Kristen Bell And Dax Shepard Are Going Head To Head In A New TV Show

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been one of Hollywood's most beloved and intriguing couples for years now, thanks to a number of factors, from their adorbs vibe to their frank earnestness. We love to watch their love, but it's time for things to get a bit more complicated in their relationship, at least professionally, as the husband and wife are set to host a new game show called Family Game Fight, where they will also go head to head in competition!

Though they have appeared in a few shows together in a limited capacity, Family Game Fight will be the first time that Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard will be teaming up for a TV series from the outset. Unsurprisingly, the show won't feature the couple actually trying to destroy each other in a boxing ring – at least we think – but they will indeed be sharing duties as both hosts and competitors alongside each episode's contestants. And it appears things will get pretty frantic, and even a little messy. Okay, very messy in some cases.

In each installment, Bell and Shepard will split up and be "adopted" within a family of four that will be challenged by a series of over-the-top games, with a $100,000 cash prize on the line. (Naturally, the prize money would go only to the contestants and not the hosts themselves.) It's being touted as the "biggest, craziest, funniest, wildest family game show ever," which is pretty big praise to try and live up to. Especially for a show that sounds like Double Dare on a massive sugar rush.

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The origin of Family Game Fight's concept goes back to a particularly tasty segment that Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard participated in on The Ellen Show a few years back. The couple showed up on the talk show again this morning, with Ellen DeGeneres making the big announcement that she and her producers teamed up with the actor couple to bring the new game show to life. Does that mean there will be singing and dancing involved, too? Probably.

According to Kristen Bell, game nights are also tied to the origin story behind her and Dax Shepard's relationship. Here's how she put it:

For one of our first dates, I invited Dax over for a game night at my house with a bunch of friends. He said he fell in love with me there because I was a very tiny person bossing everyone around. I fell in love with him too because he’s a very large person who could boss everyone around, but chooses not to. I’m so excited to host Family Game Fight and play all day with my best friend.

While it's not entirely clear what viewers can expect to see from Family Game Fight, it looks like it could very well feature a lot of the games that have appeared on The Ellen Show over the years. The show shared a quasi-preview clip that featured some of Bell and Shepard's appearances from past years, juxtaposed with the talk show's own signature games like Cut the Cord. However it goes, you can bet that Family Game Fight will probably feature saucy foods flung into people's faces, inflatable costumes, and jump scares. Ellen DeGeneres loves jump scares. Check out the aforementioned clip below!

It's possible Family Game Fight is being set up as a fall premiere, with the show now getting into the casting process to seek out its contestant families. Stay tuned to see when we can watch Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard battling it out against each other, and in the meantime, you can check out Shepard's appearances on The Good Place (on Netflix) and Veronica Mars (on Hulu) while waiting for Bell's new darkly comedic thriller heading to streaming.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.