The Mole is returning to ABC for the first time in four years. The
network has placed a 10-episode order to Stone & Co. Entertainment
(Tim Gunn's Guide to Style), and casting and pre-production are
already underway, with shooting scheduled to start this spring for a
run this summer.

An ABC executive said the network planned on reviving the reality
competition series even before the writers' strike. The first two
editions of The Mole, which aired in 2001 and 2002, earned ABC's top
ratings among adults 18-34 for both years. ABC also ran two seasons
of Celebrity Mole in 2003 and 2004.

The resurrected show will return to the original format, without
celebrities, though there will be small tweaks. ''We simplified it to
where the people at home can play along,'' said Stone & Co. principal
Scott Stone. ''And the quiz will be much shorter than in the past.''
No host has been chosen yet. Anderson Cooper hosted the first two
editions, and Ahmad Rashad hosted the celebrity versions.

Original - The Mole is a reality television game show. Mensa hailed
it as "the smartest show on television." The show was originally
created in 1999 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT in Flanders,
Belgium, and won the Golden Rose of Montreux in 2000. It was invented
by Michiel Devlieger, Bart de Pauw, Tom Lenaerts and others. The
format was later licensed in 40 countries.

Players in The Mole must work together to complete various physical
and mental challenges to build up a significant cash prize for the
winner. One of them, however, is "the Mole," a double agent hired by
the producers to sabotage the efforts of the group. The Mole must be
careful to avoid drawing suspicion. Using journals, players must
track vast amounts of minutiae about the person(s) they suspect of
being the Mole, such as seating positions, clothing colors, minor
discussion topics, and so on. The quiz at the end of each episode
tests players' knowledge of the Mole, and determines by lowest score
(or slowest time, in the event of a tie) who is eliminated from the
game.

Challenges

Like other reality shows, The Mole featured challenges in which the
players received money that was added to a group pot only one would
win. But unlike the other challenges in other reality shows, The
Mole's challenges offered ways to disrupt the game, and ways of
hiding it. Here are some examples of The Mole challenges over the
series.

Hostage Rescue - The producers would abduct a player at night, then
hold them hostage. The remaining players must free the hostage in a
certain amount of time. The hostage's whereabouts were generally
unknown, and they were usually located in another city a few minutes
away in a castle or prison. The remaining players would have been
split up, traditionally in separate types of vehicles, and each group
would have a key to unlock the door to get to the hostage. (USA -
Season 1, UK - Season 1, NL - Season 3, Australia - all seasons)
Plane Jump - Usually the introductory challenge in opening seasons,
as it sounds, each player must jump from an airplane to win the
money. If any player refuses, the prize money is forfeited. The
fourth season of The Mole in Australia reused the challenge, with the
additional task of memorizing number combinations prior to each jump,
and having an additional pair attempt to predict who would or
wouldn't jump. (USA - Season 1, Australia - Season 1 and 4, UK -
Season 1)

The Library Game - Players must find books that hold tickets to get
onto a slow moving horse drawn carriage that is moving through town.
Each player must find a ticket and get on the carriage before it
stops off at its final location, the library. (USA - Season 1, BEL -
Season 2, NL Season 2)

Ethics Test - The players would be confronted during a rest stop to
help an old lady with a chore. If they helped the old lady, they
would get money. Then, two attractive women would ask for the same
favor a little later. If they helped both the old lady and the
younger women, they would gain money. Conversely, if they only helped
the attractive women, they would lose money. If they helped neither,
no money would be lost or gained. (USA - Season 2)

GPS Game - In variations of the game, contestants must use a Global
Positioning System unit, and simply utilize it to find a final
destination. The UK version had the Mole sabotage the other
contestants units, and in the US version, the contestants had two
options at the final destination: add the prize money to the pot or
examine the Mole's dossier. (USA - Season 2, UK - Season 1, BEL -
Season 1)

Riddle Challenge - Logic puzzles have been used extensively across
all editions of The Mole, in several variations, usually splitting
the players in teams.

VARIATION ONE: The contestants are split into two groups and taken on
a tour, the first group would be led to a room, where they must
answer a series of riddles to earn money. They would then be led to
another room, and locked inside while the other team tries to solve
the same riddles, the only difference being that for each riddle the
second team answers, money is removed from the pot. The first team
must choose a team member to try and stop the other team from solving
the riddles. (USA - Season 1, BEL - Season 2, NL - Season 2)
VARIATION TWO: The contestants are split into two groups solving the
same set of riddles. Both teams must complete their set of riddles
within a time limit, and any incorrect answers will be added on both
teams final times. (UK - Season 1, Australia - Season 1, BEL - Season
1)

Language Barrier Challenge - A common theme in The Mole, since
players are taken overseas frequently. They are deposited in a town
where they do not speak the language, and must find a way to
communicate with the locals to gather information needed for the
challenge. For example, in one challenge, they are given two watches.
One of the watches is priceless, while the other is a worthless fake.
They must choose a watch to destroy by taking them to local
watchmakers to get them appraised. After a set period of time, they
must return to the firing range, where a marksman will fire a bullet
through one of the watches. If the replica is destroyed, they win
money, but if the real watch is destroyed, they must pay for it with
money from the pot. (USA - Cartier Test, Laundry Game: Season 1, USA -
Pizza Test: Season 2)

Three Questions - The "Three Questions" test has become a tradition
in the US versions in the finale episode before the reunion because
only three people are left, the exact number of people required for
this challenge. Before the challenge begins, players fill out
identical surveys where each question has two different answers in
which one has to be circled based on personal opinion. Later, the
host leads one person to hide somewhere and the other two have to
find them based on the answers of three random questions from the
survey. Because no routes overlap each other, each of the three
questions have to be answered correctly in order to win money. This
repeats with the other participants. This was considered to be one of
the most notorious games on the show. (USA - Season 1, 2, 3,
Australia - Season 2)

Deaf, Dumb, Blind (or Deaf, Mute, Blind, etc.) - One player will be
blind and must navigate his or her way with the assistance of two
other teams. In the standard variation of the challenge, the deaf
team will be able to speak to the blind player, but will hear nothing
from the other two teams. Instead, the mute team must pantomime
directions to the deaf team via a camera. The mute team will be able
to see what the blind player cannot also through a camera.
The Blueberry Game - A cake will be presented to the players during
dinner. All but one piece will have a blueberry topping. The person
who eats the slice of cake without the blueberry will be visited in
the night by the host, and offered an exemption. Depending on the
number of people sharing the room, they must convince an equal number
of players to break the rules and visit them during the night. This
game tends to hurt people emotionally, as those being tricked are
sometimes very trustful of their deceivers.