By Jamie Ruby

Hollywood Game Night premieres July 11th on NBC. The hour-long game show comes from actor and producer Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) and is based on his own game nights he hosts at his home. Jane Lynch (Glee) will serve as host of the series, which will feature celebrities who play with contestants to help them win a cash prize.

Jane Lynch recently talked to the media about the unique new series, Glee, and working on Broadway.

Lynch talked to SciFi Vision about what the games featured on the series are like. "These are typical game night games, and if you haven't been to a game night, there are these very simple games that have pop culture references.

"...Oh we'll put up magazine covers and say they're all of Oprah Winfrey and we'll say put them in chronological order.

"We'll put, you know, snapshots of breakfast cereal, and you have to name the cereal, like is that Captain Crunch? Is that Wheaties? We have these cross sections of candy bars and you have to identify them. Is that a Butterfinger? Is that a Snickers? That sort of thing.

"There's no tall story on this. There're no Shakespeare references. It's really all just pop culture. We go into movies. We go into entertainment. We have one game where you identify the People's Sexiest Man Alive covers and you have to put those in chronological order."

Lynch also talked to the site about one celebrity who was particularly good at the games. "Fred Armisen is very low key, and that's deceptive, because everybody's jumping up and down around him that perhaps you think he's not very game, and he was one of the smartest of them all, and he was fast. Maybe not a lot of volume, but he was fast and to the point and did very, very well."

You can catch Hollywood Game Night on NBC starting July 11th.

NBC Conference Call
Hollywood Game Night

July 02, 2013
2:00 pm ET

QUESTION: Did you know Sean from your days being in Chicago and things like that?

JANE LYNCH: No actually I don't know him from Chicago. I know him from LA.

We've been friends for a while and I am kind of a steady presence at his game nights.

QUESTION: Is there a certain guest star that you would love to have - your dream person to be on the show?

JANE LYNCH: Well we had great, I mean, we had Amy Poehler and Fred Armisen and Rose Byrnes and Martin Short and Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow on the same show. We had really great ones but I just did an episode of Katie Couric's talk show and she is dying to be on it so I would love to have her.

QUESTION: What is the relationship between celebrity and regular people that this show intermingles with?

JANE LYNCH: Well the thing that happened again game nights and this happens at every game I go, to including Sean Hayes' at his house, is that it's such a great equalizer. You forget who's the celebrity and you forget who's the civilian because you just want to win that point and it's everybody playing together.

QUESTION: Being the host of Hollywood Game Night is a different change of pace for you as an actress. What made you take on this challenge and go down this path?

JANE LYNCH: Well, you know, I - it's funny I don't know what inspired me to do it other than the fact that I actually asked to do it. I've known Sean a long time. I have a great time at his game nights and he was having dinner over at my house and he mentioned that his show got picked by NBC and I said, well can I host it and he said, well, let me see. So before I knew it I was on board to do it.

And I love game night, you know, I'm a pretty competitive person at it. You want me on your team. You do not want to play against me and I think that, you know, Sean knew that I was very familiar with, you know, all the games and although we did create all of our own games for this but we used Sean's night as the template.

QUESTION: Can you please offer your opinion on the Supreme Court's historical ruling on gay marriage?

JANE LYNCH: Well I think it's - I mean I'm thrilled about. I think it's a great step forward. I think it's a huge step forward. I'm in New York now and the Gay Pride Weekend was this past weekend and it was just full of people of all stripes celebrating this decision and, of course, the overturn of Prop 8 as well so, yes, it's a great week to be gay.

QUESTION: What are some of your personal favorite party games?

JANE LYNCH: Well Celebrity is probably my favorite. We play around a celebrity as the final round in every game and it's always rousing.

And I also love a game that is kind of our version of Name That Tune where we sing a pop song but using only the words do, so it would be like do do do do do, which is "Strangers In The Night" and you have to guess the song.

SCIFI VISION: Expanding on what you just said, can you maybe give some more examples of some of these games since a lot of people don't know what they are?

JANE LYNCH: Well these are typical game night games, and if you haven't been to a game night, there are these very simple games that have pop culture references.

We have one called Take a Hint where you have to identify the pop culture - well, let me get another game, that's a harder one to explain. Let me find another one that's a lot easier to explain. Oh we'll put up magazine covers and say they're all of Oprah Winfrey and we'll say put them in chronological order.

We'll put, you know, snapshots of breakfast cereal, and you have to name the cereal, like is that Captain Crunch? Is that Wheaties? We have these cross sections of candy bars and you have to identify them. Is that a Butterfinger? Is that a Snickers? That sort of thing.

There's no tall story on this. There're no Shakespeare references. It's really all just pop culture. We go into movies. We go into entertainment. We have one game where you identify the People's Sexiest Man Alive covers and you have to put those in chronological order.

QUESTION: Can you just say a quick word about being on stage (Annie) and also any hints about Glee?

JANE LYNCH: Sure. Well, you know, I'm from Chicago and I started out in the theatre there and I haven't been on stage probably in 20 years doing a play so it felt like, you know, getting back on a bike and it was joyful and continues to be joyful. I look forward to going to work every night.

I love the immediacy of being in a play and, you know, with the audience connection and I love all the people I'm working with and it's just a real joy and kind of - it brought me back to, you know, the reason I got into this crazy business to begin with.

And Glee, let's see, you know, I don't know anything that's going on and I'll bet you even the writers don't know either. We kind of do things - we really, you know, it's kind of new to all of us so we'll see what happens. I know I'm going back. I'm going to be in the next season which is good. I just found that out. And so there will be more Sue Sylvester, but I can't tell you what that will be. I have no idea.

QUESTION: You've had a lot of changes in your personal life lately. What is keeping you so positive?

JANE LYNCH: Well I just - I love my work. I'm doing, you know, many different jobs including Annie and Hollywood Game Night, and Glee coming up and I have a lot going on and that always makes me happy.

QUESTION: What was your most memorable moment from filming Hollywood Game Night?

JANE LYNCH: Oh man, there are so many. I mean, well I'll just start rattling them off. Dax Shepard calling on the judges as if they exist. Well we do have judges, I guess, going judge you have to look at this. Martin Short falling off the couch every time the band starts to play as if it was a shock to him.

Amy Poehler and Jason Sudeikis getting a little bit drunk. There were great moments. There are wonderful funny, crazy moments in every episode. Everybody's always jumping up and down and high fiving and shaming each other and it's a lot of fun.

QUESTION: Your character on Glee, Sue Sylvester, is really hyper competitive, so I was just wondering if you're anything like her when it comes to game night.

JANE LYNCH: Yes, I am. I - well luckily for everybody involved, I'm hosting, so I'm not on any team but I do love game night. I especially love Celebrity. I kind of see myself as a really good Celebrity player. So yes, I'm pretty competitive during those games.

QUESTION: I just wanted to know if there're any particular stories you have from one of Sean Hayes's parties. Maybe even the first time you went. Something that's crazy that happened that just got you hooked on the game night?

JANE LYNCH: Well, gosh, I can't think of anything in particular but all I remember is I was hooked from the moment I got there. It was loud and raucous and a lot of fun, and the food was good. And that's what we try to do too although we don't have food but we do have drinks. It's always loud and it's always raucous.

QUESTION: I know you really wanted to host the show, but do you have any plans, like if there was a future here to maybe come back in and be a participant?

JANE LYNCH: I would love to. I hope that they would let me do that, although I must say I adore hosting it so.

QUESTION: I was wondering if viewers could make a drinking game out of this show and how would they go about doing so?

JANE LYNCH: ...I do in the beginning of the show - I challenge people in the audience to take a drink every time a particular celebrity either screws up or wins a point.

SCIFI VISION: Is there anything that sticks out about a celebrity that was maybe either really good at a certain game or really bad at a certain game?

JANE LYNCH: Well, Fred Armisen is very low key, and that's deceptive, because everybody's jumping up and down around him that perhaps you think he's not very game, and he was one of the smartest of them all, and he was fast. Maybe not a lot of volume, but he was fast and to the point and did very, very well.

QUESTION: What do you think of Cameron Diaz being cast as Miss Hannigan and do you have any advice for her?

JANE LYNCH: Oh, I didn't know that, so congratulations to her. I don't think anybody - you know what, no one offered me advice and I was very grateful for that and I even had Carol Burnett who did the movie send me a text but offering no advice. I think if I had any advice for Cameron Diaz it would be ignore any advice.

QUESTION: I was just wondering if you had any tips for everyone at home on how to throw a good game night. What are all the ingredients that everyone needs?

JANE LYNCH: Oh I think you have come game, g a m e, you know, you have to really want to play and you have to really want to win and not be afraid to make a fool out of yourself, and really get into it.

I mean that's what happened with all of our celebrities. You would see somebody in the beginning and I won't mention names, who maybe was a little intimidated by the level of energy and the level of - the decibel of the volume but once they surrendered to it they had the best time.

And, you know, the civilians who ended up having to do that, too, because they're thrown into a room with a bunch of celebrities that they maybe, you know, they don't have time to be star struck. They just have to dive in.

QUESTION: Do you have any advice for future contestants or people who might want to apply to be on the show?

JANE LYNCH: That's the same thing. It's just be ready to play and have a lot of fun and, you know, play - come to have fun and don't be afraid of looking stupid, because you will look stupid.

QUESTION: [I was] wondering what you thought about Amber and Diana and some of the other cast members not returning next season [to Glee] and who you'll miss the most.

JANE LYNCH: I'll tell you what, I didn't - that's news to me. I don't know anything that's going on over there so, you know - I love our initial cast, you know, that nucleus of people who made up Glee for the first three years, and I haven't seen most of them in a while.

So, you know, I've missed them for over a season already so, but it's always great to have the new blood coming in too. We have some really great kids from last season who are now, I guess they're juniors and seniors now so.

QUESTION: Hollywood Game Night is all about a great night at home, what's like a simple recipe that you like to cook at home?

JANE LYNCH: I don't cook.

QUESTION: You don't cook at all?

JANE LYNCH: A simple recipe is I pick up the phone and order food. I don't cook at all, at all.

SCIFI VISION: This obviously is a very fun show to do, but is there anything that you've found difficult with hosting the show at all?

JANE LYNCH: Oh let's see, you know, sometimes there're rules that - really, no - the answer is no.

SCIFI VISION: Okay.

JANE LYNCH: I mean it's a pure joy. It's a pure joy and I have a teleprompter guiding me all the way. Sometimes I confuse myself and that's my problem. It's no one else's but my problem.