There are more revival series heading to television for the nostalgia age that hit the television waves over the last few years. After reviving game shows, ABC is bringing back one of its classic shows, “Battle of the Network Stars,” premiering on Thursday, June 29.
MMA Champion Ronda Rousey and Super Bowl Champion DeMarcus Ware serve as the team’s permanent coaches.
In an ode to ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” 100 TV stars from 14 different network and cable companies will take their athleticism to a new level as they compete – to feel “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” for the revival.
For those not familiar with the original series, TV celebrities mix athleticism with hilarious antics while featuring an array of fan favorites from numerous TV series like “General Hospital,” “Days of our Lives,” “Baywatch,” “Modern Family,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “Scandal,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “The Goldbergs,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The West Wing,” “Dallas,” “CHiPs,” “Law & Order” and many more.
The 10-episode summer event will pit teams of current and classic TV stars from multiple eras and different genres against one another in a variety of athletic games. The events will include Tug of War, Archery, Kayak Relay, Obstacle Course and Dunk Tank – all from the site of the original series, the beautiful campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
For this new version, fielding of the teams will be based on the TV characters people love from over the years to the current day – cops vs. TV sitcoms, White House vs. lawyers, TV moms & dads vs. TV kids, etc. In this way, viewers will get to see everyone’s favorites from over the years, even if they spanned different networks at the time.
Here are the 20 teams (100 stars), blue and red, competing against each other in separate episodes with athletic contests of physical grace and stamina (* = returning to “Battle of the Network Stars”):
· TV Sitcoms (Bronson Pinchot, Tom Arnold, Dave Coulier, AJ Michalka, Tracey Gold) vs. TV Kids (Joey Lawrence, Corbin Bleu, Nolan Gould, *Lisa Whelchel, *Kim Fields)
· Primetime Soaps (Ian Ziering, Josh Henderson, Gabrielle Carteris, *Donna Mills, Mischa Barton) vs. ABC Stars (*Olivia d’Abo, *Shari Belafonte, Michael Fishman, Jason Hervey, Anson Williams)
· Variety (Joanna Krupa, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Lachey, Gilles Marini, Jack Osbourne) vs. TV Sex Symbols (Keegan Allen, Traci Bingham, Rosa Blasi, Brant Daugherty, Galen Gering)
· Cops (Erik Estrada, *Larry Wilcox, Kelly Hu, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, *Lorenzo Lamas) vs. TV Sitcoms (*Todd Bridges, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Dave Foley, Willie Garson, Jenna von Oy)
· White House (Cornelius Smith Jr., Marlee Matlin, Joshua Malina, LaMonica Garrett, Mary McCormack) vs. Lawyers (Elisabeth Rohm, Corbin Bernsen, Matt McGorry, Romi Dias, Catherine Bell)
· TV Moms & Dads (Chad Lowe, *Greg Evigan, *Ted McGinley, Lesley Fera, Jackee Harry) vs. TV Kids (*Jimmie Walker, *Mackenzie Phillips, Jonathan Lipnicki, Krista Marie Yu, Jeremy Miller)
· Famous TV Families (Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, Beverley Mitchell, *Willie Aames, *Charlene Tilton) vs. Doctors (Thomas Calabro, Taye Diggs, Rachelle Lefevre, *Deidre Hall, Benjamin Hollingsworth)
· Troublemakers (Vivica A. Fox, Paul Johansson, John Barrowman, Julie Benz, Catherine Bach) vs. TV Lifeguards (David Chokachi, Brande Roderick, *Parker Stevenson, Nicole Eggert, Gena Lee Nolin)
· ABC Stars (*Ted Lange, Troy Gentile, *Jill Whelan, Denise Richards, Joely Fisher) vs. Variety (Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Adrienne Houghton, Cameron Mathison, Kelly Osbourne)
· Cops (Marisol Nichols, Roma Maffia, *Adrian Zmed, Fred Dryer, Ryan Paevey) vs. Sci-Fi Fantasy (*Lou Ferrigno, Vinnie Jones, Charisma Carpenter, Kevin Sorbo, Jill Wagner)
The hosts for “Battle of the Network Stars” are Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) and Joe Tessitore (@Joe_Tess) of ESPN; Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) and Cari Champion (@CariChampion) of ESPN will be the sideline reporters.
