Game Show Host Replaced Ahead of New Season

A game show is replacing its host.

After premiering last fall, The CW shared that Scrabble has been renewed for a second season, with Craig Ferguson set as the new host.

Ferguson replaces Raven-Symoné, who has actually been named executive producer so she will still be on behind-the-scenes. In a statement, The CW Network’s Head of Unscripted Programming, Heather Olander, said, “We welcome superstar comedian Craig Ferguson to The CW family as the new host of Scrabble. We are also incredibly grateful and lucky that Raven-Symoné will continue to work with us as executive producer of the series.”

“I’m cock-a-hoop to be hosting Scrabble,” Ferguson added. “I’ve wanted to do this show ever since I found out the letters of my name can be used to spell Cougar Finger.”

It’s unknown why Symoné was replaced as host, but since she’s going to be working as an executive producer, it’s possible she was just too busy to host or she figured it just wasn’t for her. Regardless of the reasoning, there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings, or else the former Disney star would have just walked away completely. If anything, Scrabble will mark the latest hosting duty for Ferguson, who previously hosted Celebrity Name Game for three years. He also hosted a single episode of The Price is Right in 2013 and his own talk show for nearly 10 years.

According to her IMDb, Raven-Symoné has three projects in the works. She also has two podcasts, The Best Podcast Ever and Tea Time with Raven and Miranda, both of which she hosts with her wife, Miranda Maday. So while she won’t be hosting Scrabble anymore, she is certainly keeping as busy as ever. Plus, with her sticking on as EP, it’s possible she could make an appearance or two in the upcoming second season.

Along with Scrabble, The CW also handed out a second season renewal to Trivial Pursuit, with both getting 30-episode orders. Star Trek and Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton will return to Trivial Pursuit as host and executive producer. While Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit are the only game shows on The CW, they are far from being the only unscripted series on the network. They are joined by Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, World’s Funniest Animals, Lovers and Liars, The Big Bakeover, and much more.