Far out! ABC's revival of the 1970s classic competition show Battle of the Network Stars has set its cast of competitors, and the list includes quite a few faces that will be familiar to daytime fans.
The series, which pits teams of celebrities from multiple eras against each other in modernized versions of past challenges like Tug of War, Kayak Relay, Dunk Tank, and Archery, boasts current soap opera stars Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans, Days of our Lives), Galen Gering (Rafe Hernandez, DAYS), Ryan Paevey (Nathan West, GH), and Josh Henderson (John Ewing, Dallas reboot).
It also stars past soap opera favorites Cameron Mathison (ex-Ryan Lavery, All My Children), Donna Mills (ex-Madeline Reeves, General Hospital; ex-Abby Ewing, Knots Landing), Shari Belafonte (ex-Janice Lomax, GH), Corbin Bleu (ex-Jeffrey King, One Life to Live), Charlene Tilton (ex-Lucy Ewing, Dallas), Lorenzo Lamas (ex-Hector Ramirez, The Bold and the Beautiful), and Vivica A. Fox (ex-Stephanie Simmons, The Young and the Restless).
(The full list of 100 celebrities that will make up 20 teams can be found here.)
ABC Sports debuted Battle of the Network Stars in 1976, and the fun mix of celebrity athleticism and hilarious antics ran for a whopping thirteen years. The new version, set on the site of the original in Malibu, California, will place TV personalities from years past against TV personalities of today, meaning viewers will have favorite competitors to root for no matter what era of television they love best.
Mike Greenberg and Joe Tessitore of ESPN will host the throwback series, while Cassidy Hubbarth and Cari Champion of ESPN will act as sideline reporters. Super Bowl 50 winner DeMarcus Ware and former UFC champion Ronda Rousey will be the team captains.
ABC's Battle of the Network Stars will run for ten weeks this summer, beginning on Thursday, June 29.
What do you think about ABC reviving Battle of the Network Stars? What do you think of the list of soap opera stars taking part in the throwback series? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
