QUIZ…
The game show is one of the oldest genres of television in history (perhaps the oldest). Television channels in every country in the world have featured one or more game shows at the very beginning of their programming. For example, CBS Television Quiz, which ran from 2 July 1941 to 7 January 1943, was the first game show to be broadcast regularly on television. And its story is far from over.
According to K7's report Tracking The Giants - The Top 100 Travelling Unscripted Formats 2023-2024, quiz shows (which are strangely included in the macro-genre of entertainment, along with talent shows, and unlike reality shows: sooner or later the categories of formats will have to be clarified...) are the fastest growing sub-genre, with a +50% (!) increase year on year.
This long list of quiz shows is now joined by Qui Restera Dans la Lumière? ("Who will stay in the light?"), to be broadcast on Saturday 1 June 2024 on France 2, created and produced by Banijay Production Media, part of Banijay France.
To be honest, the concept seems to be made up of parts we have seen before: 100 candidates (see The 1% Club and The Floor) from France and Belgium compete in a three-round general knowledge quiz. The aim is to stay in the spotlight and outshine the other candidates.
During the selection round (“Course Poursuite” - “Pursuit Race”), the contestants will have to show their strategy by choosing the level of difficulty for each of their questions (easy, medium or difficult) after seeing the beginning of the question (for example: "During the 98 World Cup..."). As the questions are answered, a ranking will be drawn up to select the semi-finalists for the second round.
During this semi-final, the top two candidates will go head-to-head, "choosing their questions one by one, in turn, from the beginning of the statement", notes France TV. In the final round, the contestant will be alone against all the others and will have to answer questions until he has eliminated all his opponents (as the classic quiz 1 vs. 100, as we can see in the picture below). In the process, their prize pool will grow to a total of €100.000.
OK, the individual elements are not very original, but we'll have to see what the overall effect will be. In any case, game shows are one of the purest forms of 'dear old television' (with still a great future ahead of it...).
ACTION…
However, game shows also include "action shows", i.e. games based on the physical skills of the contestants (and often confused with reality shows: yes, the genre and sub-genres of the unscripted definitely need clarification…).
One of the best-known and most successful in this category is undoubtedly the Japanese Ninja Warrior (Sasuke), broadcast since 1997 on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), in which 100 contestants have to complete a four-stage obstacle course involving a series of physical tests and mental challenges (see below for a compilation of the UK series).
According to the K7 report cited above, the format is still the 76th most travelling format in the world today, with a total of 25 versions launched (and revived in the UK with ITV in 2022). And now a new version is about to be added: the show has been optioned by Mexico's Break The Format Media (BTF) and brokered by O4 Media, Martha Contreras and Bellon Entertainment USA. Versions of Ninja Warrior from other parts of the world have been distributed in Latin America, but this is the first to be produced locally.
Very different from quizzes, but just as addictive...
AND MORE…
The dating show is a genre in itself. It is neither reality nor game, although it takes a little from both. There are many successful international dating shows, thanks in part to the (re)launch of streaming platforms, which have put dating at the heart of their unscripted offerings.
One of the most popular is Britain's First Dates (on Channel 4 since 2013), in which ten strangers, who have previously passed a compatibility questionnaire, are sent on a blind date in pairs in a restaurant (which in the English version, until 2020, was London's Paternoster Chop House).
The format has been localised in more than 20 countries, including Spain, where the daily version has been broadcast with great success (on Cuatro) since 2016. Also in Spain, the spin-off First Dates: Crucero ("First Dates: Cruise") aired from 2020 to 2022. And now Mediaset España, in partnership with Warner Bros. ITVP Spain, is producing First Dates Hotel, a new spin-off in which the dates take place in a romantic hotel on the Mediterranean coast, hosted by Carlos Sobera (the historic host of First Dates) and his staff of “cupids”.
As in the original version, viewers will follow the development of many love stories from the first steps of the relationship: the preparation of the date and the expectations before the first meeting. If the first date ends in a mutual "yes", the couples can continue to get to know each other in the hotel's surroundings, spend an unforgettable night in the spa, in the gym, in the cocktail and chill out area, enjoy evenings with music under the stars, go on excursions to the beach or enjoy various activities together.
All very nice and... all the same as the original (except for the location). Maybe a few more twists wouldn't have gone bad...
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Mediaset España, in collaboration with Shine Iberia, will adapt for Telecinco the cooking show Next Level Chef, developed by Studio Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay's production company, and produced by FOX Alternative Entertainment and Studio Ramsay
ITV Studios and Hulu have closed a package deal that will see the streamer become the U.S. home of the first two seasons of Twofour’s Queer dating series I Kissed a Boy, which originally aired in 2023, and I Kissed a Girl, currently airing in the U.K., and will premiere on the platform in the U.S. later this year
Food and lifestyle streamer Tastemade has slated a May 28 premiere for a new kitchen-centered home renovation series Kitchen Glow Up, fronted by entrepreneur and social media personality Ellen Marie Bennett
Israeli studio Dori Media Group (DMG) wants to set up a hub in Latin America to produce local versions of its Power Couple format, that already has 20 local versions around the world (among them Brazil and Mexico)
After the success of its first season, Belgian reality adventure The Mole returns for a second season on Netflix on 28 June
The dating show Love, produced by Turkey's Madd (which has so far focused on scripted content), was presented at the last LA Screenings. The format is a classic proposal of bachelors and bachelorettes living together on an island, and will premiere in Turkey in July
Korea's CJ ENM has announced the second season of its dating show Couple Palace. The show premiered on CJ ENM's music channel Mnet last January
Guillaume's French Atlantic premieres on 20 June on Australia's public broadcaster SBS and SBS On Demand, produced by Blink Tv. This "trav-cook" follows the French-born, Sydney-based chef as he travels from Normandy to the Spanish border to discover the rich history and iconic produce of the Atlantic coast