Three of a Kind: “The £1,000,000 Drop”, “Downfall” and “Succes Verzekerd”

One of the things I love doing around here is giving as much attention to foreign game shows, giving you a taste of what else is out there.  The two places we give the most attention to are England and The Netherlands.  We’ve been getting a lot of questions about ABC’s new game show Downfall also.  If you follow this site or entertainment news, you know it’s a brand new quiz show taking place on a skyscraper and will involve your prizes dropping off the edge.  Incidentally it comes at the same exact time that the new Channel4 game show The £1,000,000 Drop has been casting and been popping up.  I’ve got a lot of people asking about both, and they actually all link to the Dutch show Succes Verzekerd which we discussed before.  I’m going to just go through all the shows, explaining what may happen with each and say what is going on with them.

The £1,000,000 Drop has been doing some unique casting through Facebook and Twitter.  Recently they announced the rules of the show.  The essential format gives a contestant £1,000,000 and all they have to do is answer eight questions correctly to win it.  The catch is they have to put all their money on different drop zones to answer questions.  They can either place the money on one answer or divide it however they want.  Money on the wrong answers are gone for good, and the money left over after eight questions is what is taken home.

This show is through Endemol.  The reason I bring that up is because the format is completely identical to the Dutch show Succes Verzekerd.  It’s got an American pitch site here, under the name Risking It All.  The interesting thing, though, is that Risking It All is a Fremantle format.  The only difference between the shows are eight questions in England instead of seven in the Netherlands, and the choices are fixed at four in England unlike in the Netherlands where it starts at three and increases each question.  One idea brought up by one of my favorite sites, Bother’s Bar, is that Endemol possibly licensed the format from Fremantle, and that’s a very good thought.  The shows are eerily similar for someone not to take notice, especially with the large base Endemol has in the Netherlands.

And then we come to Downfall.  Now Downfall is a Fremantle show, the same company that makes Risking It All.  But it’s not the same format supposedly.  All that’s known is that it takes place on a skyscraper and people play a trivia game against the clock and risk up to $1,000,000 in cash/prizes falling off the edge.  They’re doing heavy casting right now.  If you want involved, check out their website here, or go to our Downfall casting central for complete information.  Their Facebook page is a good target to for also.  Again, it doesn’t appear to be the same thing.  The casting director, Ethan Peterson, recently did an interview with RealityWanted about the show.  Check it out below.  Once format information comes in we’ll let you know.