tammyy2j
15-07-2011, 13:58
UK network ITV, have revealed the show set to fill the Saturday night gap left behind by Britain’s Got Talent. With a new reality show based on trivial issues in marriage. X Factor host Dermot O’Leary will be presenting ITV1′s version of American format The Marriage Ref, where disgruntled couples call in with their problems before a rotating celebrity panel decides ‘who was right’.
The format was originally created by Jerry Seinfeld, and the American version of the show usually sees three couples per episode who have a problem with their partner, while the show ends each week with the studio audience voting on which of the debate ’winners’ (chosen by celebrities) was ‘the rightest’, with that person winning a prize of $25,000 and a celebratory billboard in their hometown.
It is likely that the UK edition will follow a similar route to its NBC counterpart, but allegedly involving two three-person panels, one consisting of ‘celebrities’ and the other filled with ‘comedians’.
The first episode of ITV’s seven-part season will include TV presenter Alan Carr, former Spice Girl singer Geri Halliwell, actor James Corden, and TV presenter Jonathan Ross sitting on the panels, while confirmed comics for the remainder of the series include Jimmy Carr, Micky Flanagan, and Sarah Millican.
Dermot said of his new job: “I’ll encourage the panel to keep it warm and friendly, fat chance! And I will definitely try to remain impartial, but I can’t promise… We have great panellists taking part, they’ll all bring something special.”
While he is confident of a good-quality show on The Marriage Ref, he has sounded out a warning to potential applicants with problems on the level of the more serious morning series The Jeremy Kyle Show that they will not be considered, maintaining that the series is for couples that are very much in love, yet have a major (but probably trivial) irritation with their partner.
Such ‘arguments’ that will be up for debate are said to include a man believing that his wife pays more attention to her cat than to him, and a woman complaining about her husband’s ‘immature’ obsession with skateboarding.
Commissioning Editor for ITV Claire Zolkwer said of the format: “We are absolutely delighted to have so many great celebrities and comedians on our panel. Each week there will be three people commenting on the disputes, with Dermot as host. The panellists we’ve chosen are certainly not backward in coming forward, so there’s bound to be some lively debates on subjects we can all relate to.”
Mixing celebrities and marriage problems might not have been the best idea in the world if the show was more serious, but as demonstrated in the American version last year (in a preview clip below), having a panel one week consisting of Larry David (divorced), Madonna (divorced), and Ricky Gervais (has a long-term girlfriend, but does not believe in the concept of marriage), proves that this show is supposed to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The show has done enough to see a second series commissioned in the USA, while international versions of the format have also been green-lighted in Argentina and the Middle East. Will the UK version prove to be the right choice of Saturday-night entertainment for ITV, or will they be asking for a quick divorce?
The format was originally created by Jerry Seinfeld, and the American version of the show usually sees three couples per episode who have a problem with their partner, while the show ends each week with the studio audience voting on which of the debate ’winners’ (chosen by celebrities) was ‘the rightest’, with that person winning a prize of $25,000 and a celebratory billboard in their hometown.
It is likely that the UK edition will follow a similar route to its NBC counterpart, but allegedly involving two three-person panels, one consisting of ‘celebrities’ and the other filled with ‘comedians’.
The first episode of ITV’s seven-part season will include TV presenter Alan Carr, former Spice Girl singer Geri Halliwell, actor James Corden, and TV presenter Jonathan Ross sitting on the panels, while confirmed comics for the remainder of the series include Jimmy Carr, Micky Flanagan, and Sarah Millican.
Dermot said of his new job: “I’ll encourage the panel to keep it warm and friendly, fat chance! And I will definitely try to remain impartial, but I can’t promise… We have great panellists taking part, they’ll all bring something special.”
While he is confident of a good-quality show on The Marriage Ref, he has sounded out a warning to potential applicants with problems on the level of the more serious morning series The Jeremy Kyle Show that they will not be considered, maintaining that the series is for couples that are very much in love, yet have a major (but probably trivial) irritation with their partner.
Such ‘arguments’ that will be up for debate are said to include a man believing that his wife pays more attention to her cat than to him, and a woman complaining about her husband’s ‘immature’ obsession with skateboarding.
Commissioning Editor for ITV Claire Zolkwer said of the format: “We are absolutely delighted to have so many great celebrities and comedians on our panel. Each week there will be three people commenting on the disputes, with Dermot as host. The panellists we’ve chosen are certainly not backward in coming forward, so there’s bound to be some lively debates on subjects we can all relate to.”
Mixing celebrities and marriage problems might not have been the best idea in the world if the show was more serious, but as demonstrated in the American version last year (in a preview clip below), having a panel one week consisting of Larry David (divorced), Madonna (divorced), and Ricky Gervais (has a long-term girlfriend, but does not believe in the concept of marriage), proves that this show is supposed to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The show has done enough to see a second series commissioned in the USA, while international versions of the format have also been green-lighted in Argentina and the Middle East. Will the UK version prove to be the right choice of Saturday-night entertainment for ITV, or will they be asking for a quick divorce?