NBC Turns Wordle Into a Cash-Prize Game Show

Two and a half years of development, and the five-letter word puzzle that took over your group chat is heading to primetime television. NBC announced that it has greenlit a Wordle game show, hosted by Today anchor Savannah Guthrie and produced by Jimmy Fallon through his company Electric Hot Dog, alongside Universal Television Alternative Studios. The half-hour show is set to premiere on NBC in 2027.

The format takes Wordle's familiar five-letter puzzle and turns it into a squad-based competition. Players will team up to solve word puzzles in what NBC describes as a battle of "smarts, speed, and fun," while also competing against each other for a cash prize. The show will feature Wordle's recognizable typeface and green-yellow color scheme, and it's filming in Manchester, England. Casting for the first season is already open.

Fallon revealed during a Today broadcast that he'd been working with The New York Times to bring the show to life for the past two and a half years. "I feel very honored to be working with Savannah Guthrie on this show," Fallon said in a statement. "Savannah has that rare combination of intelligence, charm, and warmth that makes everyone feel instantly welcome."

Production Hit a Pause

The show was originally supposed to begin shooting in March, but production was delayed after Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy, disappeared in February. Guthrie stepped away from the Today Show and returned to hosting duties on April 6. Her mother remains missing. During the announcement, Guthrie thanked NBC, Fallon's production company, The New York Times, and Universal for halting everything to wait for her. "Hollywood is a really tough business, as you know, and I just didn't expect that," she said.

I'll be honest: I have mixed feelings about this one. Wordle works because it's a quiet, personal ritual. Five minutes with your morning coffee, maybe a screenshot texted to a friend. Turning that into a loud primetime competition with teams and cash prizes feels like it misses what made the game special in the first place. It's the same instinct that turned every mobile hit of the 2010s into a short-lived TV adaptation. But Fallon has clearly been invested in this for a long time, and The New York Times isn't exactly known for licensing things carelessly. Meredith Kopit Levien, president and CEO of The New York Times Company, said in a statement that they were "intentional about finding partners who could both scale the experience and stay true to the beloved game."

Production is expected to begin later this year. Whether a game built around solitary, daily five-minute sessions can sustain a weekly half-hour TV slot is the real puzzle NBC needs to solve.