Neil Patrick Harris on the ‘Is It Cake?’ Vibes of His New Netflix Game Show ‘What’s In the Box?’

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This holiday season, Neil Patrick Harris is taking White Elephant to mammoth levels.

You’ll never guess the premise and prize location(s) for Netflix’s new, wholly original game show, What’s In the Box?hosted by Harris, a self-described game nut.

OK, so you just did.

But if the sheer scope of the set doesn’t get you, the first prize reveal probably will. (Stick around until the massive box has been raised all-the-way.) The gold coloration of the entire presentation is a very purposeful choice.

What’s In the Box? has some obvious Is It Cake? vibes, just with less eggs, flour, butter and sugar. Both are Netflix competition shows with questions as titles, and their contestants stick around for an entire season. Most purposefully, both shows were created with the same goal in mind: family co-viewing.

Is It Cake? has already reached legendary status on millions of living room sofas; What’s In the Box? should be so lucky. And perhaps it will be. An added wrinkle to What’s In the Box?Harris’ favorite one, is that a pair winning a prize doesn’t mean they go home with it — no, the game is just getting started. Much like this Christmas, be careful what you unwrap early at the family Yankee Swap, because if it’s good (usually, a gift card), everyone and your mother is coming for it.

What’s In the Box? is not Harris’ first foray with Netflix. He starred as Count Olaf in the excellent A Series of Unfortunate Events and led the one-and-done Darren Star comedy Uncoupled. Both series come up in the conversation with The Hollywood Reporter below, which includes Harris’ best guess as to what went south with the plan for Uncoupled season two to air on Showtime.

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Not too long ago, game shows needed to wow with serious prize money — usually $1 million — whereas the “bigness” of What’s In the Box? is more about the physical size of the boxes and what they could hold. Was that the pitch?

Life-changing prizes — whether they be of enormous value financially or of a singular experience or a multitude of things that make your life easier — we were just trying to make 12 boxes that eight teams of two would be really interested in coveting. I can’t speak to the team’s budget who created all of the prizes, but we wanted all of them, for sure, to be impressive.

Because part of the mechanics of the game is collecting as many of the prizes as you can, it’s not just winning the prize, it’s keeping the prize. I found the most compelling piece of the gameplay to be watching people who work really hard [win] the box and then be thrilled, then feel ownership in the box, even though it’s only box two out of 12. And odds are, you may not keep that box. Those people who then got their box taken away were really, authentically upset, hurt and angry and vindictive about it. I found that compelling.

You describe yourself as a game night nut, so hosting seems like a natural extension. Why this one?

I was interested for a handful of reasons. One is that I love that it’s original IP — it’s not based on a show that has existed elsewhere where we’re just doing the US version. As we did game testing in rooms, and we tried alternate endings, different verbiage — I found that fun. And I think where we landed is really strong. I love the binge-ability, because there’s no commercial breaks. As a host, I’m not having to constantly reintroduce gameplay. And since the teams stay all season long for six episodes, you’re really starting to have weird kinship — or watching how people are reacting and engaging with each other on the long term. That makes it a singular experience, which I think Netflix is ​​really quite good at.

It checks a lot of boxes. In my career, I’ve tried to be as diverse in my demographic appeal as I can. For everyone Gone GirlI try to do a The Smurfs. So when you’re looking at What’s In the Box?it really is a show that anyone can watch — especially together during the holidays.

It has a little bit of Is It Cake? in it for sure.

I think creating content that is authentically compelling to more than one demographic is the key. Kids don’t need to just watch kids shows. There’s so much content aimed directly at adults that kids really shouldn’t be watching. When you can find that sweet spot in the middle, it allows more opportunity for people to watch things together. We live in a world now where everyone is consuming a lot of information independently throughout the day on short-form, swipe-able videos — so everyone has their own algorithm. As a society and as human beings, we are anxious and excited to gather with more than your iPhone and watch something together. It can be something to all actively enjoy — but you’re also speaking to someone who played Count Olaf in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Eventswhich I was very, very proud of because it was a four-quadrant show that didn’t pander to children and was very watchable for adults. I think there’s room for that, and this is a good example of what that could be.

I love that show. You were Emmy nominated but didn’t win. You should have.

Kept losing to Sesame Street!

My oldest daughter is now almost 9 and I can’t wait to watch it with her.

Now that I’m thinking about it and having this conversation, what I still love about A Series of Unfortunate Events is that people can find out about it now and watch all of it and love it. Bobby Cannavale’s sons are watching A Series of Unfortunate Events and they’re asking me all these Count Olaf questions. (Harris and Cannavale currently co-star in Arta limited-run play.)

But I filmed that ages ago, and what I think is cool about streaming is that it doesn’t disappear. So you can watch What’s In the Box? when it comes out on Dec. 17, or you can watch it in January when you hear that it’s this thing you’ve got to watch, and then all of a sudden it’s fresh for you.

I’m sure this isn’t lost on you that we’re eight days from Christmas and this is a big White Elephant game, basically.

The timing was very intentional. I knew from the very beginning that they wanted to release this before the holidays, and not have it be a purely holiday-specific show, like a Christmas game show. But we’re leaning into all of what you said — White Elephant — because everyone loves playing it. And even more basic, people just need to know what’s inside the boxes.

I want to veer to something I’ve wondered: How directly responsible was Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) to you landing How I Met Your Mother (2005)? It was sort of your big Hollywood comeback and they happened one right after the other.

I don’t think they were directly related. Harold and Kumar was very fortuitous in a really fun way. It took the piss out of my past in a way I think people assumed I felt, even though I didn’t. That was an interesting construct. If anything, the fact that I had done theater helped me How I Met Your Mother audition. I was a little fearless, a little more physical. I was doing dive roles and not caring as much. It was a bit of a bravado audition. The fact that[the[theHow I Met Your Mother creators]had seen Harold and Kumar probably helped in a, “Oh, he can probably match a sense of humor”-level.

We spoke about A Series of Unfortunate Eventsbut not that other Netflix show you’re known for, Uncoupled. It was canceled by Netflix after one season and then saved by Showtime for season two, but it never happened. What changed?

I don’t really know. I was surprised by it all because we were far along. They had written all the scripts for season two, which I’d read. They had been in the casting process — we were right in the middle of figuring out who should be this or that boyfriend.. what about this person? Offers were out, and then, all of a sudden, it just didn’t happen.

We live in a world where a lot of people’s jobs shift in position, and what one group or team or person is championing to be the mast on this boat, there’s suddenly a new captain of the boat and they want their own IP to be their thing. I don’t know if that’s the case. I’m not speaking cryptically, I honestly don’t really know.[[Note: Chris McCarthy took over Showtime in 2023, replacing the team of Gary Levine and Jana Winograde. McCarthy has since been let go as David Ellison’s regime took over Paramount.]

I also know that Darren Star wound up with an overall deal during that same time with another big parent company and I don’t know if that played into it.[[Note: Star’s overall deal moved from Paramount to Universal in 2024.]

But I was bummed. I think Uncoupled season two would have been a lot of fun to do and would have had a different tone. Season one was a lot of breakup heartache and trying to find yourself and right a listed ship. I don’t know why I’m doing all these pirate metaphors, but season two was going to be a bit more positive. I will say I was a little surprised — since it was so close to going — that it didn’t end up shifting elsewhere.

Back to What’s In the Box? Remember when we had, like, game show hosts? It’s all actors now, and I’ll include Steve Harvey in that even though he’s more of a comic.

You’re right. I grew up as a fan of Richard Dawson and Peter Tomarken and the old-school Bob Barkers. There’s a skill set that’s intrinsic with that. You’re almost a narrator — you have to have a good voice, a good presence. But most importantly, you have to appreciate the gameplay. I don’t know that an actor or comic would be any better suited. I guess with the celebrity comes an easier sell to an audience, but I think that’s very different from being a good game show facilitator. I’m innately that guy at game night parties — even ones I don’t host myself — where people will say, “How do you play this? Neil!” I’ll say, “Oh, yeah, Running Charades. This is how it works.” It’s not something I brag about, it’s just something I love.

I’ve always enjoyed escape rooms and explaining how things work in a succinct and fun way. So I think one of the things that was good kismet and alchemy with What’s In the Box? — especially with Wes (Kauble), our executive producer, who I worked mostly with — is that he appreciated that I liked machinations and the structures of how the game itself worked. He didn’t have to do too much handholding with [giving directions]. That’s my sweet spot, that’s my happy place.

Did you have a favorite game show growing up? Mine was Press Your Luck.

Press Your Luck was super great. I was thinking there was one — Sale of th e Century (1969), where you played trivia questions and whoever got the most right, you win money, and then you get to go on a shopping spree. There were all of these prizes, and you just got to pick prizes that you won.

Back in the day when Wheel of Fortune had rooms filled with prizes — that was one of my earliest memories. It must have been late ’70s or early ’80s. And wasn’t there a game called[[You Don’t Know Jack) where there were like 20 boxes, all numbered, and you picked a box hoping it had the jackpot in it. Some of them had, Lose Your Turn boxes, and the whole set had boxes that would open and things come out of them.

That sounds familiar. I don’t know Sale of the Centurybut when you said that, Supermarket Sweep popped into my mind. That show was sort of anticlimactic in that contestants would just fill their shopping carts with frozen turkeys and diapers.

Supermarket Sweep was renegade. I loved a good The Price Is Right — Plinko and the Big Wheel. There was something so cool about the mini games. I’m still a mini game guy. I’m a whore for mini games.

All classics. Well, thanks for the time Neil. One last thing: Can you come referee Uno night? The rules seem to change every time — it’s like beer pong, all house rules. Only the shifting rules only seem to benefit my kids. (Uno, not beer pong.)

Our kids are the same way with Uno.

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What’s in the Box? is now streaming on Netflix.