Wordle TV Show Coming to NBC Next Year Featuring Savannah Guthrie
By Published May 11, 2026, 12:49 PM EDT Based in Los Angeles, Mona began her entertainment career in 2015, building experience across digital media and journalism. She has worked with major entertainment brands including iHeartMedia, E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and TMZ/TooFab, contributing to interviews, source development, and editorial production. Her writing even helped her team earn an Emmy Award at Entertainment Tonight. She has been an Entertainment & People News Reporter at ScreenRant since 2026. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
is making its way to the small screen.
The daily, app-based word game is getting its own television show. NBC announced Monday that it is turning the puzzle game, published daily by , into a game show. The game, which largely gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges players to decipher five-letter words in six guesses or fewer.
The series is set to be hosted by Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie and will air on NBC next year. The NYT will serve as a producer on the project, alongside Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon.
The Wordle TV show is not just the next in NBC's slate of game show programming; it's also a history-making move, marking the first time the publication is partnering with a prime-time entertainment program on a major broadcaster. The NYT previously collaborated with cable and streaming channels on documentary series based on its journalism, as well as adaptations of long-running features like Modern Love, an anthology series co-produced by The Times and Amazon Studios.
Created by software engineer Josh Wardle for his partner during the pandemic, the simple, grew from just 90 players in November 2026 to over 2 million by January 2026, and is still played by many to this day. The Times acquired Wordle in 2026 for an undisclosed, low seven-figures, as the game made its way from a pandemic distraction to cementing itself in the popular lexicon, appearing in shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, and others. It's also inspired variations of the game, including .
The half-hour variety show will see contestants compete for cash prizes, and will be filmed in Manchester, England, with the set expected to replicate the signature Wordle typeface and the game's green, yellow, and gray color scheme. Guthrie has spoken about her love of the game in previous interviews, calling herself an avid game player. She even has several Wordle-dedicated group chats, where she discusses the game with her friends, one of which includes her Today co-host, Carson Daly, and his wife, titled "Wordle Nerdle."
Filming of Wordle was delayed following the who went missing from her Arizona home in February, and remains so. Guthrie took an extended leave from the show in the early months of the investigation, but eventually returned to the news program in April. Wordle was also a point of connection for Guthrie and her mother, revealing in December that she had shown Nancy the game show's pilot.
While announcing the show during Today's broadcast on Monday, Guthrie shared her gratitude to the production crew and the network for stopping everything to wait for her when tragedy struck her family earlier this year.
When everything happened with me and my family, they just stopped everything and said, "We'll wait for you." Hollywood is, like, a really tough business, and I didn't expect that. And I just want to say thank you, it means so much to me.
Fallon, who was by Guthrie's side to announce the news, called the anchor the "perfect host," and said they couldn't do the show without her.
"I'm so happy it's you — we were looking for the perfect host for this. We needed someone who looks like they play Wordle, someone who knows how to run a show," Fallon said before praising Guthrie's work on Wordle's pilot, calling it "amazing."
Guthrie also shared her mixed feelings about the happy news amid the ongoing search for her mother.
Everything is strange right now. It's strange to get up and do the Today show every day, and it's strange to say that I'm going to do a game show when your heart is broken. Nothing about that has changed, and it's not easy, but I'm determined to put one foot in front of the other.
Guthrie is no stranger to hosting game shows, previously serving as a guest host on Jeopardy! for two weeks in 2026, while Fallon has served as host for the music-based game show, That's My Jam, also on NBC, as well as acting as executive producer on the Keke Palmer-hosted NBC revival of the popular 1960s game show, Password.
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