FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO - 4th August

The most followed newsletter about international formats & factuals

1. THE GERMAN BLOCK

Wettkampf in 4 Wänden - Die ultimative Bau-Challenge (“Battle within 4 Walls - The Ultimate Building Challenge”) premiered last Tuesday 25th July on the German broadcaster RTL and RTl+.

4 teams of 2 amateur craftsmen have 6 weeks of time to convert 4 identical flats into comfortable and high-quality living spaces. In each episode the reconstruction of one room (kitchen, bathroom, sitting room…) will be shown and a jury will judge the result: the couple with the lowest score will have to leave. At the end of the series, the last remaining couple will win a prize of €50.000. Host Eva Brenner not only presents it but gives practical suggestions and advice.

Wettkampf in 4 Wänden – Die ultimative Bau-Challenge is produced by Good Times Fernsehproduktion on behalf of RTL and based on the Australian classic The Block (that premiered on Nine Network in 2003 and has reached the 19th series, with 857 episodes produced). The success of the Australian series was such that VHSs before and DVDs after were released till 2019 with great success as well: not so common for an unscripted content.

2. BRITS LOVE PRISONS

A month ago news came out that Channel 4 commissioned HMP, a docu-series taking its title from the decommissioned prison HMP Shrewsbury, where six British celebrities will be kept for eight days (see Friday’s Espresso - 30th June).

Now Channel 5 announced the eight-part docuseries Ross Kemp: 72 Hours In… (w.t.), which starts shooting this summer and is due to air next year, produced by Chalkboard TV and Freshwater Films.

The eponymous BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker, actor and author (pic) will enter some of the world’s most high-security, high-risk prisons across the world, including Latin America and Asia, housing gang leaders, serial killers, violent criminals and drug lords to find out what it takes to be part of the teams who risk their lives to run these complex institutions.

The trend of “extreme experiences”, in all its shades, has always been very strong, as we can see below; but 2 “prison shows” in the same period are perhaps a little too much…

3. YET ANOTHER “REALITY SQUARED”

The trend of “Reality squared” - i.e. formats whose participants come from other realities - continues to grow: recent examples are All Star Shore on Mtv (see Friday’s Espresso 1st July), Perfect Match on Netflix (FE 17th Feb: in this case a “dating squared”), The GOAT on Amazon Freeve (FE 5th May) and House of Villains on E! (FE 12th May).

Now Fight to Survive, the umpteenth survival competition, will debut on US broadcaster The CW on Thursday August 10, airing one new episode for eight weeks. On September 29, the day after the broadcast finale, the series will drop in its entirety on The Roku Channel and on The CW’s on-demand app. The show is created and executive produced by Kevin Lee for Tollbooth Television, and hosted by American Ninja Warrior Akbar Gbajabiamila.

Like all the other “reality squared” this new format really has nothing new and the only reason of interest is that the 17 competitors - who pit against each other in an attempt to survive 25 days on a remote tropical island while facing brutal conditions to win $250,000- come from other realities, such as Survivor, Alone, Naked and Afraid, American Ninja Warrior, Stranded With a Million Dollars and others.

And that’s all for the moment: FRIDAY’S ESPRESSO is taking a brief summer vacation and will return FRIDAY 18th AUGUST. Greetings to everybody!