MTV2 is revamping its “Hip Hop Squares” this season with Mac Miller, JB Smoove and DJ Khaled. Haven’t heard of them before? Well, did anybody know Paul Lynde before he sat in the center square of “Hollywood Squares”? It was a hot seat – Joan Rivers, Howard Stern, Alec Baldwin, Ellen and Whoopi all took center stage at one point. Viewers tuned in to “Hollywood Squares” to catch their favorite funny celebrities speaking off the cuff. (Well, they did have a team of about 15 script writers, just like today’s reality TV shows, but you never knew if Phyllis Diller was going to stick to it.)
“Hip Hop Squares” is intended to speak directly to urban males, and it’s earning street cred by being taped in Brooklyn, New York and hosted by DJs (Peter Rosenberg and Nicole Lyn Hill). Paul Ricci, Head of Programming for MTV2, explained in a statement, “The show will be much more ‘party’ than ‘game show.’” What was blandly called the “Secret Square” on the original show is now called the “G-Spot.” No word yet on if it’s harder to find.