Lingo (American game show)

Lingo
Poster for the 2023 revival
GenreGame show
Created byRalph Andrews
Written by
  • Saul Urbonas (1987)
  • Barry Cuff (1987–88)
  • Niki Xenophontos (2023)
Directed by
  • Geoff Theobald (1987)
  • Michael Watt (1987–88)
  • Dirk-Jan van Heusden (2002)
  • John Vogt (2002–03)
  • R. Brian DiPirro (2003–07)
  • Alan Carter (2007)
  • Julian Smith (2023)
Presented by
Starring
Announcer
  • Randy Thomas
  • Stacey Hayes
  • Sylvia Villagran
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons
  • 1 (Syndication)
  • 6 (GSN, 2002–07)
  • 1 (GSN, 2011)
  • 2 (CBS)
No. of episodes
  • 130 (Syndication)
  • 345 (GSN, 2002–07)
  • 40 (GSN, 2011)[1]
  • 25 (CBS)
Production
Executive producers
  • Gary Bernstein (1987)
  • Larry Hovis (1987)
  • Ralph Andrews (1987–88)
  • William C. Elliott (1987–88)
  • Phil Gurin (2002–07)
  • Marc Jansen (2002–07)
  • Harry de Winter (2002–04)
  • Barry Poznick (2011)
  • John Stevens (2011)
  • Charles Steenveld (2011)
  • J.P. Williams (2011)
  • RuPaul Charles (2023)
  • Layla Smith (2023)
  • Ed de Burgh (2023)
  • Paul Wright (2023)
  • Jilly Pearce (2023)
Producers
  • Lou Valenzi (1987)
  • Geoff Theobald (1987)
  • Patricia Evans (1987–88)
  • Gerda Boerboom (2002)
  • Nelsje Musch-Elzinga (2002)
  • Troy A. Norton (2005–07)
  • Bill Engvall (2011)
Running time
  • 22–26 minutes (1987–2011)
  • 43 minutes (2023)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkSyndication
ReleaseSeptember 28, 1987 (1987-09-28) –
March 25, 1988 (1988-03-25)
NetworkGame Show Network
ReleaseAugust 5, 2002 (2002-08-05) –
June 29, 2007 (2007-06-29)
ReleaseJune 6 (2011-06-06) –
August 1, 2011 (2011-08-01)
NetworkCBS
ReleaseJanuary 11, 2023 (2023-01-11) –
present
Related
Lingo UK
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Lingo is an American television game show with multiple international adaptations. Contestants compete to decode five-letter words given the first letter, similarly to Jotto. In most versions of the show, successfully guessing a word also allows contestants to draw numbers to fill in a Bingo card.

Four Lingo series have aired in the United States. The first was aired in daily syndication from September 28, 1987, until March 25, 1988, and taped at the BCTV studios in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia; initially hosted by Michael Reagan, series creator Ralph Andrews took over beginning in February 1988. On August 5, 2002, Game Show Network (GSN) premiered a revival of Lingo, which was hosted by Chuck Woolery and ran for six seasons through 2007.[2] On June 6, 2011, GSN premiered a second revival hosted by comedian Bill Engvall,[1] running for one season.

On February 11, 2022, CBS announced that it had ordered a primetime revival of Lingo, with RuPaul as host and executive producer,[3][4] which premiered on January 11, 2023.[5]

  1. ^ a b Grosvenor, Carrie (January 13, 2011). "GSN Bringing Lingo Back with New Host". about.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  2. ^ Stelter, Brian (March 6, 2008). "As Went Love Connection, So Goes Lingo". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Announcement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Announcement2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference PremiereDate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).