BBC1 has ordered two new entertainment shows – All Together Now from Remarkable Television and The Button from Avalon.
The commissions were announced in a week when the future of the entertainment genre came under the spotlight.
At the Edinburgh TV Festival, senior execs questioned why there had been so few new entertainment formats in recent years. C4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt said the entertainment “has been pretty moribund as a genre for quite some time.”
ITV’s director of programmes Kevin Lygo said there “haven’t been new entertainment shows in almost ten years that have taken the world by storm.” He stressed that one of his top priorities is to concentrate on ITV’s existing “great big entertainment shows.”
Channel 5 boss Ben Frow also said at Edinburgh that he would be ‘much happier’ without long running entertainment format Big Brother on his channel. The long running format has been hit by falling ratings. Frow said: "I would be much happier if the channel did not have Big Brother on it. I like the ratings but I want to create our own programmes."
All Together Now is a new six part entertainment format for Saturday nights from Remarkable Television, part of Endemol Shine UK.
Hosted by comedian Rob Beckett, each episode sees a range of performers (solos and groups) take to the stage to perform in front of The 100, an audience of singers. If any of The 100 like what they hear, they stand up and join in. The greater the number that stand up and sing along, the higher the contestant’s score.
At the end of the show, two performers progress to the Grand Final for the chance to win a big cash prize.
The show was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director, BBC Content, Kate Phillips, Controller, Entertainment Commissioning and Rachel Ashdown, Commissioning Editor, BBC Entertainment. It will transmit in 2018.
The format was devised by Remarkable Television’s in-house team, led by Creative Director Dom Waugh.
The executive producers for Remarkable are James Fox, Dom Waugh and Andrew Cartmell. The series editor is Marc Bassett.
Meanwhile, Avalon’s new format The Button is a 8 x 30 minute game show, which will visit five families or friends each week and place a talking button at the heart of their front room where the teams face spontaneous challenges against the clock to win a cash prize.
The teams must keep a close eye on the button which turns from green to red when it’s time to play. They miss it at their peril as it’s a race against the clock to hit the button and start the game. The Button delivers the task they must complete in the quickest time, interacts with them, and also reveals their rival teams on screen and the results.
The Button is from the makers of Taskmaster, Andy Devonshire (The Great British Bake Off, The Apprentice) and Alex Horne, whilst the other executive producers are Richard Allen Turner and Jon Thoday for Avalon.
The series is commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of Television, and Kate Phillips, Controller of Entertainment. The commissioning editor is Jo Wallace.
BBC Entertainment commissioner Kate Phillips said at Edinburgh that she has 50 shows in paid development.
Staff Reporter
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