Every week another network is importing or imitating another sitcom, reality series or game show from the UK. But now CBS has one-upped themselves and everyone else-- by ripping off a hot British game show--before it's even been produced in England!
Ashton Kutcher's production company is partnered with Twentieth's "edgy" Fox 21 and the UK's Hat Trick to produce a US version of Game Show in My Head, in which contestants will do crazy things trying to win a million dollars. There's even a hidden camera element, like Kutcher's Punk'd.
CBS has greenlit a pilot. They're keeping quiet about the content, but a recent casting call offered a clue:
"Wanted: Everyday people who are ready for a little fun in extraordinary situations.
"Do you consider yourself a daredevil, a risk taker, a great salesman? Can you talk an Eskimo into buying a block of ice? Sell a ketchup popsicle to a man in white gloves? Then you're ready to star in the new CBS prime time TV pilot."
The pilot's set to shoot later this month. And its production indicates that Kutcher-- not Carson Daly-- could turn out to be the new Dick Clark. His company, Katalyst, is really churning them out. It's just come off a hit season of Beauty & The Geek on the CW; in April they'll launch Wedding Crashers on NBC and Hollyhood and the ninth and final season of Punk'd on MTV; and they've got a few more series in the works. How does he find time to be a Dad?