Vice Studios Wins First Gameshow Commission With ‘Beat The Internet With John Robins’ For UKTV
Vice Studios is continuing to pick up commissions from third-party broadcasters – this time securing a gameshow from British network UKTV.
The Discovery and BBC Studios-backed broadcaster has ordered Beat The Internet with John Robins for its male-skewing Dave channel. It also marks Vice’s first studio gameshow, coming after Channel 5 documentary series Britain’s Cocaine Epidemic and BBC2 doc The Satanic Verses.
The format will see comedian Robins pit members of the public against each other in a quest to predict how search engines respond to a series of questions – from images to wordplay.
It was created by Dan Louw and is exec produced by Vice Studios’ Creative Director Yonni Usiskin and series edited by Keith Cotton. It was ordered by UKTV’s Senior Commissioning Editor Iain Coyle, Director of Commissioning Richard Watsham and Genre General Manager, Comedy and Entertainment Steve North. All3Media International will sell the format and finished series globally.
Robins said, “For many years now I’ve been suspicious that the internet is getting too big for its boots. Its war against our high streets, laws and HMRC goes completely unchecked, and that’s not to mention the unknowable impact on future generations of the constant stream of top shelf material it provides, whose sheer volume and variety never ceases to astonish and horrify. I say it’s time to fight back, to reclaim our streets, to enforce our laws, recoup our taxes, and place pornography back on actual shelves in the real world, where it can be controlled, policed, and placed under a copy of The Times before handing to a sympathetic newsagent. Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to Beat The Internet.”
Usiskin added, “We are delighted to be working with UKTV on our first studio game show, Beat The Internet with John Robins. Not only is this our first commission for UKTV but it also marks our move into unscripted formats and entertainment programming. Beat The Internet is unlike any other game show – it is born from the bizarre and highly intimate everyday relationship we all have with search engines and turns it into a game show that is hilarious, surprising and addictive viewing.”
“I’m really excited about this. Is it: a) a new genre for the channel b) a highly addictive, play-along game or c) a chance to work with one of the most exciting new comedy talents to emerge in the last few years? Answer: It’s all three,” UKTV’s Coyle added.
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