Television’s most cutting game show returns with new episodes
What do legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac and game show Weakest Link have in common? If you guessed: “They both ask you to ‘never break the chain,’” then maybe your memory could earn you some cash. Asking big questions — and promising big rewards — the supersized third season of the Weakest Link reboot returns with all-new episodes, beginning this Monday.
“The game begins with eight strangers who must join forces in order to win the maximum amount of cash available in each round,” explains NBC’s synopsis of the show, which originated in Britain.
“One at a time, each contestant must answer general knowledge questions to build chains of correct answers. The team’s prize increases as more consecutive questions are answered correctly. But an incorrect answer could end in disaster: Anyone’s wrong answer will break the chain and force all the contestants to start over from the lowest dollar amount. Contestants compete for more money after each round, but they must vote to boot the individual viewed as the ‘weakest link’ in the chain,” the synopsis continues.
“On the flip side, the last person left standing is crowned the Strongest Link and gets the total cash prize won by the entire field of contestants,” adds NBC. “That can be as much as $1 million.”
Emmy-winning Glee alum Jane Lynch is back to lead this season’s players as the series’ stalwart, acerbic host, leading her quizzical contestants with plenty of biting wit and sarcastic remarks.
“I’m very much looking forward to [more episodes] of mocking contestants and encouraging discord,” Lynch said in a statement, surely hiding more tricks — and tricky questions — up her sleeve.
Returning to the helm of this reboot is showrunner Stuart Krasnow (The Mediator), who first brought the American adaptation of the show to life back in 2001 (with OG British host Anne Robinson crossing the pond to star in the U.S. version), then again in 2020, when Lynch was tapped to host.
Of course, the real-life Lynch is not nearly as nasty and acerbic as her game-show persona, although she admits it’s a role she loves to slip into.
“It’s my shadow side,” she explained during a recent appearance with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Today.
“You know, everybody there knows it’s the gig, hopefully I do it with a little heart, but it’s so much fun,” she added.
Weakest Link airs Monday, May 20, on CTV & NBC