High-Profile ABC Game Show Canceled: Contestants Are Still Waiting on Their Winnings From ‘Lucky 13’

After ABC’s game show, Lucky 13, was canceled, more information is being revealed about the contestants still waiting for their money. Hosted by Gina Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal, the show premiered in July 2024 and ran through September. On Nov. 14, Deadline reported that the network canceled the series, which was pre-funded by Studio 1 in turn for a share of ABC’s advertising and produce placement sales on Lucky 13. The show’s ad revenue reportedly fell short of projections.

The cancellation came as a shock, as Lucky 13 was ABC’s most-watched summer series premiere, debuting to 2.7 million viewers. The series tested contestants’ knowledge with 13 true or false questions, predicting how successfully they’ve answered the questions with the chance to take home $1 million. Just a week after the cancellation, Deadline reported that O’Neal, Rodriguez, and other people who worked on Lucky 13 cumulatively owed at least $500,000. Sources tell the outlet the money owed could be closer to $1 million, but regardless, contractors have been wanting the money for months after the series wrapped in June.

“It’s a nightmare,” said the founder of one company impacted.“We’ve been strung along quite a bit by the producers,” another added. “They’ve told us over the past couple of months that payment was coming, and they were picked up for Season 2. The story we got was that one of the financiers dropped out, and they were reconnecting with a new source of financing.”

That’s not all, as there are also worries that contestants could be waiting a while for their winnings, as participants won a cumulative hundreds of thousands of dollars but weren’t expected to be paid until at least 120 days after recording. ABC and Studio 1 are allegedly “confident cash prizes will be honored.” And as of Feb. 5, they seem to be sticking to their word. According to Deadline, ABC is making sure that contestants are paid their winnings, up to more than $460,000. Despite not being under any legal obligation to pay out the winnings, ABC is close to an agreement ensuring that winners receive their cash.

The whole situation is still a bit messy, but it seems like things could finally be turning around, at least for the winners. Whether or not Lucky 13 has a chance to return in the future, whether on ABC or even Hulu, is unknown, but following what happened with financials, it’s unlikely. At the very least, the 10-episode first season is streaming now on Hulu.