Drew Barrymore Recaps Her Lifelong Journey to the Center Square on 'Hollywood Squares'

Hollywood Squares has gone through several iterations since it first debuted as a series on NBC in October 1966, hosted by Peter Marshall.  This month, it returns to CBS, hosted by Nate Burleson with Drew Barrymore as the center square.

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Hollywood Squares is essentially a game of tic-tac-toe in which two contestants ask questions of the celebrities seated in the nine squares on the board. The celebrities answer questions and the contestants either agree or disagree. If they get the answer right, they get an X or an O.

So, while it is a legitimate game show, what makes Hollywood Squares stand apart from Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune, is the opportunity for the celebrities to bring comedy to the proceedings, especially with some off-the-wall answers.

Barrymore told a small group of reporters backstage at a taping of Hollywood Squares that she had watched the show her entire life, and the laughter the show delivered was a big part of the reason why.

“I sought out Hollywood Squares because it always looked like a party, and it was comedy with a game,” she said. “I’ve always been drawn to comedy, so it was always my favorite.”

Related: See the Star-Studded Lineup of Celebrities Joining Drew Barrymore on the New Hollywood Squares

Barrymore, who was picked up for a sixth season for her daytime talk show The Drew Barrymore Show, was interested in the idea of a new version of Squares. She broached the idea with George Cheeks, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CBS Entertainment Group, to find out if he had the rights to the series.

He did, but it was during the COVID pandemic. And even though Barrymore thought the series could still be done on Zoom, considering the celebrities are just in boxes anyway, the timing didn’t feel right.

“Timing is everything,” Barrymore says. “So, I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. This show is personal for me because it made me so happy when I was a kid and all through growing up. I think the [center square celebs] Paul Lyndes and the Whoopi Goldbergs and the style of the show and the jokes of the show, they keep coming back around. The show has a very timeless feeling. So, it didn’t feel irrelevant and like we were bringing something back. It’s almost like continuing to carry the torch.”

Following in the footsteps of fellow center squares like Lynde, Goldberg and Joan Rivers, does put some pressure on Barrymore. But she’s up to it and enjoys when the celebrity guests snipe at her and each other.

“That, to me, is a good thing for us to be able to laugh at ourselves,” she says. “I think there’s a good hidden, subliminal message of ‘let’s put our shoulders down and not take ourselves too seriously,’ because then you get into defensive mode and then that’s a whole other thing. Let’s be able to laugh at ourselves. I’m really enjoying right now when Triumph the Insult Comic Dog takes me down.”

Related: Drew Barrymore Shares the Secret on Turning 50 She Learned from Ellen Pompeo

In addition to Triumph, the celebrity guests include Drew Carey, Tiffany Haddish, Tyra Banks, Whitney Cummings, Thomas Lennon, Sam Jay, Sheryl Underwood, Andrew Rannells, Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, Paul Scheer, Julie Bowen, Ross Matthews, RuPaul, Carson Kressley, Leslie Jones, Tichina Arnold, Nicole Byer, JB Smoove, Bobby Moynihan, Debi Mazar, Pete Holmes, Jeff Ross, Ms. Pat, and Chelsea Peretti.

But not all the comedy comes from the squares. According to Barrymore, Burleson gets his own share of jokes as well.

“I know that, if everything goes a little wacky because it went a little awry with me trying stuff, Nate will pull it back to center,” Barrymore says. “And then Nate, also, has these great, witty, awesome jokes that he comes up with. So, it doesn’t feel like the comedy’s only over here. Nate’s doing comedy, too. So, we’re all feeling like everybody’s allowed.”

Hollywood Squares premieres Thursday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Episodes stream next day on Paramount+.

Next, Drew Barrymore Makes a Bold Statement About Her Love Life