CBS' Lingo 2023 air time and release date

CBS’ brand new game show Lingo will premiere on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 9 pm ET. The one-hour-long episode will be uploaded on the network’s website and on Paramount+ one day after the television premiere.

The returning gameshow is being hosted and produced by popular drag queen RuPaul Charles. The show will feature some "witty commentary" from the host and very competitive "gameplay", which will end with the two teams trying to guess some simple words with the given hints.

The description of the series reads:

"In this game show, hosted by the iconic RuPaul, the simplest of words could be worth thousands of dollars. Let's play Lingo!"

Lingo is a fast-thinking-word-twist game show where two teams will try to solve some puzzle rounds and guess the letter of a word within a given period of time. In the end, one team will win a large amount of money, while the losing team will walk off empty-handed.

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Lingo is available as a board game as well as an application

As hinted in the trailer, the words will have five letters in total and the teams will have five seconds to predict the words. The correct letters will be colored red while the incorrect ones will not be featured on the screens. In previous seasons, the price of each correctly guessed word used to be predicted by some balls with an amount written on them.

Lingo has already been airing in 17 countries, including Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, and France. It is also available as a Facebook game, board game, and is even available as an application. Discussing his new game show, host RuPaul said:

"We’re all ready to have fun again, and ‘Lingo’ is the answer."

In an interview with Stephen Colbert, RuPaul shared how he was always a "distant cousin" of the CBS show but is now happy to be hosting it during prime time.

He also asked viewers not to confuse the game show with Wordle and said there would be no "meanness" on the show. RuPaul said he will "direct the show's traffic" only by being "lovely, kind, and sweet."

Mitch Graham, the senior VP of CBS’ alternative programming, also said:

"The word game craze is sweeping the nation, and ‘Lingo’ will deliver a fast-paced, fun and addictive show for the whole family. RuPaul’s flair and sharp wit, coupled with the ability for viewers to play along at home, make this a timely show with wide appeal that we’re excited to join our network lineup."

RuPaul will host the gameshow alongside Jilly Pearce and Layla Smith, working for Objective Media Group. Triple Brew Media’s Ed de Burgh and Paul Wright will also serve as executive producers.

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History of Lingo

The popular five-letter game show has already been on American TV screens thrice in the past. The first edition ran from September 28, 1987, to March 25, 1988, in the daily syndication, which was hosted by Michael Reagan.

Then, in 2002, Chuck Woolery hosted the revival of the show and it ran for six seasons on GSN until 2007.

Bill Engvall once again tried to run the show on GSN in 2011 but the show’s production paused after just one season.

Watch the new episodes of the show on CBS every Wednesday at 9 pm ET.