FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO - 28th April
The most followed newsletter about international formats
1. A TRIO OF BRAND-NEW FORMATS FOR FOX
During the last MipTv, which has just ended, FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE) officially announced 2 new series created under its International Unscripted Format Fund, specifically set up to partner with international buyers.
The first one, Beat My Mini-Mes (wt), jointly developed by FAE and the French channel TF1 (where it will premiere later this year), is a competition series where celebrity singers face off while surrounded by talented children who are all wearing the same outfit as they are, like mini-mes (little clones). After multiple rounds of performances, only one kid will help their team be crowned the winner.
The second one, Marriage Market, is a dating reality series developed by FAE and the German ProSieben, where it will premiere later this year as well. Based on something similar that actually exists in some eastern countries (and on a Tv show launched some years ago), this social experiment sees parents select their child’s husband or wife in a dedicated market where other parents have decorated booths according to their own kid’s personality. The parents and the newly couple then live all together in a house, where the kids get to know each other under the close watch of their parents.
Furthermore, Fox has commissioned a gameshow hosted and produced by American actor and comedian David Spade (pic), Snake Oil, produced by FAE and Electric Avenue Productions, that will premiere on Fox during the 2023/24 broadcast season.
The format sees contestants being pitched unique products by persuasive entrepreneurs. Some of them are pitching legitimate business ventures, while others are “snake oil salesmen” (cheaters) whose products are fake. Contestants, with the help of guest celebrity advisors, must determine which products are real and which are fake, for a chance to win a prize.
2. MATCH (AGAIN) THE FAMILY
“Guessing-the-relatives” has become a kind of sub-genre (or sub-sub-genre) of the guessing game trend. For example, in Family Ties or Lies, the winning project at Armoza’s annual pitch competition Formagination 2022 (see Friday’s Espresso 7 Apr), participants have to understand who are siblings and who are not; in DNA Singers and Claim To Fame relatives of celebs need to be identified; and so on.
The last program of this long list is Match the Family, launched at the MipTv by Turkish prodco Global Agency. The show brings together two teams of three players that have to identify the family members of a person in the studio from five candidates, using clues such as profession, interests etc. The prize money rises over the five rounds, and the top team competes in the final quick-fire quiz, answering personal questions about the family.
Highly playable for the viewer at home, but without a real, original twist and a bit too similar to others of the same sub-trend.
3. THE FLOWERS OF THE TV GARDEN
As anticipated in the last issue, Virgina Mouseler, in addition to the traditional and unmissable appointments of “Fresh Tv” at the MipTv, inaugurated another one, “Fresh TV Garden”, described as follows: “non-scripted shows of tomorrow who need to be nurtured to grow. They may come from new content creators, independent producers, uncharted territories or the digital space”.
It’s absolutely correct: tv is changing so quickly and contents as well. However, it must also be said that not all these kinds of contents are living up expectation; at least, not yet.
The palm of the most interesting product goes to ARTificial, from Dutch TV prodco Concept Street, a new format pitting real artists against artificial intelligence: 3 AI-generated art works, a fourth one generated by a human artist: who will win?
The palm of the most original goes to Know Your Sh!t, described as “a cheery odyssey into other people’s poo”, on Channel 4. The title actually conceals an educational intent: people might be helped to better health by confronting their poo.
As for the rest some good ideas but nothing revolutionary: some dating shows “in reduced size” (Truth or Drink, The Button: You Tube Cut); a comedy / relation show, Get off my phone (You Tube Dave): a celeb grants full access to one's smartphone to a close relative (father, sibling…) to discover secret (and sometime embarrassing) sides of their personality (College Humor launched a similar program, I want my phone back, later taken over by Facebook Watch). And others.
In conclusion: the integration between traditional and digital (“tradigital”) tv is in progress, but not yet accomplished. However, it’s absolutely right to map it and see how the flowers in this garden will grow.
(Thanks to Alberto Rossini, Branded Entertainment and TV Director at YAM112003, for his contribution).
