COUPLE FORMATS
A couple of format about couples + a dog show
BRITISH COUPLES (FOR LOVE)
The Honesty Box is a reality dating experiment coming to English channel E4 later this month, from BBC Studios-backed Mettlemouse and GroupM Motion Entertainment, hosted by Vicky Pattison and motivational speaker / holistic counsellor at Married at First Sight Australia alumna Lucinda Light.
The series brings a cast of singles together in ‘Truetopia’, a sunny and romantic paradise where truth and honesty reign supreme and there is just one rule: do not lie. To encourage full transparency in their new relationships there is a potential prize fund of £100,000 up for grabs, but only if the ‘Truetopians’ choose to be open and completely honest about their true feelings.
The daters will face The Honesty Box – a cutting edge lie detection system – to be asked probing questions about their dating past and present. If The Honesty Box detects a lie, it could impact their newly formed relationship… and the prize fund.
An interesting and intriguing concept, with a really nice musical trailer (see below). Just out of curiosity, in the presentation a few months ago, the Honesty Box was presented as "AI-enhanced software to sniff out liars", but now the "AI" label has disappeared, perhaps because there is now a greater awareness of the term....
ITALIAN COUPLES (FOR MONEY)
On Monday 7 April, The Couple - Una Vittoria per Due (A victory for two) premiered on Mediaset's Canale 5 and Mediaset Infinity with a good 28,6% (2,2mio viewers). Produced by Endemol Shine Italy and hosted by Ilary Blasi, the format is the local version of Spain's Gran Hermano Dúo, a spin-off of Big Brother on air on Telecinco from 2019.
The Couple sees 8 pairs of contestants, linked by friendship, family or affinity, test themselves in a series of physical and mental challenges. Their aim is to demonstrate cohesion, complicity and cunning in order to win the grand prize. Each couple must collect keys over the weeks, as only one of them will be able to open the safe containing the prize.
The trials take place both live on Mondays and on location during the week and involve endurance, logic and tactics, collecting keys along the way. Each time there is an elimination based on both televoting (via SMS only) and voting by the other contestants in the house.
The eliminated couple have to give their key to another couple still in the competition. So, one of the most important skills is the ability to manage the relationship not only with your partner but also with your opponents.
In the end, the prize money is kept in a safe, but only one of the collected keys can open it. The final prize money is a remarkable €1,000,000, reminiscent of the golden age of reality TV (and formats in general).
AUSTRALIAN DOGS TRAVEL TO UK & US
Muster Dogs is an Australian program that premiered on ABC TV and ABC iview in January 2022. It is an entertaining and emotional competition show that, in its first season, follows five Australian Kelpie puppies (typical Australian sheepdogs) as they are trained to become Muster Dogs on farms around Australia under the guidance of expert dog trainers Neil and Helen McDonald. At the end, the winning dog is crowned Champion Muster Dog (for the record, the first series was won by 'Annie', trained by Queensland grazier Frank Finger).
Following the success of the first series, there was a second - featuring Border Collie puppies - and a third series (the fourth is currently in production). There's also been a spin-off called Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now (pic), which premiered on ABC TV on 1 December 2024, which checks in with the human and canine stars of the show's previous seasons to delve a little deeper into their lives, see what they've been up to since competing for the title of Champion Muster Dog, and find out how the format has changed their lives and impacted the communities in which they live.
For example, the episodes showed how bad boy Luci (Lucifer) shared his life with Annie and deaf dog Lucky, and how Russ' silly collie Molly helped out with the family's grazing business. In short, a kind of tender soap opera with dogs as protagonists...
Now the series has been picked up as a format for development in the UK by Warner Bros. International TV Productions' Ricochet, which will adapt the format in association with Pippa Lambert of Hellcat Productions, who has acquired the US rights to the format.
So this show about sheepdogs - apparently so quintessentially Australian - is going to the UK and the US. That's the beauty of formats.
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Italian production company Casta Diva Pictures has optioned Nippon TV's Japanese gameshow format Man or Mannequin? for local adaptation.
Banijay Entertainment has revealed details of the first-ever celebrity edition of its competition format The Fortune Hotel, which has been ordered by Norway's TV 2 for a premiere later this year. The format will be produced by Nordisk Banijay.
Atresmedia has announced that Traitors España will soon be broadcast on Antena 3. The programme is produced in Spain by Atresmedia in association with Gestmusic (Banijay Iberia) and distributed by All3Media.
Netflix has picked up the upcoming Monopoly unscripted project, which will see the board game turned into a reality competition series. The show is based on the eponymous game that made its debut in 1935 and is owned by Hasbro.
FOX has renewed its cooking competition series MasterChef for a 15th season, which will feature the all-new theme MasterChef: Dynamic Duos.
Banijay Entertainment has confirmed the launch of MasterChef Creators, a new production from Endemol Shine Brasil in partnership with YouTube.
Warner Bros. Discovery's HGTV (Home & Garden TV) has set an April 29 premiere for its new home renovation series Castle Impossible.
Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, a rebooted edition of the culinary competition franchise in which chefs must put their opponents at a disadvantage while navigating the sabotage sent their way, premieres Tuesday, May 13 on Warner Bros. Discovery's Food Network.
Paramount+ in Canada has commissioned a local version of MTV’s reality franchise Jersey Shore. Canada Shore (w/t) is being produced by Toronto-based production company Insight Productions and will shoot this summer.
