1. DEEP FAKE WITH AI
After the French Hôtel du temps (Hotel of time, see Friday’s Espresso 10th June), forerunner of this genre, another format uses Artificial Intelligence software to recreate celebrities.
Deep Fake Neighbour Wars (produced by Banijay’s prodco Tiger Aspect) premiered last 26th January on ITVX, the free BVoD of the English network ITV. In this case the purpose is ironic: these technologies are used to turn UK's best impersonators into worldwide celebrities, giving life to funny sketches: the “fake celebs” are ordinary people who happen to be embroiled in petty silly neighbour disputes.
In the first episode, for example, Kim Kardashian's neighbour Idris Elba restricts her access to the shared garden, and Greta Thunberg is upset by Conor McGregor and Ariana Grande’s perennial Christmas decorations.
The show is hilarious in itself, but maybe the most interesting thing is the use of AI, that is becoming massive in TV: see the announced Wizard of Sauce (Friday’s Espresso 3rd Feb), where completely new characters have been created with this kind of software. And other news won’t be long in coming.
(Thanks to Chiara Duranti, Formatbiz).
2. THROWING & ANSWERING
Fremantle will handle the production and global distribution of the game Quiz Pong, launched last month on the Japanese Kansai TV (the TV station in the Kansai region, affiliated with the Fuji Network System: Fuji also produced the original series).
Quiz Pong is a variation of “the brawn and the brain”, i.e. games that combine physical and mental qualities. Two teams go head-to-head by throwing balls into moving baskets, on a supersized set. One player is the thrower, while the player from the opposite team answers questions. The harder the basket is to reach (because it’s on a higher level), the more difficult the question inside the basket will be for their opponent.
After battling through two rounds, the winning teams compete in the grand finale for a prize. Well, not bad, but…
3. A PERFECT MATCH FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
It is known that the most favourite unscripted genre of the SVoD (and not only) is the dating show, and in the period of Valentine’s day even more.
The Perfect Match (created and produced by Kinetic) which premiered on Netflix last 14th February, is a “squared” dating, i.e. a dating whose cast includes ex-contestants from 8 Netflix dating and reality shows (among which Love Is Blind, Too Hot to Handle, The Circle, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On and others).
The 10 participants move into a villa in a tropical location, where they date each other in the hopes of finding their perfect match (since evidently previous shows did not work…). Each week, contestants who don’t have a match are eliminated as new contestants arrive at the villa to try to break up couples and find a match of their own. In the end, the couple voted by the eliminated contestants as the perfect match are named the winners and receive a cash prize.
A tried-and-tested formula of beautiful bodies, seduction games and lovers' quarrels in a magnificent, sunny location.