CURRENT & FUTURE TRENDS

From Scripted to Unscripted, Reboot & Family Business

Jan 23, 2026

FALLOUT ON PRIME

The 10+1 GLOBAL FORMAT TRENDS in 2025 report, available free of charge to all Friday’s Espresso subscribers (request your free copy in the comments), shows that the trend ‘From Scripted to Unscripted’ is declining compared to last season. However, we speculated that it could recover due to its widespread use, particularly among major global SVoDs.

Proof of this is the unscripted show Fallout Shelter, which Studio Lambert is set to co-produce for Prime Video, based on the streaming service’s post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout. The show is being produced in association with Amazon MGM Studios and Bethesda Game Studios. The 10-part series appears to follow a similar model to Squid Game: The Challenge, Studio Lambert’s competition series based on the Korean Netflix drama of the same name.

For now, all that is known is that this format will see a diverse group of contestants enter Vault-Tec’s bomb-proof vaults. There, they will take part in challenges and strategic dilemmas, competing for safety, power and a huge cash prize. Casting for the show is now open.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of this type of operation, which tends to focus more on spectacle and flashiness than substance. However, I recognise that they can be useful for generating hype, and that they are sometimes (not always) quite successful. We’ll see in this case...

THE PRICE IS RIGHT IN SPAIN

Also, the ‘Reboot’ trend, although still strong, saw a slight decline last year, but here too there are already signs of a prompt recovery. The first sign of this is the return of the classic game show El Precio Justo (The Price Is Right) to Telecinco, hosted by Carlos Sobera and produced in collaboration with Fremantle Spain.

There is no need to explain the rules of this historic game, in which participants try to guess the price of various products without going over the target price. It is interesting to note that the game as we know it today is actually a revival (the term ‘reboot’ was not used at the time) of a previous version that aired from 1956 to 1965 on NBC and, in the last two seasons, on ABC.

But the version we all know, with its iconic games and rituals that became part of the era’s collective imagination (such as the show’s catchphrase ‘Come on down!’), premiered on CBC on 4 September 1972. Since then, more than 10,000 episodes have been produced (!), not counting spin-offs. Board games, computer games and electronic games have been created, as well as a series of video slot machines for North American casinos. Live casino games have been developed and thousands of pages of articles, books and essays have been written. It has also been localised in over 45 countries, always under the direction of the format owner, Fremantle.

It first aired on the Spanish public television channel TVE-1 in 1988, breaking all audience records and attracting almost 20 million viewers on 2 January 1989. In 2006, it moved to the commercial channel Antena 3. In 2021, it moved to Telecinco for one season only, with Carlos Sobera, one of the country’s most popular presenters, at the helm. After a five-year hiatus, it has returned to the same channel and is once again in vogue.

Long live one of the most iconic TV game shows of all time!

Request your FREE COPY of the 10+1 GLOBAL FORMAT TRENDS report by emailing axel@formatespresso.com

DANISH WILL

And finally, a trend that has not yet been recorded, but which could be in the near future: what we might call ‘Family Affairs’ (or ‘Family Dynamics’). More and more programmes and formats are focusing their attention on what happens within the family unit, beyond outward appearances.

An excellent example is The Will, which the public Danish broadcaster DR launched this month, produced by Loud People, based on an original concept from public Norwegian broadcaster NRK (with the original title Testamentet), and distributed by independent international company Lineup Industries.

The Will follows families who want to get their affairs in order while they are still healthy. Each family discusses how they would like their property, money and valuables to be distributed, taking into account relationships, emotions and the wishes of all family members. As they work together with an experienced inheritance lawyer and a host who will guide them through the often difficult and emotionally charged process, problems must be resolved and disagreements cleared away. But will they find a solution that ensures peace within the family and respect for their parents’ wishes?

It is a format that deals with love and death, which are universal themes, but the focus on a single family unit is typical of this period, in order to ‘keep out’ the increasingly problematic outside world and concentrate on the private sphere.

NEWS IN A NUTSHELL

Spanish public television RTVE presents Top Chef: Dulces y Famosos, the new culinary talent show, in which 16 celebrities will compete against each other to become the best pastry chef. Contestants must show off their baking skills to win the title of Spain’s first Top Chef pastry chef and a prize of €100,000, which will go to the charity of their choice.
Bravo has slated its Ladies of London revival series for a March 5 two-hour premiere, with the series available to stream on Peacock the following day.
The series, which first premiered in 2014 from BBC Studios-owned Adjacent Productions, depicts the lives of six women who reside in London, as they balance their social lives, businesses and families. Its third season finished airing in 2017.
UK-based TV presenting duo Anthony McPartlin (Ant) and Declan Donnelly (Dec) have announced the launch of their first podcast series, Hanging Out with Ant & Dec. Produced by the duo’s prodco Mitre Studios, it will be streamed on new YouTube channel Belta Box. The digital entertainment brand will be home to new formats and classic clips from many of Ant and Dec’s best-loved shows such as Byker Grove and Saturday Night Takeaway.
Disney+’s UK team has commissioned a Hulu original unscripted series, Castle Man (w/t), produced by Expectation. The series follows comedian Alan Carr, who, with his 50th birthday approaching, begins a property search for his very own castle.
Channel 4 has partnered with The Happy Egg Co. on Tiny Farmers - a fun, family-friendly episode exploring what truly makes an egg happy. This branded entertainment content is fronted by Harriet Cowan known for Clarkson’s Farm and comedian Jessica Knappett (The Inbetweeners Movie, Taskmaster).

FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO

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