Monthly Archives: April 2011

Hot and sunny here in Cannes as the first day of MIP, the world television market, kicks off.

Went to the Fresh TV show at MIP today with primarily game and reality challenge programs.

There seemed to be two major themes: survival and shows about generosity along with others that were just plain dumb. You can catch live events from MIP.

First the feel-good shows.

You Deserve It will air on ABC in the states and also in Germany and Italy. Contestants actively promote a person whom they think deserves a cash prize. In the clip, a young man was winning money so that his mother could have a heart operation. The mother knew nothing about his intentions and was totally overcome with happiness when she heard of his generosity.

Another show out of the UK, Heading out for a Hero pits three contestants against each other and the audience sees who the person is playing for and hears their story. There are five multiple choice questions with each question raising the money stakes. The contestant who builds up the most in the hero fund wins with great tears of joy.

Survival continues to be a major game show with all kinds of variation. Family Explorer from TFI in France continues the trend with a twist. Five families of four set out to camp in the wilderness and have to fight together for a cash prize. They all are tested physically with each family sending a family member into exile in the final challenge while the other people in the family race to catch helicopter that can only hold two of the families. The audience at home votes on which family they think should win.

Magic shows were also new on the fresh list. One show pitted three magicians against each other and the other pitted couples against an illusionist. The couple had to determine whether the challenge was impossible or not.

And The Shuffle from Japan and the Nordic countries that had four contestants putting things in order, doing the most wacky challenges. Not quite sure what that one was about.