NBC has ordered a wordle game show and put Savannah Guthrie at the center of it. The series will turn puzzle into a TV format that leans on speed, group play and a cash prize, while giving Guthrie a new role beyond Today.
Guthrie and Jimmy Fallon announced the greenlight during Monday’s broadcast of Today. says the show will premiere sometime in 2027, and production is set to begin later this year.
Guthrie’s next NBC assignment
2012 is the year Guthrie began serving as an anchor on Today, which makes this a notable move inside NBC’s own ecosystem rather than a borrowed celebrity casting stunt. She returned to the morning show on April 6 after a hiatus in early February tied to the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, and the subsequent FBI investigation.
That personal timeline gives the network’s announcement extra weight: NBC is placing a familiar on-air presence in front of a format built to reach beyond game-show regulars. Guthrie is also an avid Wordle player herself, so the host choice is not just a branding play.
Jimmy Fallon’s production role
Jimmy Fallon will executive produce the adaptation, and Wes Kauble will executive produce and serve as showrunner. Universal Television Alternative Studio will produce Wordle in partnership with Electric Hot Dog and, bringing the newspaper company’s puzzle property directly into NBC’s entertainment pipeline.
Fallon said, “I feel very honored to be working with Savannah Guthrie on this show,” and added, “Savannah has that rare combination of intelligence, charm and warmth that makes everyone feel instantly welcome.” He also said, “And she obviously knows how to host a show.”
A puzzle with a built-in audience
Wordle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021 and acquired by in 2022. says the game already attracts millions of players daily, and Jonathan Knight described it as a social experience in which “People don’t just play it, they talk about it, compare results and solve together.”
That daily habit is the real reason this adaptation matters: NBC is not testing an unknown game, it is adapting a title with a built-in routine and a familiar competitive loop. Sharon Vuong called it “one of the most successful and culturally resonant games of the past decade,” and the new format will push that habit into team play, five-letter puzzles and what NBC describes as a supersized battle of smarts, speed and fun.
Castings now open
A casting call for Wordle has opened, so the show is still in the build phase even with a series order in hand. The immediate question for viewers is simple: whether NBC can make a daily puzzle feel like a televised competition without sanding off the reason millions already return to it every day.
