Jay Leno to Host Reboot of "You Bet Your Life" for Syndication
by Alex Weprin
Sept. 9, 2020


Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno will host a reboot of the comedy quiz show "You Bet Your Life".

The reboot, set to launch in Fall 2021, will air on the Fox owned and operated stations, and will be syndicated nationally in other markets. The Fox TV stations have ordered 180 episodes of the series.

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




"You Bet Your Life" launched in 1947 as a radio series hosted by Groucho Marx, eventually moving to TV in 1950. The format will see two strangers paired together trying to win prize money by answering questions.

As in the original, Leno will interview the contestants generating comedic banter, similar to the "Jaywalking" segments he was known for at NBC's late night comedy show.

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

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jay-leno-to-host-reboot-of-you-bet-your-life-for-syndication

I was watching the Life of Riley on Tubi one night and thought Jay now looks like William Bendix. Hey how about reviving Life of Riley. About the show I am kidding but resemblance was bit there.

Cool ! I like Jay Leno ! :);)

Leno's not funny.

Jay Leno's hosting You Bet Your Life next year? What a surprise because You Bet Your Life is a fun game show classic and with Jay Leno hosting it will be a huge hit. I wonder if he will say the phrase "Say the secret word and the duck will give you money" and then the duck would answer with a quack
Bestie

Leno's not funny.


I think he's funny in a corny kind of way:D and he seems like a nice guy ! ;):)

Jay Leno's hosting You Bet Your Life next year? What a surprise because You Bet Your Life is a fun game show classic and with Jay Leno hosting it will be a huge hit. I wonder if he will say the phrase "Say the secret word and the duck will give you money" and then the duck would answer with a quack
Bestie

It will be the third revival of You Bet Your Life to air in syndication. The first two versions, hosted by Buddy Hackett and Bill Cosby lasted only one season. Hopefully Jay Leno's version will have a long run. Will the secret word feature be revived? We'll find out next fall.

BTW, there was a pilot in the early 80s for NBC for You Bet Your Life with Richard Dawson hosting but the network passed on it.

I'm okay with Leno but he's going to need a side-kick. George Fenneman was a big part of that show.

Fox’s Jay Leno-Hosted "You Bet Your Life" Reboot Sold in 85% of U.S. Ahead of Fall Debut
by Dade Hayes
January 19, 2021


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.

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/01/fox-jay-leno-hosted-you-bet-your-life-sold-fall-debut-1234676601/

Jay Leno-Hosted "You Bet Your Life" Cleared in 98% of U.S. Ahead of September Debut
by Dade Hayes
June 23, 2021


Fox’s revival of "You Bet Your Life", hosted by Jay Leno, has been sold in 98% of the U.S. ahead of its September 13 premiere.

The game show will launch on Fox stations and has been sold in 190 markets from station groups including Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps, Tegna, Meredith, Gray and several others.

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




About 80% of the 190 cleared markets have double runs, Fox said, and the show is primarily running in key early fringe and access time periods between 5 and 8 p.m.

“We are thrilled that the reaction from the stations has been so positive,” exec producer Tom Werner said.

https://deadline.com/2021/06/jay-leno-you-bet-your-life-cleared-september-premiere-1234780130/

About 80% of the 190 cleared markets have double runs, Fox said, and the show is primarily running in key early fringe and access time periods between 5 and 8 p.m.Not in Fort Wayne it isn't. :( I just saw my first ad for You Bet Your Life, it will air weekdays at 9AM on my CBS affiliate. Is Judge Judy ending this year or next? I thought it was this year, if that was the case it would have been nice to have You Bet Your Life replace it in the 4PM hour. I wouldn't expect Wheel and Jeopardy to move from their 7PM hour of course. This also means the secondary airing of Jeopardy! at 9:30AM will disappear. I would have wanted that to stay, except with them going back to previous seasons so the 2nd run airing is always Alex Trebek. I had sent Sony an email about this but they never responded.

I just checked, it is this year Judge Judy is ending. The 4PM hour so would have been preferable to 9AM. :mad:

The team mounting the new version said it will retain many elements of the Marx-hosted original.

"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, .



It still won't be funny. Leno's not funny.

Tremendously talented Kevin Eubanks? Is there more than one?

Still, in this day it's surprising that they're allowing a white guy to host a game show. Obviously Eubanks is the appeasement factor.

It still won't be funny. Leno's not funny.

Tremendously talented Kevin Eubanks? Is there more than one?

Still, in this day it's surprising that they're allowing a white guy to host a game show. Obviously Eubanks is the appeasement factor.There are still plenty of white men hosting game shows. Pat Sajak was Emmy nominated for this past season on Wheel of Fortune. John Michael Higgins hosts America Says, that show does really well for GSN and has started to take over from Family Feud as their most popular show. Joel McHale hosts Card Sharks on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel hosts Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on ABC. Dylan Lane hosts Chain Reaction on GSN. That show was recently brought back for a 3rd season with the original GSN host after being off for awhile. Joey Fatone hosts Common Knowledge on GSN. Drew Carey hosts The Price is Right on CBS. Rob Lowe hosts Mental Samurai on FOX. Will Arnett hosts Lego Masters on FOX. Craig Ferguson hosts The Hustler on ABC. Peyton Manning hosts College Bowl on NBC. Jeopardy! has narrowed down its permanent host search to three candidates. Ken Jennings has to be one of the serious finalist contenders considering he got to host six weeks. Every other guest host so far has only hosted two weeks, or even just one week for some hosts to come including black LeVar Burton who many wanted to get more consideration. Buzzy Cohen might be another of the finalists, if not him awful Aaron Rodgers. ohno: That makes a 2/3 chance the next host of Jeopardy! will be a white man.
As for Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks, they rock. Late night has gone downhill since Leno left, he was an awesome and funny host. I just finished reading one of the Headlines books he compiled, it was also nice to see him in a recurring role on Last Man Standing. The only late night host who can come close to him is Johnny Carson. It is really sad though how nasty Johnny was to Jay refusing to congratulate or speak with him at all after NBC named Leno his replacement. David Letterman is a big baby. He has whined about not getting the Tonight Show, yet CBS treated him like a king, his career hardly suffered. All his complaints about not getting the Tonight Show over the decades were really an insult to CBS saying they were not good enough for him.

It still won't be funny. Leno's not funny.

Tremendously talented Kevin Eubanks? Is there more than one?

Still, in this day it's surprising that they're allowing a white guy to host a game show. Obviously Eubanks is the appeasement factor.

Well that's just your opinion. I like Jay Leno and he IS funny!

Ed.

I like Jay Leno, I'll definitely have to check it out.

Ed.

I had sent a message to my affiliate a few weeks ago asking them to reconsider You Bet Your Life's hour and put it at 4PM instead of 9AM with Judge Judy expiring from broadcast syndication, also brought up what had been listed in this thread about most affiliates giving You Bet Your Life a better time in the evenings. They claimed everything scheduled on their station besides the local news was controlled by corporate CBS and sent me a form to address my concerns there. I was suspicious as I was pretty sure they are not one of the owned and operated stations I have heard about. WANE is owned by Nexstar, not CBS. I did use the form they sent that night to contact corporate CBS about it. I was further suspicious when CBS didn't have anything about first-run syndicated shows, just the usual national ones that air on every CBS station. I had to pick a random daytime show just to get the form to submit, not surprised I haven't heard back from CBS as I believe WANE was lying through their teeth and giving me the runaround. :mad: I sent another message to WANE today, didn't word it quite as strong as here saying they sent me to the wrong place. If I haven't heard back from them by tomorrow, will attempt to contact Nexstar. It is really shameful when one of my local stations tries to deceive me like this. :rolleyes:

I just sent a message to Nexstar's official Facebook page. It has the blue check mark, but they might have abandoned that page as the last post is from February. :grr:

A half hour preview of You Bet Your Life is airing this weekend. You will need to check your local listings for time and channel. In Fort Wayne it will be Saturday at noon.

I happened to see You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno for the first time this morning and I cannot believe what a fine mess this game show classic has turned into. For one thing the questions are presented in a The Chase/Who Wants To Be A Millionaire like format with multiple choice answers and seems to take away the fun of what this game show classic was. Another thing is that the Secret Word is there but seems to be a commercial for Car Guru and there is no duck mascot. But Jay Leno sure looks different now but still shows his comedic side in a new way. The other thing that makes this show weak is the fact that show has a Jeff Goldblum jazz styled theme which makes the set of You Bet Your Life seem like a jazz club/comedy club. I predict that this show won't last long and not be renewed for Season 2 but this goes down in history as the weakest You Bet Your Life revival since the Bill Cosby version aired in the 90's
Overall Grade: D
Bestie

Some reviews of the show. I saw nothing good so far and since I don't think Leno or Eubanks are funny or likeable, it's no surprise to me. I hope it's cancelled soon. (Comments are edited)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2021/09/13/the-laughs-are-slim-in-the-jay-leno-hosted-you-bet-your-life-reboot/
Were viewers hungry for the return of Jay Leno’s comedic shtick, now as the host of this new reboot of classic quiz show You Bet Your Life?

My prediction is a firm no.

In today’s crowded content landscape, you have to get it right from the inception. And I just don’t see how watching Jay Leno recreate some of his former Tonight Show comedy in a half-hour game show format will work.

More importantly, is there really a need for Jay Leno to bring back some of this tired Tonight Show segments opposite his former sidekick Kevin Eubanks in a format that has already failed twice since the original Groucho Marx version? My answer: I doubt it.

https://www.buzzerblog.com/2021/09/14/first-impressions-you-bet-your-life/

2021’s You Bet Your Life follows a somewhat similar structure. But here’s the big issue: it’s just not that funny so far. In full disclosure I am not a fan of Jay Leno’s comedy or his version of The Tonight Show.

You Bet Your Life is perfectly fine as background noise but regretfully that’s about it. The non-Tonight Show segments are very reliant on the contestants and if they don’t get *just* the right person the show suffers. Otherwise Leno isn’t comfortable enough just yet in this role to bring out the best in everyone, which is probably why they’re leaning on the old talk show material. It’s not enjoyable enough of a game to make us forget the comedy and it’s not funny enough to make us forget about the game.


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13061946/
Having watched the original with Groucho Marx, this version totally has no comedic effect at all. What made the original great was Groucho himself with his classic quips and expressions. I like Jay Leno but this is not his kind of show. I think he is better off doing candid cameos in other shows. Sorry Jay but this version wastes your true talents.

https://www.harrisonline.com/you-bet-your-leno/
Jay Leno’s new version of “You Bet Your Life” is so bad it reminds me of another disaster he starred in 35 years ago — which his manager threw me out of.

The overriding problem is that Leno has never been able to banter with guests, including during his entire run on “The Tonight Show.” His forte has always been standing in front of an audience and telling jokes. And he’s fine on his CNBC show, “Jay Leno’s Garage,” because he gets to talk about cars, his great love. But when he has to sit down and feign interest in someone else — celebrity or civilian — he falters mightily.

On the new Leno version, it was obvious he wasn’t married to the show’s old format, because the first thing he did was a “Headlines” bit, with wacky news stories his writers clipped for him. It’s a bit that was a weekly mainstay of his “Tonight Show,” but has nothing to do with the game he’s now supposed to be hosting. Leno also brought along Kevin Eubanks, the former bandleader on “The Tonight Show,” to act as his straight man and sidekick, a role that Eubanks was never good at — other than repeatedly blurting out, “Oh, come on, man!” in response to some Leno absurdity.

Whatever. I am really enjoying You Bet Your Life. And it is nice he is able to put headlines in as well. Critics admitting they don't care for Jay Leno predictably give him bad reviews that are not deserved. :rolleyes:
If you don't like it you don't have to watch. But I wish Jay and Kevin's version of You Bet Your Life a very long run.

I will have to find the show and give it a look. Where would I find it in the Boston Area?