Wordle literally is the concept of the game show Lingo, a word game cleverly infused with some elements of bingo, which first appeared in 1987. The only differences in the word-guessing portion, really, are that Lingo gives the player the first letter, and Worlde provides a handy grid to help keep track of the used letters that are not in the word. I say the differences will not stand up in court. As has been all over the news, The New York Times snatched up Wordle for a big wad of money.
American viewers will best know Lingo for the Chuck Woolery-hosted Game Show Network version, which ran from 2002 to 2007 with more than 300 episodes — a rare bounty for a GSN production. The show originated with a single, obscure syndicated season (1987-88), and there have been a number of successful international versions. In the Netherlands, except for a five-year gap, it has been in production since 1989. So, the concept has been around, and there have been Lingo game apps for the phone.
Now news breaks that CBS is resurrecting the show for primetime. Seems too much to be a coincidence, but news reports indicate the show was in development long before the Wordle craze emerged.
It's fun to see some of the lesser known game shows get the big-budget, big-network treatment — perhaps there will be a car prize ball — but I suspect an hour of Lingo is going to grow tiresome. It seems more of a small-doses pleasure.
And RuPaul as host? Wouldn't be my on my shortlist, or even long list, but maybe he'll work it.
