Fox Picks Up “Take Me Out” from ITV
Fox is getting back into the game show world with a new one, and it’s pretty good. The network famous for American Idol and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader has picked up ITV’s hit dating show Take Me Out. Sources are saying that Fox is looking at a summer launch. Take Me Out was previously piloted by ABC before Fox took it over. Take Me Out is a unique show that mixes The Dating Game with 1 VS 100. Thirty single ladies appear each show. One man tries to win the women over through a series of rounds. If a lady is not interested she can hit a button on her podium to knock herself out. One lady may ultimately be left to go on a date with the man, or the man may go home alone. It’s a unique, funny, and entertaining show hosted by Paddy McGuiness who does as well as you could possibly hope for. It will be a challenge to replace him for an American audience, if they do.
I, honestly, was going to write something this weekend asking why no American network has picked up Take Me Out since it seems like a no-brainer, but that’s not needed anymore. Very, very smart move. I see this being a successful show for the network if they do it correctly. The show is funny and just flat out good. It’s got some cringe-worthy moments, but not nearly as bad as Baggage. The show comes from Fremantle Media, who makes American Idol. It originated in Australia as Taken Out Anyone seen the British version and looking forward to this? I know I am. I usually don’t go for dating shows but there’s something really good about this one. Here’s some fun clips of the ITV edition, if you haven’t seen it. I know a lot of readers are going to instantly erase the thought that this show could be good based on its premise. However, please, give it a chance. You’ll like it.
This is probably the most embarrassing moment in the show’s history. But still fun to watch.
And here’s Tambo, which is hard to forget once you see it.
Source : Entertainment Weekly
YESS!! I absolutely love this show I hope they dont screw this up and they need Paddy!!
Although I passionately hate the dating genre, Take Me Out is a ratings success for a reason, and it’s a great fit for a Fox summer show. Smart pickup there.
This is perfect for a summer show- Fox can use it as a replacement for the jettisoned So You Think You Can Dance results shows (which still makes no sense to me)….
But STILL no US network has picked The Cube up….
Thanks again for brining the Cube into conversation yet again.
Has promise…NPH would be a good choice as host, him or ?. Maybe add an occasional, but infrequent celebrity round (hear that, Fox? INFREQUENT), and possibly switch up between 1 girl/30 guys and 1 guy/30 girls…Maybe GSN as a last resort, but they’d only fuck it up…
I hate to admit that I find Take Me Out entertaining, but I do. Probably the main reason for that is Paddy, and I’m just not sure the show will be anywhere near as funny without him.
Also, I’m surprised ABC didn’t pick it up. Seems like it would have been a good match for The Bachelor.
The best thing about the show is when 5 or so girls leave their lights on after the guy says something like, “Oh, and I’m a racist.”
Isn’t it rumored that Charlie Sheen is being pitched to host this, as he is already in the Fox (FX) family?
I already sense a failure here. The words “FOX” and “Game Show” don’t go together in the same sentence. Every time FOX produces a game show, they cancel it before the first season is over. In fact, sometimes, FOX cancels the game show after just 1 episode, or before the show even airs in the first place. Don’t believe me? Just check this list out:
Greed – Cancelled After 1 Season (Best FOX Game Show Ever Produced)
It’s Your Chance of a Lifetime – Cancelled After 5 Episodes
The Chamber – Cancelled After 6 Episodes
The Rich List – Cancelled After 1 Episode
Hole In The Wall – Cancelled After 18 Episodes
The Moment of Truth – Boring Game Show that was Cancelled after 23 Episodes
Our Little Genius – Cancelled After 0 Episodes
Million Dollar Money Drop – Cancelled After 12 Episodes
In fact, in the past 13 years, FOX has only produced 3 game shows which have lasted longer than 40 episodes – Greed, 5th Grader and Don’t Forget The Lyrics. And all of these game shows have also been cancelled.
I like 1 VS 100, so I’ll give this new “Take Me Out” game show a chance.
However, if Take Me Out doesn’t get at least 10 million viewers in the premiere, I’ll bet you $10 Million that FOX will cancel it before the first season is over. And before they cancel it, they will shuffle around the time slot about 5 times until no one knows when it’s on anymore.
The words “FOX” and “show” do not go together well, period. As you mentioned, they have a habit of shuffling their schedule like a deck of cards every other week so that even if you like one of their shows, you still can’t ever figure out when it’s on. But it’s not just game shows.
Except, of course, for American Idol, American Idol Rewind, American Idol Fast Forward, American Idol in Slow Motion, American Idol Backwards, American Idol Upside-Down, Behind the Scenes of American Idol, Behind the Scenes of Behind the Scenes of American Idol, and so on.
See also: http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/080226.html
I also don’t know how we can say Fox treats the genre badly. Fifth Grader, for its faults, was a good show that they treated well and didn’t do over the top. So was Lyrics. Moment of Truth hit the right tone and look, with a very respected host, not some over the top maniac like you’d expect. Even other short-lived shows like Rich List were done with the proper tone and feel and casting in mind. They treat the genre a hell of a lot better than, say, NBC. Or GSN.
And, come on, Fox also only airs one version of American Idol twice a week in its season. It’s not on to the level that Deal or No Deal or Millionaire were.
Come on, let’s not pretend that Fox says, “Wow, that got good ratings. Too bad we can’t do a second season.” All the game shows they got rid of were removed, for the most part, because of ratings. Greed was not nearly as highly rated (or good, frankly) as people make it seem (I’ve never seen a more cobbled-together-at-the-last-second looking show in my life), Chance of a Lifetime had bad ratings, The Chamber had bad ratings, Rich List had bad ratings, Hole in the Wall had bad ratings, Moment of Truth survived two seasons and had one unaired because of low ratings and no spots on the schedule, Our Little Genius was canceled because they rigged the show, and Money Drop was canceled for low ratings.
Don’t blame low ratings and the fully justifiable reason of canceling the show because of them on Fox. Blame it on the viewers that didn’t watch. The ratings weren’t at levels where Fox could say, “Well it’s not doing that badly so let’s see if it can grow.” The ratings were, “We can do better with reruns.”
The game shows that have lasted more than one season on Fox have been because they had a good budget and the ratings were good enough to continue it. Again, let’s not be delusional and say Fox cancels game shows after one season regardless of ratings. They cancel because they got bad ratings.
Define “bad ratings” Alex. The major networks these days are highly over-rated with regards to the number of millions of viewers they define as “necessary” in order to not cancel a particular program.
I wouldn’t mind having 3 to 5 million viewers visiting my website, or watching my YouTube video. In fact, I’d bet GSN wouldn’t mind having 3 to 5 million viewers watching one of their programs either, let alone 1 million viewers. However, a network likes FOX seems to be comparing all of its shows to American Idol’s ratings. In other words, if a show on FOX can’t consistently get at least 10 million viewers per episode, the FOX execs consider the ratings too low to continue airing it on the schedule.
Most primetime game shows these days are lucky to average around 5 million viewers per episode. To think that every game show created must get at least 10 million viewers to stay on the air is a ridiculous theory, but it’s one that the major networks seem to be following — FOX in particular.
And from what I was told, Greed was cancelled because of the supposedly-low ratings of Chance Of A Lifetime, and FOX didn’t want Greed to eventually slip in the ratings either, so they pulled it off the air before its time.
I personally liked Greed because of the music, the sound effects, and the fact that the gameplay was more intense than on Millionaire (multiple-answer questions).
*Cough, cough* Singled Out *Cough, cough*
But seriously, its the old MTV show Singled Out, but the girls can eliminate themselves.
A dating show of FOX…… I don’t know. ABC has The Bachelor and that show makes me wanna punch babies lol. This is all my opinion, but I can’t stand that kinda stuff. I’d much rather see actual game shows. I like challenging, fun, heart pounding game shows, not to see who is willing to lower themselves to a date on TV by embarassing themself and probably their families. And how many of those relationships even last? Again, I’m just saying. I don’t know about alot of you, but I’d rather see a new season of Temptation/Sale of the Century then another dating show. Again, all my opinion
I would love to see Temptation/SOTC as well, BUT ONLY IF THEY DID IT RIGHT! Cull the YouTube archives of Channel 9′s far superior version for pointers (another example of how (when reviving a classic game) you should not fuck up with a proven format (like Rossi’s version did): look at how Challenge has treated Blockbusters – promises to do well)…
I was compairing watching Take Me Out to Rossi’s version lol. But yeah, I would love to see it revived but it needs to be WAY better then Rossi’s version.
Pretty fun interesting show. So much for the Money Drop, so maybe this one might do good for Fox.
Heh, that actually looks like a pretty charming twist on the tired old dating show.
Which means that it has no chance to survive on U.S. network television.
The only way it is like Singled Out is that it features one person and a large group of people from the opposite sex. That is basically it.
Chris Hardwick would be a better choice for host IMO. Most UK hosts that have done US verisons of their shows have failed.
And he did do the aforementioned “Singled Out” as well, so he does have dating show cred…
Would never apply to be a contestant in 100 years but where can I apply to host? lol
The show is just full of fun. The only other entertaining dating show we have here is “Baggage.” Also, having a show that’s more quicker, tolerable and funnier than “The Bachelor” is welcomed.
I think FOX can handle “Take Me Out” just fine. Again, this will come down to ratings. I see it working here in the states.
The way that Tambo was treated, especially at the end, gives me little hope for the show doing well in the states. Groups of Women in the US are much worse against men then they are in the UK.
They may as well name it “The Toolbox” because they will end up treating most of the men as if they are TOOLS!
I’ve watched the Brit version and was taken aback upon reading this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2116295/New-Take-Me-Out-scandal-producers-tell-girls-partners-pick.html
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