SANTA CRUZ >> Just about everyone is familiar with “The Newlywed Game,” the game show which aired in various permutations between 1966 and 2013, providing freshly minted married couples with an opportunity to determine how well they know their new spouses and the ability to win fabulous prizes.

Now what if someone were to take that concept and put it in front of a live audience with twists in the gameplay? Actor and radio host Sean Perlmutter will be bringing exactly that to the 418 Project Saturday with the live game show “Lovers Know Best.”

Perlmutter said he has liked “The Newlywed Game” concept for a long time, having played a version of it at his wedding reception 25 years ago.

“I wanted a way to re-celebrate love and laughter, and this was it,” he said. “‘Lovers Know Best’ is inspired by ‘The Newlywed Game,’ but it gives it a modern twist.”

Perlmutter is a longtime actor who performed in off-off-Broadway productions in New York City and then flew out to Hollywood where he acted in movies and TV shows as well as commercials. He also hosted the internet radio show “Unlimited Thinking” and has been involved with Monterey Comedy Improv.

“While I’ve done my own one-man shows, this is the first time I’ve done anything like ‘Lovers Know Best,’” he said.

The show will consist of three couples who were selected through a casting process and will participate in six different challenges. Some involve simply answering questions, while others involve audience participation. The contestants are scored in each challenge, with the highest-scoring couple receiving a grand prize and the second and third-place winners also receiving prizes. All the prizes were donated by local businesses sponsoring the show, including Om Gallery, Vinocruz Wine Bar, Well Within Spa, Monterey Bay Whale Watch, Sockshop & Shoe Co. and Chaminade Resort and Spa, the latter of which will be furnishing the grand prize of a two-night stay for the winning couple.

Perlmutter said it is a very authentic experience.

“The contestant couples are non-actors,” he said. “These are real people, but I do everything to make them feel safe and comfortable so we can play and have a great time and put on a great show for the audience.”

Perlmutter has already brought the show to Monterey and is now expanding it to Santa Cruz, with plans to hopefully also bring it to cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and beyond. He said the live aspect also makes it different from what audiences might see on a televised game show.

“The interplay with the audience is priceless and great, and the energy we get back from the audience is really terrific,” he said. “There’s no editing, so some very real moments can happen without them getting edited out. You never know what somebody’s gonna say, or you never know what somebody’s going to reveal, and those moments are priceless.”

Joining Perlmutter as co-host will be Lyndsey Marks, who has acted in several Santa Cruz stage productions, including the 8 Tens @ 8 Short Film Festival. She is also a veteran of the improv troupe ScripTease.

Unlike other relationship-driven game shows, Perlmutter said the goal is not to humiliate the couples but to put a new perspective on their relationships.

“When couples leave the show, they cannot help but talk with each other, asking about what their partner would do in a certain situation or how they would answer a certain question,” he said. “It ends up drawing them closer together because there are sometimes things that they wouldn’t normally talk about that we’ll bring up or situations that they would encounter that they would not normally talk about. For me, the ideal is couples talking about this for hours or for days after the show.”

“Lovers Know Best” will be presented live at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the 418 Project, 155 River St. S. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $30. For tickets and more information, go to LoversKnowBest.com.