If it’s been too long since you’ve considered the price of ham and cheese wedges, you’re in luck: Supermarket Sweep is returning to television after a 17-year hiatus.
The game show, in which contestants sprint through a grocery store with a wobbly shopping cart like it’s Black Friday and the only item on every kid’s list is a frozen turkey, has found a home at ABC, where it originally premiered in 1965. (It was later revived on Lifetime in 1990 and again on PAX in 1999.) The new Sweep has also found a host to replace David Ruprecht: former SNL cast member and Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones.
“I’ve always dreamed of being on Supermarket Sweep,” Jones said in a statement. “Seriously, I tried out for the show years ago; and after getting turned away, I knew I’d have to take matters into my own hands. Being able to bring the iconic game show back to life on ABC is my ultimate redemption story!” Maybe this time, the meats will be real.
“Yeah, they’re fake because what happened [was] the meats were thawing so people were getting the juice on their shirts. They didn’t think it through,” Sweep contestant Mike Futia told the AV Club in a fascinating interview. “So in the beginning everything was working and it was a real freezer and real refrigerated foods and all of that, but when we were on, none of the perishable stuff was real. Everything that was meat, cheese — all that was fake because they’d get the meat juices on their sweaters.”
Think about the juicy sweater the next time you watch a clip. Like now!
Supermarket Sweep does not currently have a premiere date.
(Via Entertainment Weekly and the AV Club)
