FOX/Tom Griscom
Fox’s new sport present, Snake Oil, takes a web page from Shark Tank however with a twist: Some of the contestants on the lookout for traders simply could also be plugging a fictional product.
Helping to separate reality from fiction is host David Spade. The Saturday Night Live veteran explains to Emmy journal, “It used to be, ‘Don’t do a game show, don’t do commercials.’ But then, one day, it was like, ‘Why are we so precious about all this?’”
He says his pal Will Arnett helped persuade him to take the gig. “He thought I might be a good host,” he explains.
“At the initial meeting, I said, ‘I don’t think I’m really good at this. I’m not Ryan Seacrest,’” Spade remembers. “They said, ‘We want an anti-game show host,’ [and] I thought … I can handle that.”
As it seems, Spade was a fan of the style, saying he cherished Match Game, Card Sharks, Wheel of Fortune and Hollywood Squares again within the day.
He explains, “Those shows were all pretty basic, but now game shows have really advanced. Snake Oil has a huge stage, and there’s a lot going on. And the audience really gets into it. I was surprised. With one crowd, we had to tell them to tone it down.”
Spade says of the brand new gig, “I get to make fun of the contestants, the crowd and the celebrity advisors. That part is fun. But I’m really the straight man trying to organize the show.”
He says most can’t inform the faux merchandise from the true McCoys.
“So many people get it wrong!” Spade says. “That’s what we’re loving,” he provides, noting, “I was wrong most of the time.”
Snake Oil airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET.
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