Self-professed trivia fanatic Tom Cavanagh on internet hosting the brand new present ‘Hey Yahoo!’
Full this phrase: “Tom Cavanagh stars in ______.”
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Ed
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The Flash
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Scrubs
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The brand new sport present Hey Yahoo! the place contestants attempt to fill-in-the-blanks and guess what America is looking for on-line.
Okay, the reply is “all the above,” however the query is — what would America say? Beginning Monday, June 12, Hey Yahoo!, with Cavanagh as host, will air weekdays at 8pm ET on the Sport Present Community. However don’t count on any supervillain reveals like his famed character on The Flash. This time, the actor is enjoying “hero” to real-life contestants as they compete for giant cash by guessing what America is looking for.
The sport options two groups of three gamers every who work collectively to guess what hundreds of thousands of persons are looking for on Yahoo Search. The contestants are given the start of a phrase like “Which state has probably the most ___ ?” or “The place is the very best place to see ___ ?,” and need to guess what Individuals had been looking for once they typed in that particular query or phrase on Yahoo. (It is Nationwide parks and Northern Lights for these enjoying alongside at house!)
The groups are given letters to assist fill-in-the-blanks, with every appropriate reply including to their financial institution. The catch? The extra hints they want, the much less cash they win. And these solutions aren’t based mostly on random surveys; that is information straight from the supply — Yahoo’s hottest and hilarious search outcomes.
So, how did the affable Ed star and father of 4 find yourself internet hosting a sport present? “I’ve been thinking about doing a trivia-based present. I’m an enormous Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy man,” he tells Yahoo Life. Cavanagh initially labored on an thought with the Sport Present Community, however he felt one thing was lacking. “We wished to construct the present like a sports activities occasion — one thing with a fourth quarter,” he explains. “When Yahoo got here on board, that gave it course. Our tag line is, ‘What’s America looking for’ and the present actually expands on that.”
Cavanagh’s early foray into competitors was something however typical. “I spent a part of my childhood in Africa with out tv or movie, so transferring to North America was neophyte metropolis — every little thing was new,” he says. When it got here to sports activities, he was stunned to seek out that, “as an alternative of raiding coconut farms and chasing snakes, you’d divide in two groups and put one thing in a web — I believed it was the best factor ever invented!” His introduction to sport exhibits got here within the type of a Kevin Bacon scene within the film Diner. “I keep in mind myself within the second, yelling out the solutions.” And when he moved to America and noticed The Worth is Proper, he realized, “Oh wait, these sport exhibits exist?”
From there, his ardour and experience bloomed. “I come from a game-loving household. I get pleasure from video games, my closest mates all like to play video games. Household sport evening is a large factor,” he says. And his abilities? “I’ll say this, amongst my group of mates, no one needs to play me in Trivial Pursuit.”
However Cavanagh’s experience comes up quick when the web is introduced into play (actually), a la Hey Yahoo! “I’m superb with digital age stuff in the case of the inventive,” referencing his directing expertise, “however, I feel I solely verify my e mail as soon as every week. It feels like an exaggeration, and it isn’t.” The truth is, as quickly as he begins asking contestants questions, he turns into an amazed viewer similar to the remainder of us. “What I do discover is how briskly the contestants get to a solution that I might not get to as a result of they’re extra well-versed within the [Yahoo] search room. And I’m like — wow!”
Add within the factor of tv, and trivia turns into that a lot tougher. “Once we don’t have a ticking clock bearing down on us, solutions generally appear comparatively easy. However when there may be the stress of successful some huge cash, and time elapsing, it turns into a thrill.”
Fortunately on Hey Yahoo!, the groups are made up of three gamers — which could be mates, household, co-workers and extra, they usually all lean on one another. “We’ve received cops vs. librarians, surfers v cooks — from all totally different components of America, or the world,” Cavanagh says. “Teamwork on this present is paramount — no one wins as a result of one participant is sweet,” the host says. “The groups completely need to depend upon each other. I really like that teamwork facet. I feel that’s joyous, and once they succeed and have a very good time collectively, it solely strengthens the bonds they arrive in with.”
As for appearing vs. internet hosting, Cavanagh mentioned he nonetheless sees this job as a job — and a supporting one at that. “I’m not enjoying myself. I play the Yahoo sport present host. I’m there to facilitate the expertise, be certain that the contestants have a very good time.” He additionally works to maintain the highlight on the groups. “That is their second. That is for them. I’m going to do a whole bunch of those, however that is their one [chance]. I would like them to do effectively, I would like them to have a contented expertise. One of many groups will lose, however I would like these three members to stroll away considering ‘that was nice, that was enjoyable, these folks handled us effectively.’”
Cavanagh’s dedication to a pleasant set stems from his time on Ed with co-star (and Trendy Household celebrity) Julie Bowen. “We all the time tried to welcome folks, whether or not they had been coming in for a half-hour or for a 12 months. I keep in mind Julie strolling as much as everybody saying, ‘Hello, I’m Julie,’” he mentioned with fun. “In fact, they might all the time say, ‘I do know who you might be,’ but it surely makes a distinction.” He tries to echo the identical sentiment on Hey Yahoo!, saying, “I feel there’s something ephemeral about that angle that interprets to the display screen.”
And his method definitely appears to be working. The actor describes the ultimate bonus spherical — which he calls “very onerous” — in an virtually magical approach. “When the crew will get on a move, when the viewers feels they’ve an actual shot, the stress builds, and everyone seems to be leaning in. After which once they do pull it off, it’s one of the satisfying issues for me as a number. They’re throughout one another, crying, screaming, leaping up and down. Now we have to log out, they usually couldn’t care much less about the truth that they’re on a sport present — it’s a real, exhilarating second.”
The present all the time ends with Yahoo’s signature “yodel,” one thing Cavanagh is kind of accustomed to. “The producers and I went on a deep dive in regards to the Yahoo yodel— it’s such an attention-grabbing story,” he mentioned whereas imitating the yodel himself. “I’d hum it to myself and everybody on set would chuckle and I’d notice I simply did it out loud. The contestants would chuckle, too. Thankfully, I discover it catchy!”
The way to watch Hey Yahoo!
Hey Yahoo! airs weekdays at 8pm on the Sport Present Community. Go to GameShowNetwork.com for extra data on the present and Cavanagh, plus the best way to grow to be a contestant on an upcoming episode.
Watch a sneak peek on the Sport Present Community
Initially printed
