CBS Orders Candy Crush Saga-Themed Game Show Series

Do you hear that scraping sound? It’s CBS hitting the bottom of the barrel for game show ideas. The Eye Network has ordered up a game show series based on the popular Candy Crush Saga mobile game.

The show will be produced by Matt Kunitz, who is “brains” behind shows like Wipeout, and Fear Factor. So far, we haven’t seen any images of the show’s set, or a specific date the show will launch. (But this sounds like a summer replacement series, if anything does.)

In the series, the game that has become a worldwide phenomenon comes to life as teams of two people use their wits and physical agility to compete on enormous, interactive game boards featuring next generation technology to conquer CANDY CRUSH and be crowned the champions. A host will be announced at a later date.

In case you’ve been in a cave without an Internet connection for a few years, Candy Crush Saga requires players to match colorful candies in combinations of three or more to win points, defeat obstacles and progress through more than 2,000 levels. The app, and its sibling Candy Crush Soda Saga, are two of the top 10 grossing mobile games in the U.S. CBS claims on average 18 billion game rounds are played every month around the world.

Producer Kunitz says the franchise “lends itself perfectly to the kind of larger-than-life, physical game shows that I love to produce.” (Read that as “cheap, quick, and profitable to produce.”) CBS and game developer King are working closely to oversee the transition from video game to game show. You know, to preserve the integrity of the intellectual property.

“The Candy Crush franchise has been loved by players around the world on mobile so it’s very exciting to be working with Matt and the team to bring the fun and challenge of the Candy Crush games to television. We hope our players will be entertained by what is set to be a high-energy, challenging game show,” said Sebastian Knutsson, Chief Creative Officer, King, and executive producer of CANDY CRUSH.

CBS say that more information, including such details as which smiling face will host the series, is coming “at a later date.”

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