News
‘Hollywood Squares’ Given Week-Long CBS Daytime Run of Encore Episodes
The new reimagined classic game show, Hollywood Squares just debuted on CBS primetime with Drew Barrymore as the center square and CBS Mornings and NFL analyst, Nate Burleson as its host, and now it’s making a move into daytime as well.
Hollywood Squares is set to have a week-long stint on the CBS daytime line-up in the slot originally held by The Talk and soon to be occupied by daytime’s newest soap opera, Beyond the Gates which bows on February 24th.
Mark your calendars for the week of January 27-31st at (2:00 PM, ET; 1:00 PM, CT/PT) when ten encore episodes of Hollywood Squares will be shown. During every episode, Hollywood Squares showcases a unique lineup of celebrity guests in every episode. Celebrity guests take turns answering questions while contestants determine the legitimacy of their responses to score points and win exciting prizes.

Photo: CBS
Following Hollywood Squares week, CBS daytime is expected to run, previously reported encore episodes of The Price is Right through February 21st. In addition, CBS announced that the game show will move to an earlier time slot in primetime on Wednesday nights as part of their game show programming block. The change will come with the January 29th episode where Hollywood Squares will be seen at (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), followed by The Price is Right at Night and then Raid the Cage. Thursday, January 23rd will represent the Hollywood Squares final episode in its current time slot.
Take a look below at the listings of the stars appearing during the encore episode week of Hollywood Squares:
Monday, Jan. 27
“It’s a Dysfunctional Family Show” (2:00-2:30 PM, ET; 1:00-1:30 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tyra Banks, Julie Bowen, Whitney Cummings, Tiffany Haddish, Thomas Lennon, Ms. Pat, Jeff Ross and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
“The Mayor of the Sun” (2:30-3:00 PM, ET; 1:30-2:00 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tichina Arnold, Nicole Byer, Drew Carey, Pete Holmes, Debi Mazar, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti and JB Smoove.
Tuesday, Jan. 28
“It’s a Kiss Party” (2:00-2:30 PM, ET; 1:00-1:30 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tyra Banks, Whitney Cummings, Tiffany Haddish, Sam Jay, Thomas Lennon, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Andrew Rannells and Sheryl Underwood.
“Sixty for Swifty” (2:30-3:00 PM, ET; 1:30-2:00 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Julie Bowen, Margaret Cho, Leslie Jones, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, Kevin Nealon, RuPaul and Paul Scheer.
Wednesday, Jan. 29
“Didn’t Work If Nelly Didn’t Laugh” (2:00-2:30 PM, ET; 1:00-1:30 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tanner Adell, Whitney Cummings, Pete Holmes, Chaka Khan, Jay Leno, Thomas Lennon, Nelly and Patton Oswalt.
“The Price Was Wrong Drew” (2:30-3:00 PM, ET; 1:30-2:00 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Nicole Byer, Drew Carey, Jeff Dunham, Max Greenfield, Pete Holmes, Lil Rel Howery, Rita Moreno and Bobby Moynihan.
Thursday, Jan. 30
“It’s a Hot Gentleman’s Sweater” (2:00-2:30 PM, ET; 1:00-1:30 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Nicole Byer, Drew Carey, Luenell, Debi Mazar, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti, Phil Rosenthal and JB Smoove.
“They Always Choose Me, Boo!” (2:30-3:00 PM, ET; 1:30-2:00 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Julie Bowen, Margaret Cho, Leslie Jones, Carson Kressley, Jeannie Mai, Kevin Nealon, RuPaul and Paul Scheer.
Friday, Jan. 31
“It’s a Dysfunctional Family Show” (2:00-2:30 PM, ET; 1:00-1:30 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tyra Banks, Julie Bowen, Whitney Cummings, Tiffany Haddish, Thomas Lennon, Ms. Pat, Jeff Ross and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
“The Mayor of the Sun” (2:30-3:00 PM, ET; 1:30-2:00 PM, CT/PT)
Celebrity guests: Tichina Arnold, Nicole Byer, Drew Carey, Pete Holmes, Debi Mazar, Bobby Moynihan, Chelsea Peretti and JB Smoove.
In addition to Hollywood Squares being broadcast on CBS television network, it is also available to stream Live and On Demand on Paramount+*.
So, will you be checking out Drew Barrymore and celebrity guests during the daytime run of Hollywood Squares? Comment below.
I would love to see a few game shows come back to daytime. Please stop with talk shows. It is shocking that no one has had this idea since “TPIR” had been such a huge success for CBS. My favorite game shows were “Password” and “Concentration” back in the day.
BTW, looking forward to “Beyond the Gates.” I think if it is successful, we can hopefully see a reboot of older soaps, especially “All My Children.”
Hopefully Drew and CBS Mornings will be promoting Beyond The Gates.
Turned off the first episode when it aired last week. Not funny and cheaply produced. Why is the top prize only $25K when you’ve got other game shows that give away at least double that per episode?
Additionally, the center square is traditionally reserved for a comedian. Paul Lynde, Joan Rivers, and Whoopi Goldberg anchored their respective versions. As nice as she may be, Barrymore doesn’t have the chops.
OG Steve…Thank You. I’ve been thinking the same thing. That Drew Barrymore chick is NOWHERE NEAR a comedic actress!!!!! And she is BEYOND TERRIBLE as a center square!!!!! She needs to go back to hosting her own talk show…AND STAY THERE!!!!!
This is a very bad reboot of a good game show. It’s all about the yuk-yuk-yuk and very little to do with the game. The old series (with Marshall, Davidson or Bergeron) could get you through 2 or 3 full games, where these folks maybe get thru one and the start of the second. Shut it down.
General Hospital
Paige Herschell Exits ‘General Hospital’ as Jacinda Bracken

As suspected, Jacinda Bracken got a one way ticket out of Port Charles, thus ending the run of Paige Herschell as the escort-turned-girlfriend of Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson). The story turn took place on the Tuesday, August 11 episode of General Hospital.
After Jacinda drugged Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) by spiking her iced coffee, and Michael finding Willow drugged out in front of their kids, Amelia and Wiley, he knew he had to break things off with her.
Michael gave Jacinda enough money to get out of town and start a new life for herself, because given these recent developments, Willow will use this against him to gain full custody of his children. In their final scenes, Michael and Jacinda said a heartfelt goodbye to one another.

Courtesy/ABC
THE HISTORY OF JACINDA BRACKEN
According to Soap Opera Digest, a GH rep confirmed that today marked Paige Herschell’s final appearance in the role and that her exit was indeed, storyline-dictated. Herschell had originally auditioned for the role of Blaze a few years back. That part went to Jacqueline Grace Lopez.
Later, Herschell was brought in for a short stint beginning in April 2025, as the escort hired by Nina (Cynthia Watros) and Portia (Brook Kerr) to paint Drew (Cameron Mathison) in a bad light. So with Nina and Portia supplying her with ketamine, she drugged Drew. Next, Jacinda was able to get the then congressman to do liquor shots off her body in front of everyone at the Savoy Nightclub. After Drew made a public spectacle of himself, Nina paid Jacinda to leave town and she wound up in Australia.
However, by September of 2025, Jacinda was back in town, where she agreed to pretend to be Michael’s girlfriend for appearances sake and to give him an alibi on the night Drew Cain was shot. The arrangement eventually turned into genuine feelings for one another.
Back in April of 2026, Paige celebrated her one-year anniversary with GH as Jacinda and posted on Instagram,”Holy smokes! It’s been one year since Jacinda was introduced on Genera Hospital. I’m so grateful to this show for the work! Thank you to the amazing fans and the awesome cast and crew! One year! Holy moly! Jacinda- you continue to surprise me.” Fast-forward and now by August, Herschell has wrapped her run.
So, with the news of Jacinda’s departure on GH, are you glad Michael sent her packing. or were you hoping that Michael and Jacinda would wind up a bonafide couple that would go on for quite some time? Let us know via the comment section below.
Days Of Our Lives
‘Days of Our Lives’ Exec Explains How They Fit John Oliver’s Guest Stint into Production When They Tape Almost a Year in Advance

If you caught today’s Tuesday, August 11 episode of Days of Our Lives streaming on Peacock, you caught the debut of John Oliver in his Salem role as the chief water inspector in town named Devlin St. John.
The ‘Last Week Tonight’ host has been on a jaunt through the soaps over the past few months, first on General Hospital, where he played the WSB head named Z, to now the man who has got the goods on EJ DiMera.
In his first of three appearances (the remaining two stream August 12 and 14), Devlin meets up with Paulina Price (Jackée Harry), Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes), Rita Lesley (who takes a liking to Mr. St. Jonn), played by Maggie Carney, and EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel). When Oliver arrives on the scene there is the wig, the quipping dialog, and a few soap stares and such along the way.

Courtesy/Peacock
Days of Our Lives is the only American soap opera in production to tape so far advance, often 10 to 11 months, that it makes it difficult to get out of any storyline that is not clicking with the fans, or if the writers want to change course.
In addition, casting announcement of exciting returns or new characters while initially exciting, finds the viewers having to wait a very long time to see them on their screens. On the flip side, without this production model the soap opera, which will turn 61 in November, wouldn’t remain and that would be a serious blow to the fans, to the soap genre and all that it employs.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES EP KEN CORDAY ON THE PROCESS OF ADDING JOHN OLIVER INTO PREVIOUSLY TAPED EPISODES
When John Oliver made his pronouncement on his late night talk show back in March that he desired to be on a soap opera. DAYS executive producer, Ken Corday was going to make it happen. He explained to Vulture, how they were able weave in Oliver’s request and take him up on it, while making it look seamless into episodes taped so long ago.
Both Corday and co-executive producer and showrunner, Noel Maxam, intially went back and looked at previously taped episodes and story outlines to search for a potential story thread where they could place the character to be played by Oliver.
Corday shared, “We didn’t want to wait until next year for these shows to air, so we lifted (already produced) show and put him in. We basically had to shoehorn him into our schedule because we were so far ahead.” The longtime EP also expressed its challenges stating it, “was somewhat complex. It was basically, ‘We have to do this; let’s get it done.’ And we did. He was too good to pass up.”
THE CREATION OF DEVLIN ST. JOHN
In terms of the scripting and creation of Oliver’s character of Devlin St. John, it was a two-team effort. Corday explained that Oliver’s overall storyline was scripted by DAYS writers, but John Oliver’s team punched up some of the dialog.
“John and his producer had a lot of input in making the words fit the way he talks,” the EP recalled. “He’s (Oliver) very machine-gun in how he speaks, so that took a little work. But in the end, we both got what we wanted.”
In terms of the look of his DAYS character of the Salem chief water inspector, Oliver brought the wig he wears in his scenes to the set, and the DAYS hair and make-up team refined it for the cameras.
You can check out more behind the scenes moments of Oliver’s appearance on Days of Our Lives in the newly released video package from Access Hollywood that dropped last night below.
So, what did you think of John Oliver’s debut as Devlin St. John on today’s Days of Our Lives? Ken Corday sharing how the soap opera was able to shoehorn in Oliver’s scenes in previous shot episodes from months ago? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
Days Of Our Lives
‘Last Week Tonight’ Host John Oliver’s Role on ‘Days of Our Lives’ Revealed

After a few months of speculation, it has finally been revealed who John Oliver will be playing when he kicks-off his three episode guest stint on Tuesday, August 11 on Peacock’s Days of Our Lives.
According to a rep for the soap opera, Oliver will be taking on the role of Salem’s Chief Water Inspector who opens an investigation into the local water supply. As previously reported, Oliver will share scenes with EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) and Rita (Maggie Carney), and Mayor Paulina Price (Jackée Harry).
In addition, Soaps.com spoke with Dan Feuerriegel who shared that Oliver’s character name is none other than “Devlin St. John.” Feuerriegel also explained what the late night talk show wanted out of his Days of Our Lives experience noting, “He wanted the whole thing. From my recollection, he wanted a wig. He wanted a ridiculous name, and he wanted to slap or be slapped.” Feuerriegel then coyly admitted, “We did all the things. Everything you would think cliché in a soap, we did. I got slapped. I slapped.”
Jackée Harry previewed her scenes with Oliver to TV Insider, noting, “He is the water commissioner and coming to her with some scheme. He is trying to get one over on the city of Salem and she is not having it. And then he’s onto the next victim.”

Photo: Peacock
JOHN OLIVER’S TOUR OF SOAP DUTY CONCLUDES IN SALEM
After his initial entrance on Tuesday, look for Oliver on the Wednesday, August 12 and Friday, August 14 of the soap streamer. Last month, John Oliver appeared on General Hospital in the role of the head of the WSB named Z for three episodes, as well which was more of a dramatic turn for the late night talk show host.
DAYS and GH both came calling after Oliver put the word out an episode of his HBO series back in March, that he is aiming to be on a soap! John shared, “To all the soap operas out there, let me say this: I’m officially offering myself to you. Write me a role, and I will be on your set so fast, it will make your head spin!”
Days of Our Lives executive producer, Ken Corday previously said in a statement, “When John Oliver said, ‘Call me, soaps, I’m available and willing to travel. I want to be a part of that world,’ our world, we had to heed the call!”
So, looking forward to tuning-in to see John Oliver as Salem’s Chief Water Inspector, Devlin St. John on this week on Days of Our Lives? Let us know via the comment section. But first, in case you missed it, check out this week’s Days of Our Lives promo below with Oliver as Devlin St. John asking to see Mayor Paulina Price in its final moments.
-

General Hospital6 days agoChris McKenna Reportedly Out as ‘General Hospital’s’ Jack Brennan
-

News1 week agoLucas Adams and Tamara Braun Written Out of The Young and the Restless
-

General Hospital5 days ago‘General Hospital’ Alum, Chad Duell Releases New Music Track, ‘Static in the Quiet Room’
-

All My Children6 days ago‘All My Children’ Movie Writers for Lifetime Revealed: Ron Carlivati, Jamey Giddens and Leo Richardson
-

General Hospital7 days agoRyan Paevey Open to Return to ‘General Hospital’ to ‘Stir the Pot if Cassius Could be a Good Agent of Chaos’
-

All My Children1 week ago‘All My Children’ Revival Updates: Lifetime EVP Speaks on Why Proposed Movies are Great Fit, Mark Consuelos Wants To ‘Give Back’ to Fans
-

News3 days agoB&B’s Crew Morrow Featured in Courtroom Thriller ‘Wildcards’ Set for Theatrical Release and Tour
-

General Hospital1 week ago‘General Hospital’ Fan Club Weekend 2026 (Photos)












