Ryan Reynolds Producing Hilarious Comedy Game Show ‘Don’t’ For ABC

Ryan Reynolds will be tipping his hat into the television ring as he heads up a new comedy game show for ABC, titled Don’t. Reynolds will produce the show, which will pit families against one another in mental and physical challenges with specific restrictions.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that the format of the series is described as a “comedic physical game show” where families of four are asked to work together to complete the tasks.

The twist is that they “don’t” do something, which could range from “don’t laugh,” “don’t slip,” “don’t scream,” or “don’t forget.” Each “don’t” changes with each different challenge.

Deadline reported on the specific details of the series. For each challenge, one family will have a set amount of time to complete each task. If they fail, they move forward but do not earn any money and one member is eliminated. This continues until only one family member remains and that person must complete the final challenges on their own to win cash prizes for their clan. If they complete the rest of the tasks, the money they earned is theirs.

Reynolds stated that the concept for the game show came from his own life as a young adult growing up.

“All my life, the word ‘don’t’ has tortured me,” Reynolds said in the announcement, reported Deadline. “From ‘don’t curse’ to ‘don’t play ball in the house’ to ‘don’t eat the crab salad you left in the sun for three days.’ I cannot wait for my personal trauma to become the next great ABC family show.”

The television game show format has made a stunning comeback to television, with several big-name stars helming the fun formats, which range from physical to mental challenges. Game shows were a staple of television for over 50 years, until the advent of both reality television and talk shows, which effectively pushed the format out of vogue.

Only a few longstanding game shows remain. These include Jeopardy, which celebrates its 55th year on television, Wheel of Fortune at 36 years, and the grandaddy of them all, The Price is Right, which celebrates 66 years on the air. In 1974, The New York Times reported that the game show format all but dominated daytime television, with their only match being daytime soap operas, which also aired daily on all three major TV networks.

Today, Alec Baldwin hosts Match Game, Ellen DeGeneres hosts Ellen’s Game of Games, and Jamie Foxx helms Beat Shazam.

Reynolds has not yet confirmed that he appear on the series, but if he did, The Hollywood Reporter stated it would not be his first time within the format. Reynolds appeared on the South Korean version of The Masked Singer, dressed as a unicorn and singing “Tomorrow,” the hit song from the Broadway musical Annie.