ABC is planning another game-stuffed summer, but with a difference:
This time, it will have three new games, alongside the vintage ones.
The network’s summer success has been built on pieces of the “Bachelor” franchise (also returning this summer, with Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, shown her), plus games from way back. This summer – starting in July, after the pro-basketball playoffs — that continues: “Press Your Luck” goes back to 1983, “Family Feud” (now with celebrities) to 1976 and “$100,000 Pyramid” to 1973 (when it was merely $10,000).
But joining them will be the new shows. “Generation Gap,” hosted by Kelly Ripa, has kids and grandparents answering trivia about the others’ generation. “The Final Straw” has people trying to remove objects from a tower, without making it fall. And “Claim to Fame” is more of a reality show, involving people who, at first, don’t reveal their link to more-famous relatives; it’s hosted by Kevin Jonas, 33, of the Jonas Brothers and his not-famous brother Frankie, 21.
ABC also announced that it has renewed “Bachelor in Paradise,” which tends to run in the late summer, and “Judge Steve Harvey,” a winter ratings success. And just before the summer, it will have two May 25 specials. “The Great American Tag Sale” has Martha Stewart showing what a garage sale is like in the big-money world; “The American Rescue Dog Show” is a competition for rescued dogs.
Still, the main emphasis is on those games, which will take over most of Thursday and Sunday, plus an hour of Monday. The line-up has:
THURSDAYS (starting July 7): “Press Your Luck” at 8 p.m., the new “Generation Gap” at 9.
SUNDAYS (July 10): “Celebrity Family Feud” (hosted by Harvey) at 8 p.m., the new “Final Straw” at 9 and “The $100,000 Pyramid” at 10.
MONDAYS (July 11): “Bachelorette” at 8 p.m., this time with two people, Windey and Recchia, doing the choosing; the new “Claim to Fame” is at 10.