‘Pictionary’ Host Jerry O’Connell Reveals the ‘Most Difficult Thing’ for Contestants to Draw (Exclusive)

Jerry O’Connell has been a busy guy lately, between co-hosting both The Talk and The Real Love Boat on CBS, as well as the new syndicated Pictionary game show. While speaking exclusively with O’Connell about his various projects, the consummate TV host shared what he loves about working on Pictionary, and also revealed what he’s learned is “the most difficult thing” for contestants to draw. “It’s fun when people are great artists. It’s really fun when people are terrible artists,” the actor joked.

“I’m just at that age where Pictionary is, like, my jam because I have two 13-year-old daughters. I have parents, they have grandparents,” he continued. “It’s just, it’s the game everybody plays, and I think it’s going well. It’s tough. They tried to make another Pictionary show in the ’90s with Alan Thicke hosting it, God rest his soul, and it didn’t work out for one reason or another, and I think we got it this time. It’s a really fun game to play and a fun game to watch.

When it comes to his own skill set, O’Connell confessed, “I’m a pretty terrible artist, but I will tell you, since playing Pictionary, I’ve become like an expert on what to draw. For example, anything with ship, pirate ship, shark, fish, fishing, hook. Anything with that, the first thing you draw is water. You draw the water.” He then revealed that “the most difficult thing to draw is anything relating to horses. It’s amazing.”

After convincing us to try and draw a horse ourselves, which we failed at magnificently, O’Connell said, “People, myself included, we can’t draw horses. We can’t do it. Yours was actually better than mine ever was or could be, and yours was really a weird-looking horse.”

O’Connell also offered some insight into what he’s noticed can set some players apart from the pack. “You don’t have to be the most talented person. You just have to have the best… the biggest skillset,” he said. “I mean, but that said, it’s amazing to see how creative some people are. For example, this is a gross example, but like toe jam. Most people would write like… try and draw actually the jam inside of someone’s toe, but like, other people know to just draw a toe and then draw a jar of jam.” 

Providing another example, O’Connell shared, “I’m going to tell you, watching people write doorbell, I would try to draw a doorbell. I’d try and draw a bell that’s next to a door and point to something, but some people are so smart, they just draw a door and then they draw a bell, you know? It’s like, I know that sounds simple, but when there’s a clock and you’re on TV… some people are just smarter than me.” Pictionary airs weekdays. Check your local listings for time and channel. Full episodes can also be streamed on the show’s YouTube page.