Livewire! 1/19
Hey everyone, it's time for....
Pierre Kelly still stuck in the house at Mermaid Lagoon giving you news until the snow melts. This edition is brought to you by countertops. Dogs like it, but they wished they eat it. Right?
Today is national popcorn day. Grab your favorite popcorn, recline and......get wired!
In early 2016, James Farrell, then the head of content at Amazon Studios for Japan, was looking for original programming that could help the streamer gain a foothold in the region.
After months of searching, Farrell recalled recently, he was open to any concept, no matter how strange or unconventional. Then, over a late night dinner, one of the country’s most prominent comedians, Hitoshi Matsumoto, suggested an idea to Farrell that he said the Japanese networks had never let him do: Ten comedians gather in a room and try to make each other laugh. The last one to keep a straight face wins.
The resulting program, a four-episode, roughly three-hour comedy game show called “Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents: Documental,” quickly became one of the most popular shows on Prime Video in Japan, producing a rabid fan base and 13 seasons over the past eight years.
It also launched a sprawling international franchise, with local versions in more than a dozen territories around the world. Rebranded abroad as “LOL: Last One Laughing,” the format remains almost exactly as Matsumoto first pitched it, with each version drawing contestants from its country’s top comedians and comedy actors. It now has iterations in Italy, Mexico, Spain, France, Canada (in both French and in English), Denmark, Colombia and more — each of which, almost without exception, has found an enthusiastic audience in its country of origin.
“On paper, the idea of people not laughing for however many hours doesn’t sound like it’s going to be entertaining,” said the comedian Graham Norton, the host of an Irish version of “LOL” that premieres Friday. “And yet when you watch it, you realize that it is fun — it is oddly entertaining.
If you’re looking for a heartwarming, light-hearted comedy, a great newer pick is Quiz Lady on Hulu. The movie follows Anne, played by Awkwafina in a role very different than the ones she’s known for, and her estranged sister, Jenny (Sandra Oh). Anne’s dog is kidnapped by her mother’s gambling debt collectors and the sisters have to figure out a way to make some money fast. When Jenny realizes just how good Anne is at Can’t Stop the Quiz, a Jeopardy!-esque game show, she gets her on the show.
Will Ferrell portrays game show host Terry McTeer, who reminded me of a wonderful mix of the late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and Ferrell’s version of Trebek on Saturday Night Live. Turns out, the character was a way to honor Trebek after he passed away in November 2020.
The writer of the film, Jen D’Angelo admitted that she grew up watching Jeopardy! and other game shows. She even said that her brother is very much like Anne and could remember everything he’s ever read. She said about Ferrell’s character, “Alex Trebek is such an incredible cultural icon; he means so much to so many people. And so we really wanted to make it a love letter to him. It was really so great to see Will play this character, because he has that connection to Alex from ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!'
Talk show “Hey Qween!” will stream exclusively on World of Wonder‘s platform WOW Presents Plus.
Host Jonny McGovern will sit down with the eliminated queen from each week of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 16, for a tell-all interview. “Hey Qween!” began in 2014 on YouTube and was originally hosted by McGovern and the late Lady Red Couture. Now back with a revamped format, the program will have access to the first TV interview with eliminated queens.
The new series of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which airs on MTV in the U.S. and on WOW Presents Plus in the U.K., features 14 new drag queens competing for the $200,000 grand prize and the title of America’s next drag superstar. Episodes of “Hey Qween!” will air weekly starting on Jan. 22 with each episode airing the Monday following a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” elimination.
Did you know that a good friend of mine is celebrating a birthday this weekend? Yep, it's Dino "Chico" Alexander's forty-something birthday for the 1-time jeopardy contestant. So here is a photo of Dino on Let's Ask America (remember that?) almost a decade ago.
TAYLOR TOMLINSON RETURNS TO NETFLIX WITH NEW COMEDY SPECIAL, "HAVE IT ALL"
Taylor's Third Original Comedy Special Is Set To Premiere Globally on Netflix on February 13, 2024
· Have It All follows Taylor's previous Netflix original comedy specials Look At You and Quarter-Life Crisis.
· The special was filmed at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia.
· Kristian Mercado directs and Taylor Tomlinson serves as Executive Producer alongside Judi Marmel.
· Logline: In her third Netflix original comedy special, Taylor Tomlinson talks about having your dream job, finding your perfect partner, dealing with anxiety and insomnia all while asking the age-old question... can you really Have It All?
netflix.com/taylortomlinsonhaveitall
This Happened on Limitless Win......
It had a big reaction to the UK faithful and gave that a wake up call. Our field analyst Andrew Hain in his own words of congrats to the newest UK couple becoming millionaires.
Congratulations to married healthcare workers Helen and Charlie on becoming the first team on Limitless Win to win £1,000,000! With tonight’s big win, this is an important reminder that we must get a U.S. version on NBC right now! It would be so much better if it had Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (a.k.a. Ant & Dec) as hosts, Jeff Apploff as showrunner, Ollie Bartlett as director, Chase Fleming as a co-executive producer, Rayna Apploff as a supervising producer, Aaron Solomon as senior writer and another co-EP, Scott Saltzburg as head writer and another SP, and Chip Dornell, Ryan Hopak, Rylee Newton, Karissa Noel, and Doug Shaffer as writers! We also have to use a version of the same set originally designed by Andrew Gates and our version would be designed by Dave Edwards while Andrew could be consulting set designer. And of course, our version has to use the same music composed by Marc Sylvan, Gary Barlow, and Dan Keen. What also helps is that the current third season as well as the upcoming fourth season which will premiere next year were taped back-to-back and Ant & Dec will be (at least temporarily) ending their variety show Saturday Night Takeaway after its upcoming 20th season which premieres the week after the season finale of Limitless Win. Add to that the 17th season of Britain’s Got Talent which premieres after the season finale of Takeaway and ends in June, and that means that Ant & Dec will have PLENTY of time to fly out here to Los Angeles to film a U.S. version of Limitless Win! I have heard that many Americans aren’t too sure about having Ant & Dec here in America but as the Game Show Guru, I am determined to debunk that myth! What makes the show so much fun is that the show potentially offers big money which is often hard to win. As is the case with Millionaire, the show has a money ladder and lifelines and as you climb the ladder, the questions get harder and the risks get bigger but obviously with Limitless Win, there is no limit as the name suggests. Knowing that Jeff has so many of his original formats in the works, some of which I hope will also have $1,000,000+ prizes such as Beat Shazam, Don't Forget the Lyrics, and Lotería Loca, the last of which he co-created with Aaron, I promise him that Limitless Win is the only non-original show that I want him to work on! As I’ve said before, Aaron has noticed that I am obsessed with getting the show here in America and Jeff has said that I’m very funny because I’m so persistent when I want something to happen, whether it’s for myself or someone else! And in this case, it works both ways because not only do I want Jeff to work with Ant & Dec which is why I want him to be showrunner but also because my parents and I want to go to a taping and meet the duo because they are the biggest celebrities in Britain! They must be ready because they will eventually meet *cue dramatic head turn and music and insert echo* THE GAME SHOW GURU!!! I know that Liam Safian wants to be an editor and Simon Ingram wants to work the electronics! It’s about time that we get the biggest money game show here in America with Britain’s biggest celebrities hosting our version! LIMITLESS WIN NOW!!! LIMITLESS WIN STRONG!!! Congratulations to Helen and Charlie on becoming the biggest winners in Limitless Win history and here’s to potentially more of those! We might have even bigger wins this season so stay tuned!
#LimitlessWinNow
#LimitlessWinStrong
#NBCNeedsLimitlessWin
#LimitlessWinNeedsJeffApploff
#AmericaNeedsAntAndDec
And let's end it with Reyhaneh Kholoosi.
Then you know it's time for Livewire! Until next time, play on playas.
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