National Bingo Night - Bingo Comes to ABC

Bingo is coming to network television. But this isn’t the type of bingo played by little old ladies at the local VFW. No, this is National Bingo Night on ABC, and it will feature speeding bingo balls, a sophisticated set, and the opportunity for the home audience to play along with the game.

Hosted by Ed Sanders of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the show will debut at 9 pm Eastern on Friday, May 18th, following the season finale of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Each show will feature three fast-paced games of bingo, and contestants will be asked to pit their luck against that of the studio audience for a chance to win cash, trips, and prizes. Balls numbered 1 through 75 will be drawn from a giant two-and-a-half story sphere.

In each game, home viewers can also print their own bingo cards from ABC.com and play along. Players who get a bingo can log on to win prizes. Now you can play bingo without ever having to leave your home.

The real question is whether or not bingo can be turned into a show that will actually hold the interest of the viewing public. Of course, the wildly popular Deal or No Deal is basically someone picking stuff at random, so I guess anything is possible. If they can succeed in making the game popular, little old ladies around the world will suddenly find themselves considered cool.

National Bingo Night - Bingo Comes to ABC