Hide a 7-foot-1 basketball legend in a city of millions: ABC’s new game show bets you can’t
Shaquille O'Neal is getting his own game show, and the whole idea is that nobody should see him. In ABC's Can You Hide... Shaq?, hosted by comedian Nicole Byer, eight contestants try to keep the 7-foot-1 basketball great out of sight around Dallas for a shared prize pot. The first two episodes air in the US on 3 December.
Three things to know
- Eight contestants split into two teams of four, each racing against the clock on missions to move O'Neal around Dallas without him being spotted.
- Two episodes premiere on ABC and the ESPN app at 9pm US Eastern time on Thursday 3 December (10am AWST, 1pm AEDT, Friday 4 December), with two more on 10 December. Episodes stream on Hulu the next day.
- No Australian release has been announced.
The trick of most hide-and-seek games is to find a good spot. The trick of ABC’s newest game show is that there may not be one big enough.
Can You Hide… Shaq? puts eight contestants in charge of hiding Shaquille O’Neal, a man who stands 7 foot 1 (about 2.16 metres) and is listed at 325 pounds (about 147 kilograms), in plain sight across Dallas. Actor and comedian Nicole Byer hosts.
“I’m not exactly easy to miss,” O’Neal said when the series was announced. He added that the stakes were high, “and so is the prize.”
How does it work?
The contestants are split into two teams of four. Each team gets a mission and a time limit, and has to get O’Neal through it while being spotted as few times as possible. The team with the fewest sightings earns immunity for one member in the next round, and that player becomes captain.
Along the way, both teams add money to a shared prize pool, the “Shaq-pot”, and a single winner takes it at the end. ABC has not said how much is at stake.
The series was filmed around Dallas, including at Reunion Tower, the landmark ball on the city skyline, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It is made by Fulwell Entertainment and O’Neal’s Jersey Legends Productions with ESPN.
Why Shaq?
Because he is everywhere already. Four NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat made him one of the most recognisable athletes in the world, and three decades of advertising, film cameos, music and his long-running role as a basketball analyst have kept his face on screens since. That fame is the joke at the centre of the format: the contestants are trying to hide a man the public is primed to spot.
Can Australians watch it?
Not yet. The show streams on Hulu in the US, and neither ABC nor Disney has announced where, or whether, it will be available in Australia. Some Hulu titles have later appeared on Disney+ here, but nothing has been confirmed for this one.
What else is Shaq doing?
O’Neal, 54, still works as a basketball analyst on television. The new show puts him in a different role: the prize everyone is trying to protect, rather than the one handing out opinions.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
1992NBA debut
O'Neal is drafted first overall by the Orlando Magic.
2000 to 2002Three straight titles
O'Neal wins three NBA championships with the Lakers.
2006Fourth title
He wins a fourth championship with the Miami Heat.
2011Retirement
O'Neal retires from the NBA and moves into television.
11 November 2026Show announced
ABC unveils Can You Hide... Shaq?, hosted by Nicole Byer.
What happens next
The first two episodes air on ABC and the ESPN app on 3 December US time, with two more on 10 December, each streaming on Hulu the next day. VNN will report any Australian release when it is confirmed.
Sources
- VNN
VNN never names people who give us information in confidence. How we protect sources and tips.
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