Get ready to match the stars!

As much as I loathe Ricki Lake, this sounds like a lot of fun: "Game Show Marathon," which has been picked up by CBS. A regular core of celebrities (Leslie Nielsen, Tim Meadows, Lance Bass, Kathy Najimy, Paige Davis and Adrienne Curry) appears each week in a recreation of a different classic game show. The first season will include "The Price is Right," "Let's Make a Deal," "Match Game," "Card Sharks," "Press Your Luck," "Beat the Clock" and "Family Feud." Ricki Lake will host each show.

The production design will strive for period authenticity -- shag carpet on the "Match Game" set, for example, and those skinny microphones that Gene Rayburn and his contemporaries used to use. For "Match Game," Betty White and George Foreman will join the six regulars. The current-era TPiR models will appear, not only on the TPiR episode, but any other episodes where products need to be pointed at lovingly or oversize playing cards need to be flipped.

I am enough of a game show geek to think this is a truly fantastic idea.

Hat tip: Mark J. at the TV Barn 2 message board.