Wordle may be coming to TV soon, as NBC is testing a game show based on New York Times brain puzzles.
Jimmy Fallon is producing the project through his Electric Hot Dog banner, and “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie is hosting. The pilot was also produced by Universal Television Alternative Studios and filmed in the UK.
Representatives for NBC declined to comment.
Created by software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021, Wordle became a pandemic sensation, reaching millions of users every day. The New York Times acquired Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure price in January 2022, and the game was said to have been played 5.3 billion times in 2024, the newspaper reported.
In Wordle, players have six chances to guess random five-letter words using green and yellow tiles to help solve puzzles. In January 2022, Fallon played the game on “The Tonight Show” with the help of Roots drummer Questlove, perhaps to experience how Wordle would work in an interactive television format.
If Wardle’s TV show goes forward, it will join Fallon’s many other shows on NBC, including his late-night talk show, the KiKi Palmer-hosted “Passwords” reboot, “That’s My Jam” and the recently launched business competition series “On Brand.”
Guthrie has been on NBC for many years, serving as co-host of “Today” for more than a decade. She also appeared as a chief legal analyst across networks and had a cameo role as herself on the NBC sitcom “30 Rock.”
