CBS Taps Nigel Lythgoe for 'Secret Fortune' Game Show Pilot

6:00 PM PDT 3/31/2011 by Lacey Rose

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images For BAFTA Los Angeles

In each episode, envelopes containing checks made out to show contestants will be destroyed until only one envelope remains.

Like Fox before it, CBS is banking on the talents of Nigel Lythgoe.

The network has tapped the British TV vet to executive produce a game show pilot called Secret Fortune.

The concept centers on 24 envelopes, each of which contain a check -- ranging from measly to life-altering in sum -- made out to the show's contestants. Throughout the game, 23 of those envelopes are destroyed. The project, based on a Wild Rover Productions Format, will also count Wild Rover's Phil Morrow as an executive producer.

The news comes as Lythgoe's return to American Idol has proved a major success. Despite predictions of the singing competition's demise following Simon Cowell's departure last season, the Fox show has maintained its status as the No. 1 show on TV. Lythgoe is also an executive producer and host on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance and will roll out CMT's Next Superstar later this month.

Secret Fortune is distributed internationally by DRG and sold by DRG. ICM reps Lythgoe's company, Big Red 2 Entertainment.