New Fox Show Most Watched In Television History

The highly anticipated, re-vamped version of “Hollywood Squares” debuted on Fox Monday night and became the most watched television show in American history. Overnight Neilson ratings estimate that 190 million Americans tuned into the program, nearly 75 percent of the country’s population. “The success of ‘Hollywood Squares’ shows that viewers appreciate high quality programming,” said Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the response.”

The innovate program is hosted via satellite by record producer Phil Spector, who was recently convicted of second-degree murder and is currently serving 19 years to life at a California State Prison in Corcoran, CA. The studio audience gave Mr. Spector a raucous standing ovation when he first appeared downstage on a high definition jumbotron, wearing a simple orange jumpsuit, pink sunglasses and jheri curl wig. The famed producer opened the show by engaging in some light banter with his surprisingly entertaining cellmate, former Al Queda member Hamzi Muhammad, before starting the program.

The program differs from its previous incarnations in that, when the contestants answer a question correctly, the celebrity questioner is executed. When the contestant gets three executions in a row - diagonal, horizontal or vertical - he or she wins one round in the best of three match. Hundreds of “B, C and D-list” celebrities vied for a place on the show and a prized chance to revive their sagging careers. After months of auditions, the network selected nine lucky celebrities: Paul Reiser, Todd Bridges, Puck (The Real World), Paula Poundstone, Florence Henderson, Seth Green, Mindy Cohn, Andrew Dice Clay and Boy George, who was the debut show’s sole survivor.

Paul Reiser asked the show’s inaugural question from the prestigious center square and immediately after Tom Breen, a dentist from Grand Rapids, gave the correct answer (“Samantha Ronson”), a siren sounded, Mr. Spector shouted “bye-bye” and a guillotine shaped like Rupert Murdoch’s head descended from the ceiling and severed the “Mad About You” actor’s head, which fell to the stage and rolled into the studio audience. People scrambled to retrieve the Mr. Reiser’s skull in a scene reminiscent of baseball fans grasping for a home run ball. A large woman from Des Moines dove into the scrum, pushed her rivals aside and then emerged from the chaos holding the prize aloft while the audience broke into wild applause.

A popular feature of the show is that each celebrity is executed in a different manner. Puck, for example, was strangled to death with a bungee cord by former “Apprentice” star Omarosa, who made a surprise guest appearance. After four executions, it became clear that Mr. Spector had settled on “bye-bye” as his signature sendoff phrase. Throughout the show, viewers were encouraged to submit by text their favorite execution. The clear winner, with nearly 60 percent of the vote, was Florence Henderson, who was catapulted into a pool full of starving piranhas and was devoured in a matter of minutes while the “Brady Bunch” theme song was sung acapella by American Idol winner Adam Lambert.

Mr. Breen emerged as the winner and was rewarded with his very own execution, which was administered by the studio audience, who stomped him to death and chanted “bye-bye” while Phil Spector and his cellmate sung “God Bless America.” The spectacular beat down was immediately posted on YouTube, where it has already received more than 600 million hits.