‘Supermarket Sweep’ Reboot Gets Ready for an October Run

Supermarket Sweep is having a bit of a moment. The 1990s series where contestants in hideous sweaters run up and down the aisles of a fictional supermarket when they’re not answering trivia questions about brands has become a kind of comfort-food watch for audiences now that it’s been added to Netflix. There’s also a new reboot on the way – something that was in the process even before Netflix made the old episodes available to stream. Ahead of an October premiere, Supermarket Sweep reboot teaser has arrived, along with details about the show.

EW has a video featuring a teaser for the Supermarket Sweep reboot, but since it’s trapped in their terrible video player, I’m not even going to bother to try to embed it. Just go to the link if you want to see for yourself. But on first blush, the show looks…pretty much like Supermarket Sweep. The quality of the footage is obviously better, and the “market” the contestants find themselves in looks a bit more spacious. Plus, it has a new host – Leslie Jones. But by and large, the premise appears the same: people answer trivia, and then they make a mad dash through the market looking to rack up as much money as possible.

The LA Times has a big piece about the new show, revealing that the “set was housed inside the Barker Hangar, a 35,000-square-foot aircraft hangar at Santa Monica Municipal Airport. Electrostatic sprayers were used to disinfect the grocery items, allowing for a large swath of inventory to be sanitized more quickly.”

Of course, the show is bound to seem extra surreal right now, since going to the market isn’t as easy as it used to be. “We bought [the show] probably a year ago and since the pandemic happened, it has been interesting to watch the reaction to the old episodes, particularly when they put it on Netflix,” says. Rob Mills, senior vice president of alternative series, specials and late night at ABC. “There was almost a comfort-food aspect to it. It brought you back to a time when we gathered in supermarkets. Even though we still do that, it’s in a much different way. I think that’s why this is probably the right time for the show.”

The LA Times piece also adds:

Producers say the show will pay tribute to grocery store employees, who have emerged as frontline workers of the pandemic. Nor did all that unused inventory go to waste. Ninety-five pallets of perishable and nonperishable food — each holding up to 4,600 pounds — were donated to local charities, including the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the Los Angeles Mission. The majority of meat was donated to local wildlife organizations, such as the Rancho Wildlife Foundation, while an assortment of pet food and supplies was donated to the Rescue Train, a local pet-welfare organization.

Another key difference this time around: no studio audience, something that just isn’t possible right now. And while you may be balking at a Supermarket Sweep reboot, just remember the show has a history of being rebooted. In fact, the popular version now on Netflix, with the 1980s and ’90s episodes hosted by David Ruprecht, is itself a reboot. The original version of Supermarket Sweep actually premiered in 1967.

Supermarket Sweep premieres on October 18 on ABC.

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