announced it had a deal with seven CBS owned-and-operated stations to air The Insider in the game show’s access time periods. King World had hoped it could sell the show to other stations or clear it in other time slots.
King World's low-rated Living it Up! With Ali & Jack, is not going off the air imminently, the syndicator said, but the show has hired Maureen FitzPatrick to be the new executive producer, replacing Bruce McKay. King World also has hired a new supervising producer, Cordelia Bowe.
Going into NATPE, which starts this Sunday in Las Vegas, Sony’s Pyramid and Ricki Lake and Warner Bros.’ The Sharon Osbourne Show all are on the fence.
Pyramid will kick off February sweeps with a guest appearance on NBC’s Friends, scheduled to air on Feb. 5. The game show has a big sweeps planned, with stars to appear including former favorite TV personalities, soap opera stars, celebrity couples and cast members from Trading Spaces.
