EXCLUSIVE: Waka waka waka! Pac-Man, is headed to reality TV. Merv Griffin Entertainment has teamed with leading game maker Namco Bandai Games America, which owns the Pac-Man brand, to develop an unscripted series based on the hugely popular video game. This marks the first major foray into TV for Pac-Man whose only previous TV presence was a short-lived animated series in the early 1980s. The project also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the best-selling game and 1980s pop culture icon.

The Pac-Man reality series is envisioned as a “big, crazy Wipeout-type event with a lot of energy,” said Merv Griffin’s president of TV Roy Bank. “The idea we have is to take what Pac-Man is and bring it to life, to bring what is essentially the world’s biggest game of tag to television.” Bank is executive producing the project, which is now being taken out to the broadcast networks, with David Russo, who brought the idea to him.