1. SWITCH: THE REASSURING NORMALITY OF THE GAME SHOW
Welcome back and happy 2023 to everybody! In this period of hectic, deep changes (which we’ll discuss soon) we’d like to start with a format belonging to the most stable and comfortable genre of the “good old tv”: the game show.
Actually, since in the 30ties, when Mr. Craig Earl -aka Doctor Quiz- used to ask the viewers trivia questions in the American movie theaters before and after the films, this genre maintained an extraordinary continuity (even if with infinite variations) when it moved into radio (Information, Please, NBC 1937) and finally into Tv (CBS Television Quiz, 1941).
Switch (based on a format developed by Belgian Panenka and licensed by Lineup Industries), that will premiere on Game Show Network Jan 30th, is the last link of this very long chain, that still continues to enchant a very large audience of all ages.
In this quiz, five players begin the game by taking positions behind large numbers from 1 to 5. After a trivia question is asked, players with correct answers move towards the number 1 spot, and players with incorrect answers move towards the number 5 spot.
The goal of the game is to finish the third round of questions in the number 1 position, thus winning the game and earning the right to play the bonus round for $10,000.
Nothing particularly original, but this is exactly the strength of the game show.
2. SIX CELEBRITIES IN A YURT
According to the prestigious online magazine (and not only) K7, entertainment with social purpose has been one of the strongest trends of 2022 and will continue in 2023.
The “celebrity green reality” The Yurt (which premiered on 29th Dec on RTBF, the Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française) goes exactly in this direction. Six celebrities who don’t pay special attention to the environment are invited to leave their home for an adventure, without knowing absolutely anything about what will happen.
They will be taken beyond their comfort zone and will spend 5 days in a yurt (a kind of round tent used traditionally by some Central Asia people), where some aspects of their lives are very different.
In addition to a life in the raw, with more sustainable habits, they have to face a daily new challenge (for example, picking up polluting waste). If they succeed, they win money for a sustainable association. But if they fail, they have to survive without resources (gas, electricity…) until the end of the show.
3. RECREATING A MASTERPIECE
It does’t happen so much, but sometimes, luckily, it does: seeing a very original and really innovative show. The Masterpiece, which premiered Wednesday 11th Jan on Workpoint Channel 23 in Thailand in primetime, is one of these rare cases.
In this “groundbreaking, visually stunning and wacky” competition show, local celebrities and renowned directors give life to spectacular performances that recreate famous paintings, iconic moments and pop culture images (e.g. The Thinker, the sculpture of August Rodin, the movies Matrix or Shark and so on). A panel of judges will eliminate one director-and-celebrity team per weekly episode, till they will crown the masterpiece winner.
A very easy concept, but the performances, mixing stunning technologies (primarily VR and AR) with all kinds of onstage illusions, are something really new, impressive and enjoyable.
The show is produced by Fox Alternative Entertainment (FAE), in partnering with US-based prodco Smart Dog Media and Thailand’s Workpoint Entertainment, and financed by Fox Entertainment’s US $100m International Unscripted Format Fund.