Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: ABC, Battle of the Network Stars, DeMarcus Ware, entertainment, HRL, john barrowman, Rhonda Rousey, television

ABC Revives 'Battle Of The Network Stars' With DeMarcus Ware And Rhonda Rousey

For anyone who watched TV from 1976 to 1989, Battle of the Network Stars surely makes you think of your favorite TV characters playing random sports against each other. For anyone under 40, the name might just get you a blank stare. But ABC is reviving the show that pitted actors from ABC, CBS and NBC in events like tug-of-war and tennis for 13 seasons — only this time, it's 100 stars from 14 networks.

The team captains, retired NFL player DeMarcus Ware and MMA Figher Ronda Rousey, will head the 10-episode summer event, which will be broadcast from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Each episode will have a theme like Sitcoms, Sex Symbols and Lawyers. ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Joe Tessitore will host, and Cassidy Hubbarth and Cari Champion will act as sideline reporters.

Here are the 20 teams (100 stars), blue and red, competing against each other in separate episodes. Some of the teams appeared in the original series and are returning, denoted with an asterisk:

• TV Sitcoms (Bronson Pinchot, Tom Arnold, Dave Coulier, AJ Michalka, Tracey Gold)
  vs. TV Kids (Joey Lawrence, Corbin Bleu, Nolan Gould, *Lisa Whelchel, *Kim Fields)
• Primetime Soaps (Ian Ziering, Josh Henderson, Gabrielle Carteris, *Donna Mills, Mischa Barton)
  vs. ABC Stars (*Olivia d'Abo, *Shari Belafonte, Michael Fishman, Jason Hervey, Anson Williams)
• Variety (Joanna Krupa, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Lachey, Gilles Marini, Jack Osbourne)
  vs. TV Sex Symbols (Keegan Allen, Traci Bingham, Rosa Blasi, Brant Daugherty, Galen Gering)
• Cops (Erik Estrada, *Larry Wilcox, Kelly Hu, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, *Lorenzo Lamas)
  vs. TV Sitcoms (*Todd Bridges, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Dave Foley, Willie Garson, Jenna von Oy)
• White House (Cornelius Smith Jr., Marlee Matlin, Joshua Malina, LaMonica Garrett, Mary McCormack)
  vs. Lawyers (Elisabeth Rohm, Corbin Bernsen, Matt McGorry, Romi Dias, Catherine Bell)
• TV Moms & Dads (Chad Lowe, *Greg Evigan, *Ted McGinley, Lesley Fera, Jackee Harry)
  vs. TV Kids (*Jimmie Walker, *Mackenzie Phillips, Jonathan Lipnicki, Krista Marie Yu, Jeremy Miller)
• Famous TV Families (Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, Beverley Mitchell, *Willie Aames, *Charlene Tilton)
  vs. Doctors (Thomas Calabro, Taye Diggs, Rachelle Lefevre, *Deidre Hall, Benjamin Hollingsworth)
• Troublemakers (Vivica A. Fox, Paul Johansson, John Barrowman, Julie Benz, Catherine Bach)
  vs. TV Lifeguards (David Chokachi, Brande Roderick, *Parker Stevenson, Nicole Eggert, Gena Lee Nolin)
• ABC Stars (*Ted Lange, Troy Gentile, *Jill Whelan, Denise Richards, Joely Fisher)
  vs. Variety (Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Adrienne Houghton, Cameron Mathison, Kelly Osbourne)
• Cops (Marisol Nichols, Roma Maffia, *Adrian Zmed, Fred Dryer, Ryan Paevey)
  vs. Sci-Fi Fantasy (*Lou Ferrigno, Vinnie Jones, Charisma Carpenter, Kevin Sorbo, Jill Wagner)

You have to appreciate that one of the teams is "Troublemakers", and they got John Barrowman to be part of it. Pretty fitting.

Battle of the Network Stars premieres June 29th at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

[Source: Deadline]

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