It's been announced that as a way of celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Robert L. Ripley's founding of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, the Travel Channel has invited EVIL DEAD alum Bruce Campbell to host a reboot of the legendary series. According to reports, Campbell will also executive produce the show in addition to hosting 10 one-hour episodes of the series “that will showcase the most astonishing, real and one-of-a-kind stories.” The series, which is currently in production, will be shot on location at the renowned Ripley Warehouse in Orlando, Florida, and will share outrageous stories, oddities, and artifacts from all over the world.
“Travel Channel fans have an insatiable curiosity about the world and sharing this wonderful and weird series with the next generation of fans is a thrill,” said Jane Latman, general manager of the Travel Channel. “This entirely new version of Ripley’s is a fresh contemporary approach to the odd and unusual and will be jam-packed with larger-than-life characters, cool facts, history and science.”
“Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has a long history of television shows, dating back to the first one hosted by Robert Ripley himself in 1949,” said Norm Deska, executive vice president of intellectual property, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!. “We could not be more excited to return to television in 2019 with an all-new show on the Travel Channel.”
Ripley's Believe It or Not! got its start when the quirky concept came to NBC in 1949 with Robert Ripley himself serving as host of the show. Sadly, Ripley passed away in 1949, and so the program was then hosted by a series of his friends until it was pulled off the air in 1950. ABC then revived the series in the 1980s, with legendary star of the silver screen, Jack Palance, as the primary host. TBS then stepped up to the plate in 2000 with Dean Cain orchestrating the show's bizarre findings from around the globe. Lastly, Chris Tiu hosted a Filipino version of Ripley's Believe It or Not! in 2008.
Now, with Campbell, Brad Bernstein, David Karabinas, and Ron Bowman acting as executive producers, the series that highlights some of the world's most curious people, discoveries, and talents will return for a more modern take on the freak show format. The series is scheduled to premiere in Summer 2019.
Having visited at least four different Ripley's museums in my day, I can honestly say that given the right amount of creative content, this new presentation could be a smash hit for the Travel Channel. From where I'm standing, Campbell is an inspired pick to host the program, who no doubt will inject plenty of snark and comedy into the show's more extraordinary findings.