Tom Bergeron Announces Next Hosting Gig Following ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Firing

Tom Bergeron is unveiling his next big career move! More than a year after his and Erin Andrews’ firings from , Bergeron is set to host a new take on Tic-Tac-Dough that is in the works at NBCUniversal. Bergeron and former Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! executive producer Harry Friedman teamed up for the project, Deadline reports. 

Based on the classic tic-tac-toe game, Tic-Tac-Dough contestants answer questions in various categories in order to put an X or an O on the board. The game show is not entirely new; it began on NBC and ran daytime and primetime versions from 1956 to 1959 until it moved to CBS for a primetime run in 1978 and later a syndicated run through 1986. A second syndicated series was produced in 1990.

Bergeron has been teasing his return to TV for the past few months. Deadline reports he filmed the pilot for Tic-Tac-Dough over the summer. He said on Bob Saget’s podcast that he’s waiting to hear whether the show is greenlit. “We’re hearing, as one does in Hollywood, that there’s ‘great buzz,’ but I’m a New Englander so it’s not real until it’s real,” he said. “It was a good sign that another NBC show called and asked if I’d be available to come by and do a cameo.”

He added that he’s excited to work with Friedman, who retired as executive producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in May 2020. “The nicest thing for me is I’m working with Harry Friedman. What was fun for me was to get back on a stage and know that it was still fun and know that I could still break up the crew. It’s important to me that the environment be good for everybody. We shot on a Monday and Tuesday back in June, and the best response I got was when I was walking back to my car and one of the young production assistants came up to me and said, ‘Everybody is having such a good time and it’s a Monday.’ That’s the best.”

“At this particular point in my career, I’m just looking to have a good time,” he added. “I don’t need to host anything anymore — the only reason I agreed to this particular project was because of who came and asked me. When Harry Friedman shows up, who is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of that genre, and he’s excited by it, that’s a persuasive argument.”