8 replies to this topic

[pownster]

I know that in our smaller television market (Australia) with 21 million viewers, we have produced a healthy batch of game/panel shows over the past few years, almost to the degree that they are preferred over the classic game show formats. We have adapted many British formats: Good News Week (Have I Got News For You), Spicks and Specks (Never Mind the Buzzcocks), aired many of the others straight from Britain (QI), and successfully produced a few formats of our own (Talkin' 'bout Your Generation). They are relatively cheap to make, and amazingly, they have in recent times rated FAR better than any of the big money game shows (eg. Spicks and Specks and TAYG were rating 0.8-1.2 million vs Hot Seat/DoND ~0.6 million). Audience may be a factor, but our audiences are more attuned to American tastes in humour and so this wouldn't entirely explain their widespread popularity. I believe a panel show appropriately tailored for the local market could be very successful, even in North America (and cheap to produce too).  As for locating talent, our shows have actually been used as an avenue to identify and showcase new talent - many of these people have gone onto bigger and better things.

[Mr. Armadillo]

davidbod, on 24 June 2012 - 03:13 AM, said:

The usual obstacle that UK producers have found when trying to adapt Panel shows across the pond is to find the right kind of talent in enough volume.

Of all the things American comedians have been accused of lacking, that's got to be the first time I've heard 'volume'.  Usually, your ears are drowning in it.