ABC tried a reboot of the show in the summer of 2017 but it didn't work primarily because it didn't use very many current TV stars but instead former TV stars that participated in the original version.
But what if there was a Battle of the Network Stars with stars from current TV shows?
That is what I have done with this list of TV stars that would compete on BOTNS featuring the classic format which featured relays of swimming, kayaking, running, and bike riding as well as an obstacle course, a game of 3-on-3 football, the famous dunk tank, and the tug-of-war to determine the winner.
For this fantasy edition, I kept to the five TV broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW) and celebrities were chosen based on what type of athletic background they had or name recognition to bring in viewers.
Anyway, here is my list of the teams that would be used if Battle of the Network Stars existed in the year 2020:
ABC
Chris Carmack, Grey's Anatomy
In his second season as Dr. Atticus Lincoln on Grey's Anatomy, Carmack qualifies for the ABC team thanks to his days at Colonel Zadok Magruder High School just outside of Washington D.C. where he played football, baseball, basketball, and wrestling.
Michael Fishman, The ConnersFishman played independent baseball in Mexico and Japan in between the end of Roseanne's first run in 1997 and its revival in the spring of 2018, before the show morphed into The Conners over a year ago.
Fishman is still involved in baseball as he coaches baseball and softball clinics for under privileged youths.
Jason George, Station 19
George is an natural selection for the ABC team as he enjoys to run track and and play football, which are two sports that would be played in the BOTNS, plus is trained in stage combat and fight choreography.
Chris Harrison, The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Harrison attended Oklahoma City University on a soccer scholarship, before transiting his career into broadcasting, but still maintains an athletic spirit as he plays golf and has competed in triathlons.
Leighton Meester, Single Parents
The former Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl who now plays single mother Angie D'Amato on the second-year sitcom Single Parents could perform very well in this competition as her workout routine includes cycling and swimming and has been taking surfing lessons from her husband Adam Brody.
AJ Michalka, Schooled
While Michalka does list mountain biking as one of her hobbies, the main reason she earns a spot on the ABC team is that she did participate in an episode of the BOTNS reboot back in 2017.Cobie Smulders, Stumptown
Smulders, who now plays a private investigator on the first-year show Stumptown, would be one of the most versatile female athletes in the competition as she spent her high school days playing tennis, soccer, and swimming.
She is also a certified scuba diver, which means she would be one of the better swimmers in the swimming relay.
Ariel Winter, Modern Family
Winter has made headlines on TMZ and other celebrity gossip websites for her recent weight loss, but the reason for the actress who plays Alex Dunphy is on this team is that she has a purple belt in taekwondo which means she would be one of the most highly trained athletes in the competition.
CBS
Beth Behrs, The Neighborhood
Before moving to California with her family when she was 15 to pursue a career in acting, Behrs played soccer for nine years, even traveling up and down the East Coast to play in tournaments.
Mike Colter, Evil
Though he now plays a priest in training on the supernatural drama Evil, Colter is most well known by some for his role as Luke Cage on three different Netflix shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe(Jessica Jones, The Defenders, Luke Cage), for which he got in serious shape to play the bullet-proof hero from 2015-19.
Colter also trained with famous boxing trainer Martin Snow for his role in the Academy Award winning movie Million Dollar Baby.
Vanessa Ferlito, NCIS: New Orelans
Ferlito is known for playing tough girl roles such as Arlene in the Quentin Tarantino movie Death Proof and in her current role as Special Agent Tammy Gregorio on NCIS: New Orleans so it would be interesting to see if that translates on to BOTNS field.
Kellan Lutz, FBI: Most Wanted
Lutz is most famous for his role as Emmett Cullen in the Twlight movies, but is now currently playing Kenny Crosby on the spin-off of the hit show FBI.
Anyway, Lutz earns a spot on this team for his training in Jujitsu and Muay Thai plus performing many of his own stunts which allow to stay in great shape.
Simone Messick, All Rise
Messick would be joining her former Luke Cage colleague Colter on the CBS team as Messick, who now plays judge Lola Carmichael on the courtroom drama All Rise, was the captain of the girls' varsity basketball team at Renaissance High School in Detroit back in 1999.
Alex O'Loughlin, Hawaii Five-O
The man who brought Steve McGarrett into the 21st century(Hawaii Five-O was originally a crime drama during the 1970s in case you didn't know, O' Loughlin should be one of the stronger athletes on this show as he does many of his own stunts on the new Hawaii Five-O and has a background in kung fu and tai chi, plus likes to go rock climbing in his spare time.
Eric Christian Olsen, NCIS: Los Angeles
Olsen was an all-star player at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa and has been able to keep in shape thanks to his older brother, David Paul, who is an former Navy SEAL and acts as Eric's stunt double on NCIS: LA.
Perdita Weeks, Magnum P.I.
Weeks who plays Higgins on the new version of Magnum P.I.(Yes, Higgins is a woman on this version) would be an asset to the CBS team on the relay portion as she likes to run cross country to stay in shape while doing yoga and bodyweight training when she goes to the gym.
NBC
Freema Agyeman, New Amsterdam
The former Doctor Who companion during the David Tennant years(2006-10), Agyeman now plays Dr. Helen Sharpe on the medical drama New Amsterdam.Agyeman qualifies for this team because of her childhood hobbies which included martial arts, gymnastics, and studying dance which allowed her to perform many of the action scenes during years on Doctor Who.
Terry Crews, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Crews was an defensive end for the Western Michigan Broncos, earning all-conference honors in helping the Broncos win the 1988 Mid-American Conference Championship and was able to make it to the National Football League where he played 32 games for three different teams(Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Philadelphia Eagles) before pursuing a career in acting.
Justin Hartley, This Is Us
The man who played Green Arrow on Smallville and now plays present-day Kevin Pearson on This is Us, Hartley was a versatile athlete at Carl Sundberg High School outside of Chicago as he played basketball, baseball, and soccer, and is said to still be an avid basketball player.
Christina Hendricks, Good Girls
Okay, this choice is purely for the sake of eye candy as Hendricks has no background in sports or in musical theater and is chosen for the hope that someone would put in the water during the dunk tank portion.
Who knows, she might actually excel in the other portions of the competition.
Jane Levy, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Before transitioning into an acting career which has landed the lead role on the new musical show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Levy was an avid soccer player as she played from age five up-through college where she played one year for Division III Goucher College's varsity team after captaining her high school team at Sir Francis High School in San Anselmo, California.
Miranda Rae Mayo, Chicago Fire
Currently in her fourth season as firefighter Stella Kidd on Chicago Fire, Mayo earns a spot on this team thanks to her workout routine which includes running and cycling, which are two sports that would be included on this hypothetical BOTNS.
Jesse Lee Soffer, Chicago P.D.
In between his career where Soffer played Bobby Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel and his current role as police detective Jay Halstead on Chicago P.D., Soffer played soccer up through high school, even being named an all-star his senior year at The Gunnery in 2003.
Brian Tee, Chicago Med
Tee, who plays Dr. Ethan Choi on Chicago Med, was captain of his high school football team during his time at Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, California, which is about 20 miles outside of Los Angeles.FOX
Nick Cannon, The Masked Singer
Before beginning a stand-up career that would led him to his current hosting duties on the musical competition show The Masked Singer, Cannon was a track and field athlete when he was a student at Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, California, just outside of San Diego.
Kenneth Choi, 911
The man who plays Los Angeles fireman Howie "Chimney" Han was once a gymnast at Homewood-Flossmoor High School outside of Chicago where as a sophomore he set for highest score on the pommel horse.
Choi also ran cross-country during his time at Homewood-Flossmoor which make him an easy selection for the relay and obstacle course portions.
Matt Czurchy, The Resident
Czuchry was a former college athlete as he was captain of the tennis team at the College of Charleston.
While tennis would not be included in this fantasy edition of BOTNS, Czuchry's background in tennis would still make him one of the stronger athletes in the competition.
Finesse Mitchell, Outmatched
The former Saturday Night Live cast member was a walk-on football player at the University of Miami, playing alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson amongst others, before going into comedy which would lead him to his current role as Jason Biggs' best friend on the new comedy Outmatched.
Serayah, EmpireSerayah played for the Taft County High School girls' basketball team as recently as 2013 which means there shouldn't be too much if any drop off from her athleticism.
Bex Taylor-Klaus, Deputy
Taylor-Klaus played third base and catcher on high school's varsity softball team before setting on acting which has led her to her role as deputy Brianna Bishop on the modern-day western Deputy.
Liv Tyler, 911: Lone Star
Tyler might be the biggest star on this fantasy edition of Battle of the Network Stars with her nearly 25-year acting career which have included roles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Incredible Hulk movie to go along with being the daughter of former Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
But Tyler could be a very strong competitor as fitness is very important as she has trained with Mary Helen Bowers, a ballerina who helped train Natalie Portman for her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan and David Kirsch, a famous celebrity trainer who has helped Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum stay in shape.
Krista Marie Yu, Last Man Standing
Yu, who plays foreign exchange student Jen on the Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing, spent most of her childhood taking ballet lessons and figure skating, trying to be the next Kristi Yamgouchi.
While skating and ballet would not be any of the sports used in this fantasy BOTNS, the skating and ballet lessons should pay off for Yu for the obstacle course portion.
CW
Jensen Ackles, Supernatural
Before becoming an actor, Ackles was a sports junkie as he played on the baseball and lacrosse teams at LV Berkner High School just outside of Dallas, Texas and is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan as well as a fan of basketball.
Melissa Benoist, Supergirl
To get in shape to play the Girl of Steel, Benoist works out 3-6 days a week doing yoga, Pilates, boxing, and running as well as riding a bike.
Plus, Benoist has a background in dancing as she started taking dance classes when she was she three years old in jazz, ballet, and tap.
Daniel Ezra, All American
Ezra stars on the football drama series All American, so it would be interesting to see if Ezra could translate what he has learned to play the role of wide receiver Spencer James would translate to this hypothetical BOTNS.
Grant Gustin, The Flash
The Scarlet Speedster makes the team thanks to his workout routine where he works out with an Olympic running trainer to get in shape.
Also, Gustin is an classically trained tap dancer as he took up the art when he was 10 years old.
Lucy Hale, Katy Keene
Hale's selection is based mainly on name recognition as Hale is best known for her role on the show Pretty Little Liars which lasted from 2010-2017 and now plays the title role in the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene which features Hale showing off her musical prowess as he often sings in the show.
Caity Lotz, Legends of Tomorrow
She also is a martial arts enthusiast as she practices taekwondo as well as wushu.
Robert Christopher Riley, Dynasty
Riley played football for Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York which lead him to being recruited by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he played one year before quitting to focus on acting which lead him to the role of Michael Culhane on the CW's reboot of the famous 1980s ABC primetime soap opera Dynasty.
Ruby Rose, Batwoman
Rose made headlines in the fall of 2019 when he she had to have surgery on two herniated discs in her back which she injured during one of her stunts for her role as Batwoman which Rose says could have left paralyzed.
Still, Rose would be a formidable force in this hypothetical competition as she was an amateur boxer and is the goddaughter of the late Lionel Rose, the first Australian boxer to win a world boxing championship.
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