1. FROM SCRIPTED TO UNSCRIPTED: 3 CASE STUDIES
Transforming a content /franchising from scripted to unscripted is not so frequent, but sometimes it happens. By a curious coincidence, in the last days 3 operations of this type have been announced.
The first one is The Real Love Boat, an unscripted format that takes its inspiration from the iconic 1970s scripted series The Love Boat. It will be launched by CBS and Australian broadcaster Network 10 jointly, which will produce their own local version this summer.
The format brings single people into a Mediterranean luxury cruise ship, with destination dates and challenges to test the compatibility and chemistry of couples on board. The ship’s “captain” and “cruise director” will both play pivotal roles in matchmaking and navigating the romances on board. After almost a month at sea, only one winning couple will make it to the final port and take home a cash prize plus an enchanting trip, courtesy of Princess Cruises, the cruise line partner.
The second one is 007′s Road to a Million, a James Bond-inspired reality competition series, that will be produced by the UK 72 Films, along with MGM Television and Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for Amazon’s Prime Video (Amazon has recently announced that the acquisition of MGM itself has been completed).
Two-person teams will compete to win a £1 million cash prize through tests of intelligence and endurance conducted in many locations around the world that have been prominently featured in Bond films. Production on the series will begin later this year, with casting already underway.
Quite different is the third case, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, a game show hosted by actor Helen Mirren and with questions based on Harry Potter trivia, that Warner Bros International Television Production -WBITVP- will present for the MipTV next week.
This kind of operation is quite understandable: the unscripted program tries to take advantage of the popularity of the scripted content. But one must be careful: if the format is not well studied and fine-tuned (with the typical ingredients and mechanisms of the unscripted macro-genre) it can turn into a flop.
2. SINGING IN THE GAME (or viceversa)
Dancing and singing shows have often been ‘contaminated’ with other elements and in this period more than ever. On one hand the dance usually is paired with dating ingredients (for example the French Un Flirt & Une Danse and the Korean Falling in Dance, very similar to each other), on the other hand the singing programs are mixed up with competition/guessing parts.
Last Singer Standing belongs to this second group. It premiered on the Irish broadcaster RTÉ One last October (the final was Saturday 11th December) and recently All3Media has acquired the global sales rights on it.
8 contestants show both their vocal talent and their tactical skills, as they must strategically determine which of their fellow competitors they have the best chance of defeating in performance. Each challenge is judged by the popstar panel, by the studio audience or by their own fellow contestants.
After seven episodes, the “last singers standing” from each of the preceding weeks face off against each other in the finale, where a combination of votes from the studio audience, the previously eliminated contestants and the expert panel will determine which of them receives the grand prize of €25,000.
3. THERE’S A SABOTEUR IN THE KITCHEN!
After hundreds of cooking shows that all look the same, finally a new one with an interesting twist: Rat in the Kitchen, produced by Thinkfactory, which premiered yesterday Thursday 31st March on US channel TBS.
In each episode of the series, a mix of professional chefs and home cooks (6 in total) will compete in a range of cooking challenges to earn cash. The twist is that one of the chefs is sabotaging the other contestants’ chances at victory while trying to avoid detection.
The “traitors element” is quite common in game/quiz (see the recent reality competition The Traitors), but it’s unusual in a cooking show. Looking forward to watching it!