Let the games begin! ABC’s ‘The Hustler’ and ‘The Chase’ kick off tonight

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(LOS ANGELES) — ABC debuts two new quiz shows tonight: The heart-racing quiz show The Chase, and the Clue-meets-Who Wants to be a Millionaire competition, The Hustler.

The Hustler, a murder-mystery type game show is hosted by Craig Ferguson, who explained the game to ABC Audio:

“Five people. One of them is the hustler, and nobody knows who that is except the hustler themselves.  I don’t know.  And through a series of questions and rounds, they try and figure out who the Hustler is.  A couple of the contestants are whittled down if the hustler can conceal their identity all the way to the end they win a lot of money. And if the other two remaining contestants can figure out who the hustler is, they split the money.”

Ferguson even gets to play the game himself, although he admits he’s not very good at it.

“Any betting that was going on backstage, which was not happening — it was totally happening — I never got it right.”

The Chase, hosted by The View’s Sara Haines, features Jeopardy! super champs Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer as “chasers,” testing their trivia knowledge against contestants who are trying to win cash. If the chasers win, the contestant goes home empty-handed.

Jennings tells ABC Audio he and Holzhauer take a completely different approach to the game.

“I genuinely feel bad and James just shakes his head at my naiveté because he he’s out there to win.”

“I believe in meritocracy,” explains Holzhauer.  “These contestants are being given the opportunity of a lifetime…it’s hard to feel bad for people who have this great shot and they blew it.”  

The Chase premieres 9:00 p.m. ET, followed by The Hustler at 10 p.m. ET. 

By George CostantinoCopyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.