WHEN a reality game series fares well in the US and UK, it often triggers home-grown clones across the globe.
Here in South Africa we have seen our fair share of such inspired offerings: Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Idols SA, Deal or No Deal, The Weakest Link, Survivor SA, Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dine With Me SA, MasterChef SA or SA’s Got Talent. The list is endless.
With a second season of MasterChef SA on the cards – winner Deena Naidoo is reportedly launching his restaurant at Montecasino soon – M-Net has latched on to another potential cash cow for the channel with Million Rand Money Drop.
An idea born from the US version that aired on the channel not too long ago, Lani Lombard, M-Net’s communications manager, explained: “Million Dollar Money Drop was screened in an early prime-time weekday slot on M-Net, which usually doesn’t draw huge viewership figures.
“But viewers’ reaction to the show indicated that a local version could do well on the M-Net schedule in a prime-time slot.
“M-Net hasn’t produced a local game show in a while and, in the past year, there have been many requests from our audience to do another big money game show.”
Although the US version wasn’t renewed for a second season, the South African version promises to achieve the opposite.
Ingrid Engelbrecht, the publicist for local content, commented: “The Money Drop format has been the most successful series for inter- national producers, Endemol, worldwide. The show has been their biggest seller globally, and has been remade all over the world. We trust that our audiences will enjoy the way fellow South Africans get the opportunity to win big money and see how two people are able to work together – or not.”
On the first bout of auditions in Jozi last week, Engelbrecht said: “It was a resounding success. A diverse and dynamic crowd arrived over the two days.
“We got people who road-tripped from neighbouring provinces, octogenarians, and everyone else in between. The show will most certainly feature fabulous contestants.”
The high stakes concept of the game show is simple: contestants, working as a team, start off with R1 million and, depending on how they answer eight multiple choice questions, could see the cash fall slip their fingers or flow into their bank accounts.
Personality, drive and a pretty good general knowledge are guaranteed to hold hopefuls in good stead at the remaining auditions.
While M-Net is keeping mum on the front runners to present the show, Engelbrecht said: “At the moment we are holding a closed, invitation-only audition process for the host. But we’re keeping it a surprise for now.”
Of the scale of the budget for the game show, Engelbrecht said: “It’s against M-Net’s policy to provide budget figures on any show. But it is known that the big reality shows are the most expensive to make.”
While M-Net is confident it has bagged a winning show and would-be contestants dream of bagging the life-changing cash prize, let’s hope viewers don’t end up being short-changed by an offering that is big on hype but poor on delivery.
• Auditions for the remaining cities are as follows: BAT Centre, Durban (today and tomorrow), Cape Town Lodge (November 8 and 9) and Ibhayi Lodge, Port Elizabeth (November 16 and 17). You must be 18 years or older to enter. For more details visit: www.mnet.co.za