Netflix is finally confirming what die-hard fans of an early-aughts reality-TV cult classic have been buzzing about for more than a year: The Mole is getting a reboot. The streaming giant today said a “reimagined version†of the ABC series will bow on the service sometime this fall, more than 14 years after the final season of the series aired on ABC in 2008.
In case you didn’t watch the original or haven’t seen the past seasons, which have been quietly streaming on Netflix since last summer, The Mole is a competitive reality show in which a group of players joins forces to complete various challenges while also trying to ferret out the identity of a saboteur — a.k.a. “the Mole†— who has been hired by the producers to prevent the team from succeeding in their missions. A pre-CNN Anderson Cooper hosted the first two editions of the series, with Ahmad Rashad taking over when the show switched to a celebrity format for seasons three and four. After a four-year hiatus, ABC tried to bring The Mole back in 2008, but disappointing ratings prevented future seasons from happening.
In true Mole fashion, the revival of the series has been somewhat shrouded in mystery. A little over a year ago, game-show news website BuzzerBlog reported that casting notices had gone out for a reality project called The Insider which sounded a lot like The Mole, and soon after, Reality Blurred picked up even more clues hinting at the reboot. Netflix then started adding classic seasons of the show, starting with the first two civilian seasons and currently streaming the two celebrity editions. Based on a series description from Netflix, the reboot seems very much like the original, with a dozen players — including the Mole — set to compete. The one big mystery left surrounded the new version: The host. Netflix isn’t ready yet to announce who will be filling the role, though a person close to the show confirms to Vulture that, alas, the CNN anchor will not be reprising the role.