ABC has debuted a Battle of the Network Stars reboot, which is so rebooted, it comes complete with network stars who competed on the original pop-culture classic which aired from 1976 to 1988.
This time around it’s back to the future with Willie Aames, from Eight Is Enough, MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey, Roseanne’s ex, Tom Arnold and 100 other personalities (complete list below) from 14 different network and cable companies.
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For this new version, fielding of the teams will be based on the TV characters people love from over the years to the current day—cops vs. TV sitcoms, White House vs. lawyers, TV moms & dads vs. TV kids, etc. In this way, viewers will get to see everyone’s favorites from over the years, even if they spanned different networks at the time.
Here are the 20 teams (100 stars), blue and red, competing against each other in separate episodes with athletic contests of physical grace and stamina (* = returning to “Battle of the Network Stars”):
TV Sitcoms (Bronson Pinchot, Tom Arnold, Dave Coulier, AJ Michalka, Tracey Gold) vs. TV Kids (Joey Lawrence, Corbin Bleu, Nolan Gould, *Lisa Whelchel, *Kim Fields)
Primetime Soaps (Ian Ziering, Josh Henderson, Gabrielle Carteris, *Donna Mills, Mischa Barton) vs. ABC Stars (*Olivia d’Abo, *Shari Belafonte, Michael Fishman, Jason Hervey, Anson Williams)
Variety (Joanna Krupa, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Lachey, Gilles Marini, Jack Osbourne) vs. TV Sex Symbols (Keegan Allen, Traci Bingham, Rosa Blasi, Brant Daugherty, Galen Gering)
Cops (Erik Estrada, *Larry Wilcox, Kelly Hu, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, *Lorenzo Lamas) vs. TV Sitcoms (*Todd Bridges, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Dave Foley, Willie Garson, Jenna von Oy)
White House (Cornelius Smith Jr., Marlee Matlin, Joshua Malina, LaMonica Garrett, Mary McCormack) vs. Lawyers (Elisabeth Rohm, Corbin Bernsen, Matt McGorry, Romi Dias, Catherine Bell
TV Moms & Dads (Chad Lowe, *Greg Evigan, *Ted McGinley, Lesley Fera, Jackee Harry) vs. TV Kids (*Jimmie Walker, *Mackenzie Phillips, Jonathan Lipnicki, Krista Marie Yu, Jeremy Miller)
Famous TV Families (Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, Beverley Mitchell, *Willie Aames, *Charlene Tilton) vs. Doctors (Thomas Calabro, Taye Diggs, Rachelle Lefevre, *Deidre Hall, Benjamin Hollingsworth)
Troublemakers (Vivica A. Fox, Paul Johansson, John Barrowman, Julie Benz, Catherine Bach) vs. TV Lifeguards (David Chokachi, Brande Roderick, *Parker Stevenson, Nicole Eggert, Gena Lee Nolin)
ABC Stars (*Ted Lange, Troy Gentile, *Jill Whelan, Denise Richards, Joely Fisher) vs. Variety (Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Adrienne Houghton, Cameron Mathison, Kelly Osbourne)
Cops (Marisol Nichols, Roma Maffia, *Adrian Zmed, Fred Dryer, Ryan Paevey) vs. Sci-Fi Fantasy (*Lou Ferrigno, Vinnie Jones, Charisma Carpenter, Kevin Sorbo, Jill Wagner)
The hosts will be Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) and Joe Tessitore (@Joe_Tess) of ESPN; Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) and Cari Champion (@CariChampion) of ESPN will be the sideline reporters; plus Super Bowl 50 winner DeMarcus Ware (@DeMarcusWare) and MMA fighter/Olympian Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) will be the team captains.
ABC says air dates of future episodes will be announced at a “later time.”