Deborah Norville has been on television for decades as the host of Inside Edition. After 30 years, she’s leaving the news show and stepping into a role that’s completely new for her.

She first joined NBC in 1987 as the only solo female anchor on NBC News Sunrise. After filling in occasionally on Today, Norville was made a full-time anchor in 1989. After she went on maternity leave, she did not return to the program.

In 1991, Norville returned to TV with the primetime program, The Deborah Norville Show: From Her Home to Yours. The following year, she returned to CBS as an anchor for CBS Evening News, 48 Hours, and Deborah Norville Tonight. In 1995, Norville became the host of Inside Edition, a role she held for three decades, making her the longest-serving anchor in American television.

Also an author and lecturer, her book Thank You Power: Making the SCIENCE of Gratitude Work for YOU became a New York Times bestseller and has been published in more than a dozen languages. She is a contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and has written numerous self-help titles, children’s books, and crafting guides.

To add to her lengthy list of accomplishments, Norville will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Daytime Emmys on October 17.

Now, fans will get to see the Emmy Award-winning journalist back on their small screens when she hosts the new syndicated game show, The Perfect Line, which premieres on September 8 on CBS affiliate channels.

The Perfect Line puts a fresh, fast-paced spin on game night, where everyday knowledge, intuition, and quick thinking come together in one simple challenge: putting things in the correct order, from the number of seasons the most popular sitcoms have been on the air to the most ordered items at America’s favorite fast food restaurants.

Contestants who land their item in just the right spot split the cash for that round, with a chance to win over $15,000 across the game. Each episode features four players competing through two rounds and four total lines. The two top earners advance to “The Fast Line,” where they race the clock to rack up more money in solo play. The winner then takes on “The Finish Line,” a high-pressure finale that tasks them with matching five items to five values to complete the ultimate “Perfect Line” and take home their full bank.

TV Insider talked with Norville about why she left Inside Edition, her pivot to game shows, and how she thinks it’s the perfect time for The Perfect Line.

What ultimately led to your decision to leave Inside Edition?

A couple of things. I had been there for 30-plus years, which is way longer than most people do anything; it’s basically a lifetime and a half, if you think about it, if a lifetime is allegedly 20 years. I felt very strongly that the way we do the show, we’re in a very small studio with a green screen. I felt like this was something we could do remotely. I wanted to do the show in another location, and that wasn’t something that they were prepared to do. So, okay, fine. It’s your candy store, and that’s the way you get to choose how to run it. And I decided, Okay, fine. I felt really strongly about that. So it was time to move on.

Was that a hard decision to make?

Not really, because I had been there for so long. I felt like the show was doing so well, and you want to leave something when it’s strong. You don’t want to bail when it’s going down the tubes. You want to leave when it’s in good shape, when you feel good about the trajectory that you’re on. When you’ve worked for those people, my colleagues, as many years as I had, the last thing I wanted was to see the show not remain strong. And I felt like it was in as great shape as it could possibly be. And so it was a good time to move forward.

So, that was part of the calculus that went into it, if you will.

You’ve worked in journalism and TV for decades. What made you want to transition to game shows?

It’s one of the few things I’ve never done. I have done television frequently, and [have] been hired to do. This is my job. I was hired to be a network news anchor. I’ve done it in the morning, I’ve done it in the afternoon. I’ve done the Today Show. I’ve done local news, both as a reporter and as an anchor. I’ve done primetime cable. This was one of the few things I’d never done.

It’s funny, I had actually pitched it to Game Show Network, one of the coproducers of The Perfect Line. I had actually pitched them a different idea I had. So they knew that I was interested in doing a game show, and CBS knew that I was interested in doing more, because Inside Edition, I’ve been doing it for so long. It was, I must say, it was easy, but I was looking for new challenges. And so the two sorts of conversations came into alignment.

Pat Sajak recently left Wheel of Fortune. Would you ever consider taking over his role?

Oh, I think Ryan Seacrest is doing great. And that decision was made long before I decided to pull my anchor position from Inside Edition. 

Can you talk just a little bit about what fans can expect from The Perfect Line and what interests you about it?

What I love about it is it’s my thing for my barometer for every television program I’ve ever worked on is at the end of the 30 minutes or hour or two hours that you’ve spent with us, do you feel like your time was wasted? And if the answer is yes, then I failed. But if you feel like your time wasn’t wasted, then I didn’t fail. But even better, if you feel like not only was your time not wasted, but I have some takeaways that I can use in my life in a meaningful and positive way. 

So, on a news program, it might be, we did a consumer story, and we shared information that will help you keep your family safe or protect your finances. On The Perfect Line, what you will come away with is not only did I not waste my time, but I’ve got some great little tidbits that I can share with my friends when I’m having coffee at the dinner table with my family, and they’ll listen to what I have to say on the go. 

Here’s a good example. So we’re talking about cosmetics, and popular cosmetic products, and we get around to mascara. Did you know that mascara was created when a guy in Chicago saw his sister mixing petroleum jelly and coal dust and putting it on the ends of her eyelashes to accentuate her eyes? He thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool. She does look better.’ And he invented a material like that, and created a company, and he named the company after his sister. And you know what her name was? Her name was Mabel, and that’s how Maybelline was invented, and that’s a great little story.

It’s not going to change the world, but the next time you’re in the drugstore and you’re in the mascara aisle, I guarantee you’re going to think of that story, and you’re going to think of Mabel, and you will know that because you saw it on The Perfect Line. That’s the kind of information that we share. 

The other thing is, the game is fun and the game is accessible. There’s some game shows that are very challenging, and you sit there and you go, ‘I’ve never even heard of the country they’re talking about, much less the capital city.’ And at a certain point, I think, if you’re a viewer and you’re constantly left to feel inadequate, ‘I don’t know that. I don’t know that either,’ you’re gonna get frustrated, you’re gonna turn away. But if you watch The Perfect Line, you might not know it, but if you’re playing along with the game, you can probably figure out where to put it, because it’s all about putting things in the logical order, the proper order, whether it’s from least to most, or from east to west, or higher to lower, whatever the metric is, if you put it in the right spot, you get the points. If you get enough points on you get enough points, you get to move on and play for the money you’ve built up. So it’s a more accessible game than some of the ones that are out there, but it’s the kind of game that you can play with your family. You’re not going to be embarrassed. There’s nothing that’s not age-appropriate. So I think it ticks a lot of boxes for people who, especially in these times, just want to be able to turn on the TV and not feel overwhelmed. And The Perfect Line is a show that is perfect for that right now. 

On The Perfect Line, you see people winning money, whether for bills that they need or to buy a car or anything. What is that feeling like to see somebody win that money for what they need it for?

Well, everybody’s thrilled to win the money. Some people are thrilled to win the money because they could go on a trip that they have always longed to do, but there was one contestant who won the money and is now able to purchase a piece of medical equipment for her special needs child. And the amount that she won, she said, was exactly the amount they had been told this piece of equipment would cost. And it turns out that her being able to be on the show the day she was scheduled to appear was completely random. She was coming through town with her husband, who was on business, and it happened that the day they were going to be coming through where the studio is in Atlanta, was the day they were going to be coming through Atlanta. And, like, it’s hard not to see some sort of karmic plan behind all of that. So when you have a win like that, I think I even whispered to her. I said, ‘That’s why we’re here.’ She said, ‘Oh, my God, I can get whatever the thing was for my son.’ And I was just like, ‘and that’s why we’re here.’ You know, my job is to just give away other people’s money to people who are happy to have it, and some people who are really in need of it. That’s pretty cool. 

Would you say that filming the game show was more intense than your other jobs?

Absolutely. I mean, today we’re doing six shows. Yesterday, we did seven shows.

So, I’ve had a couple of days when I’ve had a couple of 14-hour days. That’s the exception, not the norm.

The days are intense. It’s shoot a 30-minute show, change clothes, rinse, and repeat. Shoot a 30-minute show, change clothes, rinse, and repeat.

You went to the University of Georgia to start your journalism career, and now The Perfect Line is filming in Georgia. Do you feel like that’s a full-circle moment?

It’s so great to be shooting this show in Georgia for a number of reasons. Yes, this is where I started my career, and I’ve actually met a few contestants who have worked at the television station in Atlanta where I started my career.

What I’m most proud of is we have a half a dozen production coordinators, audience handlers, production assistants, who are working as paid employees on this broadcast and another game show that was shot here before that, who are students at the University of Georgia, Grady College of Journalism, my alma mater, when I heard they were going to be shooting in Georgia, I said, ‘You’re going to need runners and people like that. And I know exactly where you can find some phenomenally talented people who understand the business.’ And I put the folks who are in charge of the hiring here on the show with the dean of my journalism school at Georgia. And the two got together, and we’ve got six kids who are on salary, earning money, getting professional credit, making amazing contacts.

I have heard about several of them that the professionals who are working here have said, ‘Dang, do they really have to go back and finish their degree? I want to hire them now because they’re doing such great work.’ And then we have another student who is getting a stipend and working as an intern and getting college credit for his work. 

So somebody gave me a chance way back when, and I am thrilled to be in the position to give this opportunity to so many talented students at my alma mater. 

Aside from filming The Perfect Line, what does life look for you?

Well, Monday through Friday is The Perfect Line. I don’t have time for anything else. Occasionally, I get a meal. *laughs*

When the game show is finished shooting, we’ll have a couple of weeks, and then the show will launch. So we’ll get to do more of what I’m doing right now, talking to lovely people in the media about the game, and hoping that people find it on their TVs and discover it and love it and tell their friends and watch it. And got some other things cooking, but nothing to announce, so I’ll be on TV doing The Perfect Line.

Is there anything else you want to add about the game show?

I actually do think it’s the perfect time for The Perfect Line. It’s a good buzz line, but I think it’s just a legit sentence. We live in a time where, too often, when you turn on the television, there is something being presented to you that raises your blood pressure. I think at this stage of my career, it’s rather nice to be a part of something that is different, that makes you happy, that makes you feel a little more confident, maybe gives you a fun fact or two you can amaze your friends with. And while that’s maybe not as momentous as explaining why the war in Ukraine continues, it might actually have more benefit to the people watching at this moment in our world’s time, our world’s history.

The Perfect Line, premieres Monday, September 8, check local listings