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Show of the week: My Man Can – Showdown
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My Man Can was a hit in its home German market and internationally, selling in to 30 territories, and Red Arrow is hoping for more of the same for its new spin-off.
My Man Can: Showdown takes the core principle behind the original series – whereby women bet on their husbands completing physical challenges – and introduces new head-to-head and question-and-answer elements.
The new version is set inside an arena and the duels see two of the men going up against each other. A group of couples play, and the two women who back their men with the biggest bets set up a competition between their husbands.
The German version is in its second season on ProSieben’s Sat.1 channel. “They’ve brought back one of their biggest shows – it still has five couples and the women betting on their husbands, but it is set up as more of a duel in the studio,” says Harry Gamsu, Red Arrow International’s VP, format acquisitions and sales. “It’s also not limited to physical games. It’s big, bold family entertainment.”
He explains that the Q+A rounds play on humorous elements, and mean the show is not just limited to physical games.
Red Arrow will be selling the format, which is notable for being one of a few German-originated formats to have become an international hit, at NATPE.
The German version is big. It’s filmed in a huge two-tier studio and, running to four episodes, is event-sized TV. “If you bring something back, it needs to have oomph and this feels like event programming,” says Gamsu. “Internationally it would not have to be on that scale, though.”
The show also does not need to be limited to wives betting on husbands. In Argentina, free-TV broadcaster Telefe has reverse-engineered the concept and My Woman Can has run to three seasons.
Buyers who want a big, family entertainment show should look out for Red Arrow in Miami. “My Man Can has humour and comedy as well as tension and jeopardy, as you see how people in a relationship react under pressure,” says Gamsu.
An altogether edgier format, Kiss Bang Love, will also be on offer at NATPE. From the Married at First Sight team, the show has couples kiss each other before deciding whether to then go on a date.
The show: My Man Can: Showdown
The producer: RedSeven Entertainment
The distributor: Red Arrow International
The broadcaster: Sat.1 (Germany)
The concept: Rebooted version of popular studio gameshow
2 min read
