Jaleel White is back with Season 2 of his game show Flip Side. Each episode sees the actor challenge two teams to pick what they think is the top response out of two opposite groups of people surveyed. After three rounds of play, the team with the most points moves on to the “Flip Five Bonus” for a shot at $10,000. 

The Family Matters star couldn’t be happier with the success of the show, which returns with new episodes September 9 in syndication on CBS stations. Flip Side also airs regularly on Game Show Network. Here we put White in the hot seat to talk about how his sitcom background helps him in the hosting space. 

Going into Season 2 of Flip Side, what did you take from that first season hosting? 

Jaleel White: This is the second time I’ve hosted a game show. The first time I hosted was Total Blackout in 2013. That left me with a good taste for the gig. It kind of stunk it went away because it was performing very well, but business is business. So, I kind of put it in the back of my subconscious again and thought if I got a chance to do that again I’d jump at it. Sure enough, 12  years later Flip Side came along. That was actually the genesis of me being a game show host. 

I had to build up the momentum appearing on 25 Words or Less and Pictionary. I just have a really good rapport with the contestants. That’s really the driving force behind me doing what I’m doing right now. Even as a sitcom actor, I play close attention to the studio audience. I could hear them as I was performing, knowing when to milk a moment or lay off a moment or move on quickly to the next moment. That relationship between myself and the studio audience is something I’ve held sacred. I feel like with the contestants and the studio audience we have now, I’m tapping back into that. It’s what has made this so fun. 

Does the fact the show was moved to Atlanta change the dynamic of the contestants? 

The first season we did it in LA and got a lot more people connected to LA life and may be in the business. But in Atlanta, Georgia, man you get a lot of down home Southerners. Ones that even if they lose, they’ll bring food that they cooked for you the next day. We have some really fun contestants. It’s a poll show, so it makes sense to show moves around the country a little bit. You’ll see a different dynamic from the contestants. They are from Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and all over really. 

Is there a past game host you find inspiration from or watched to see how their approach was?  

I’m one of those guys who borrows from everybody. I think my holy grail of hosts would be Bob Barker, Richard Dawson…you definitely have to throw in Steve Harvey. Who else do I draw from? He wasn’t really a game show host, but he was a smooth dude… I’ll throw in Chuck Woolery. Pat Sajak, too. I pay attention to anybody who does any job I’m doing and has done it well before me. I try to take little things from them. It’s a different skill set than acting, but it definitely falls more along the lines of an onscreen journalist because I think you get magic when you ask the right questions. 

Robin L Marshall/FilmMagic

It’s also a lot of improv and building off responses. 

Exactly. 

There are many actors who have gotten into this game show space. Game shows in general continue to thrive. 

Linear TV will always be here, but it’s becoming more like radio in finding its footing. Streaming has come along and redefined what it is to watch television. It’s because of social media, all of the media is changing. The reality is that sitcoms are really no longer. It exists as a medium, but it isn’t this medium anymore that brings people together anymore like before. My daughter is watching what she watches on the phone while my wife watches another thing on a screen in the living room. I’m also watching something on the tablet with AirPods on. That’s how content is being consumed right now. I just feel like it’s just evolution and why I feel so fortunate to be in the job. There was a relationship I’ve had with the studio audience that has been lost. I had that with sitcoms and getting it back with hosting a game show. 

I think we’re seeing this popularity of watching old sitcoms like yours. It’s like comfort food. 

I still believe people like to come home to watch programming that puts their mind at ease and lets them relax. I firmly believe that. 

Flip Side is ranked number four among game shows in syndication behind Jeopardy!, Family Feud, and Wheel of Fortune. All established game show institutions. What does that mean to you? What do you see for the show’s future? 

Obviously, there are so many things you can do with the show. You could do a celebrity version. Maybe you can do a junior version. I don’t know. There is talk behind the scenes of doing all those types of things. I try to keep the main thing the main thing, and that is really relating to the audience. We have better questions this season, and were able to get a lot of support in that area. I think the show is only as good as the contestants and the questions and how they make them. When you’re doing damn near 200 episodes, that’s a grind. That’s a grind, but on any given day, we can go on a string of three or four or five winners, and those days are so special. They don’t air all in a row like that, but it’s special. The possibilities are endless in the hosting lane, game hosting lane. A, because I love it. People are responding to it. B, because I think there is a lot more room for innovation. People are so used to what they’ve been given. I’m happy to be in that Top 4. Now let’s crack that Top three. 

Flip Side Season 2 Premiere, September 8, Syndication (Check Local Listings)