Following its number one syndication debut in 2014 (it tied with "Hot Bench"), former host of "The Late Late Show" Craig Ferguson returns for a second season of the show that gave him his Daytime Emmy win for Outstanding Game Show Host. On "Celebrity Name Game," where celebrities are paired with contestant teams, each have to correctly identify as many names as possible, in given time periods, using a variety of clues. The surviving team at the end of three rounds plays off for the grand prize of $20,000.
Last season's celebrity guests include Lisa Kudrow, Candace Cameron Bure, Cat Deeley, Shannen Doherty, Randy Jackson, Mario Lopez and show executive producers Courteney Cox and David Arquette, with this season promising more.
"I was nervous to do the show because I thought I'd be really bad at it," upcoming guest star Virginia Madsen revealed exclusively to Headlines & Global News on the set. "But it's really fun. It's like being at a party and goes so fast."
Ross Mathews, who appeared on season one, couldn't wait to return and make use of the celebrity trivia he usually reserves for parties.
"I felt finally I can put this skill to use," he says to HNGN. "I've only put it to use at drunken dinner parties, so it's nice to be able to do it during the day and help people win money. I never thought this brain full of useless knowledge would ever come in handy, but it turns out it can win people money."
Mathews is also quick to admit the chance of working for "Friends" star Courteney Cox and her ex-husband David Arquette was the icing on already sweet cake.
"I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be working for Courteney Cox," he says, beaming. "I mean, hello? I watched 'Friends,' and if you said to me, 'One day you'll be on a show that she created and is producing with David,' who I also love, it's a fantasy, and the fact they know who I am blows me away."
"Celebrity Name Game" returns Monday, Sept. 21.
For more scoop on season two of "Celebrity Name Game" and Craig Ferguson's thoughts of James Corden's version of his old show, read HNGN's exclusive interview with the host below.
Is this a game you played at parties before?
The kind of parties I always go to they don't play games, it's always very serious (laughs).
After "The Late Late Show," how did you get involved in a game show?
The producers [Cox and Arquette] came to me and asked if I wanted to do it. They explained what the game was. I was like "OK!" We actually made a pilot years ago for CBS. But they passed on it, and then it came back. That was about four years ago.
Is it fun when your bosses appear on the show?
If you know anything about me you'll know I'm afraid of no boss. I feel in show business there's always another boss if you mess up with this one (laughs).
What can we expect on season 2?
There' s so much more fun in season 2, now it's beginning to do what I always wanted it to do, which is fall apart. It kind of stumbles and is deconstructing itself in front of us and I kind of like that. I'm very much enjoying it.
How do you love the schedule of doing this show?
The schedule is great. I work until the middle of May, often only four days a week, and we shoot a few episodes back to back each day. And we do some more in January of 2016. So we do like 100, then another 80, it's really spread out. It's a beautiful schedule, it allows you to do other things, work and other projects and do other things, that's why it's so much more attractive to me than continuing on late-night because you can be on TV every day, but you don't have to make TV every day, it's very useful to me.
You've said you get away with a lot on this show. Do you have to censor yourself or is someone doing that for you?
I don't see it as my job to censor myself, it's the censor's job. There's a perfectly qualified person sitting there in the control booth whose job is to do that. I don't want to rob a hard-working American of their job so I'll say f--k as much as I like and I'll get on with it. But emotions run high on the show and people will say things they regret, it's like a marriage.
Who else from " The Drew Carey Show" cast, besides Drew, would be a good game show host?
Yeah, I think of myself as a game show host, I clearly am, I guess Kathy who played Mimi would be pretty good. I never thought Drew and I would end up doing it and I'll do it for a while, but don't think I'm going to do it forever. It's not going to be like 40 years on "The Price Is Right," that's not going to happen.
Do you see those guys much?
I see Drew quite often and we are still friends.
What else are you working on?
I just did a pilot for ABC and I'm writing something I can't really talk about til it's done. I'm doing standup, there's plenty of stuff around.
Who's been your favorite guest to have on?
Ross Matthews is hilarious; there's been a bunch of them. It usually tends to be the one in front of you because we do have a lot. Mario Lopez is always great; I think everybody wins $20,000 whenever he's on the show.
Is it difficult to watch people get so close to winning the big prize and maybe not win?
It sucks, you want them all to win big, it's not my money, if it were I'd be delighted if they didn't win. I do want them to win, but they still walk away with money in their pocket at the end.
Is there a tip to winning you can offer anyone wanting to be on the show?
Read every website you feel guilty about reading. It's hard to give just one, but ultimately try and stay focused. With the noise in the audience and the clock ticking, it is difficult, so train yourself to work with a high adrenaline level.
Do you like what James Corden is doing on "The Late Late Show"?
I haven't seen it to be honest. But I have been in a lot of contact with James before he started and he is such a sweetheart. I think he's doing fine. It's his baby now, and it's alright.
