LINGO Goes Into Production for Its Fifth Season, Marking a First for GSN, the Network for Games

Legendary Game Show Host Chuck Woolery Returns With Co-Host Shandi Finnessey at His Side

A Progressive Jackpot Will Be Added in the New Season

Winners From GSN's Online Interactive Game Will Face Off Against Champions From Previous Seasons in Four Special Episodes

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 13 -- LINGO will go into production on its fifth season next month, making it the first original series ever to be picked up for a fifth season at GSN, the network for games. Legendary host Chuck Woolery returns with co-host Shandi Finnessey by his side. The fifth season will premiere Monday, April 3 and will air Monday through Friday 7:30-8:00 PM, ET/PT.

New to this fifth season is a progressive LINGO jackpot, which is won every time a winning team gets "Lingo" on the first ball. The jackpot starts at $10,000 and grows by $1,000 each time it's not won. The new season will also feature a series of episodes in which the champions of GSN's online game face off against the best players from previous television episodes.

Host Woolery is known by audiences worldwide for such popular classics as "Love Connection" and "Greed," both of which air on GSN, in addition to "Scrabble" and the first seven years of "Wheel of Fortune." Co-host Shandi Finnessey (Miss USA 2004), originally from St. Louis, has a degree in psychology and has written a children's book, The Furrtails, as part of her goal to integrate developmentally challenged children into regular classrooms. She is also currently at work on her second book, Suzanna the Banana.

During the first two rounds of LINGO, two teams of two contestants compete to see who can guess the most mystery five-letter words. When a team guesses a word correctly, they earn points toward the right to blindly select two numbered balls out of the 24 balls whose numbers match those on the team's bingo-style Lingo board.

When the team succeeds in getting five numbers in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), they achieve "Lingo" and win additional points. The goal of the game during the first two rounds is to earn points -- the higher-scoring team moves onto the final round where they attempt to correctly identify as many words as they can in two minutes. They earn $100 and the right to pick one Lingo ball for each word they guess correctly. If the team achieves Lingo, they win $5,000. If they achieve Lingo with their first ball pulled, they win $10,000 and the progressive jackpot, if applicable.

LINGO is produced by Laurelwood Entertainment. Phil Gurin ("The Weakest Link") and Marc Jansen serve as executive producers.

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries, alternative sports programs and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features over 100 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via GSN.com. Reaching 58 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.

Laurelwood Entertainment is a full service production company with credits, including reality, game, variety, holiday specials, magazine shows and documentaries. Owner Phil Gurin recently produced a New Year's Eve special hosted by Regis Philbin and he is in his fourth year as executive producer of the high-profile "Miss Universe," "Miss USA" and "Miss Teen USA" pageants for Donald Trump and NBC. He also produced NBC's "Weakest Link," "Twenty One" and the "United States Olympic Hall of Fame 2006" special. Gurin's credits also include "Test the Nation" reality specials, a new version of the classic reality show "Queen for a Day" and Lifetime's 5th Anniversary Special.

-GSN-

SOURCE GSN
Web Site: http://www.gsn.com http://corp.gsn.com