Piloted by Bravo, NBC, and TBS in 2005, 2009, and 2012, the show eventually premiered on September 14, 2024, on CNN and aired around the time of the 2024 United States elections.

Two pairs captained by Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black answer news-based trivia questions on current events happening the week prior to an episode's broadcast.

The show received mixed reception but improved the network's ratings for its slot and was recommissioned for a second series, which began airing on February 15, 2025.

[4] The program has a reputation for acerbity, twice replacing guests who cancelled with inanimate objects,[1] and was once sued for describing a sitting Member of Parliament as a "conniving little shit".

[5] Deayton resigned in 2002 amid claims that he had taken cocaine and slept with prostitutes[6] and the show now uses guest hosts, including Jo Brand, Jeremy Clarkson, Boris Johnson, Brian Blessed, William Shatner,[2] and Gary Neville, who was grilled by Hislop on his appearance.

[8] In a September 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, Mulville stated that previous networks had declined the show as they wanted it to be more pop-culture and celebrity-based.

[1] In early 2024, Mulville approached Thompson,[9] who the previous autumn[6] had become the director general of CNN, about making a version of the show for his network.

";[22] its next eight episodes featured among others Andy Richter, Mark McKinnon, Ana Navarro, Larry Wilmore, Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Scaramucci, Bomani Jones, and Tim Burchett,[23] while Kara Swisher also appeared that series.

[15] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph wondered "how CNN's British-born boss Mark Thompson was talked by Hat Trick co-founder Jimmy Mulville into importing the format" and considered the program less barbed than the original,[15] though described the show as "cheerfully competent" and "nowhere near the embarrassment it might have been".