There’s no masking Fox’s enthusiasm about this new franchise.
On Tuesday afternoon, the network announced a new competition series, “The Masked Dancer,” as a spinoff of the popular game show “The Masked Singer.”
In the cult-favorite series, a panel of judges tries to guess the identities of celebs donning head-to-toe, elaborate costumes with face masks — such as the Flower, the Rottweiler, the Peacock, the Monster and the Poodle — as they perform famous songs.
Like “Singer,” the new show will feature celebrities in disguise, but they will perform “unique dances,” as opposed to exercising their vocal pipes, according to a Fox press release from the Winter 2020 Television Critics Association Press Tour.
Celebrity panelists trying to guess the hoofing VIPs will include “America’s Got Talent” judge Howie Mandel, “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes, “Dancing With the Stars” alum Derek Hough and regular “Masked Singer” judge Ken Jeong. The dancing contest will be produced by Emmy-winning talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who just received the Carol Burnett Award at the 2020 Golden Globes on Sunday.
No premiere date for “The Masked Dancer” was announced.
“We’re still blown away by ‘The Masked Singer’s’ massive impact on pop culture, but when Ellen debuted her own inventive segment, ‘The Masked Dancer,’ on her show, we were truly amazed,” said Rob Wade, president of alternative entertainment and specials for Fox Entertainment, in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with Ellen on this new format and take ‘The Masked Singer’ to a whole new creative level.”
“This is gonna be just as fun and suspenseful as ‘The Masked Singer,’ but with a lot more Krumping,” added DeGeneres, 61. “And I cannot wait!”
In addition, Fox announced that Oscar and Golden Globe winner Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) will be a guest judge for the Season 3 premiere of “The Masked Singer” following Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2.
The new season, again hosted by Nick Cannon, will have 18 disguised celebrities singing for the Golden Mask Trophy and will feature new costumes including the Robot, the Frog, the Banana, the Mouse, Miss Monster and the Llama. Foxx will join returning judges Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and singers Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger.
The show will make its regular 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot debut on Feb. 5.
“The Masked Singer,” which crowned comedian Wayne Brady (disguised as top-hat-wearing the Fox) in its Season 2 finale last month, has been a ratings winner for Fox. It helped push the network into first place — the first time in a decade — for the key 18 to 49 age demographic last fall.
Fox also announced that Mayim Bialik (“The Big Bang Theory”), Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Nicole Byer (“Nailed It!”) will be among the celebrity guests on “Lego Masters,” a game show premiering at 9 p.m. Feb. 5. Hosted by Will Arnett, who voiced Batman in 2014’s “The Lego Movie,” the show pits competitors against each other to build over-the-top Lego creations for a $100,000 prize. In addition, a space-themed episode will include “special guests” including BB-8, C-3PO and R2-D2, the lovable droids from the “Star Wars” franchise.