Big Brother is a Dutch reality competition television franchise created by John de Mol Jr., first broadcast in the Netherlands in 1999, and subsequently syndicated internationally. The show features contestants called "housemates" who live together in a specially-constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Inspired by Big Brother from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the housemates are continuously monitored during their stay in the house by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones. Throughout the course of the competition, the housemates are voted out until only one remains and wins the cash prize.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes, with the format being a twist on the game show genre – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before attempting an answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is one million of the local currency.
Pyramid is an American television game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series. Most later series featured a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting the top prize increase from $10,000, $20,000, $25,000, $50,000 to $100,000 over the years. The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Contestants attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates. The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. The various Pyramid series have won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won 13.
Paradise Hotel is an American reality television program that originally ran on Fox in 2003 followed by a second season than ran on Fox Reality Channel and MyNetworkTV in 2008. In the show, a group of single people live in a luxurious hotel resort, competing to see who can stay in the hotel the longest. Periodically, someone is removed from the show, and others are brought in to replace them. Each week couples pair off and must share a hotel room together. One person is left over, and he or she has to leave. That person is then replaced the following episode. The format was created by Mentorn, a British production company, which has produced various versions of the show around the world. The show was originally hosted by Amanda Byram.
Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare game show that originally aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006. It was later revived by NBC in 2011, only to be cancelled again in 2012. The show was revived a second time in 2017 to air on MTV. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a grand prize, usually of US $50,000. From seasons one to five, the contestants were generally three men and three women, all competing for themselves, but in season six, the show moved to a permanent format of four teams of two people, each with a pre-existing relationship with one another. The show was originally hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, produced by Matt Kunitz and David A. Hurwitz, and directed by J. Rupert Thompson. Rapper/actor Ludacris took over as host when the show was rebooted in 2017.
I Survived a Japanese Game Show was an American reality show that saw its first season premiere on ABC June 24, 2008. The show followed a group of Americans, who leave the United States for Japan where they competed in a Japanese style game show. The winner takes home US $250,000. The series won both the Best Reality prize and the overall prize at the 2009 Rose d'Or ceremony.
Expeditie Robinson is a popular reality television program in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium), that debuted in 2000. It was the second production worldwide of a format first shown in Swedish TV in 1997. The format, most notable under the title Survivor, has since then also been produced in many other countries. The name of the show alludes to Robinson Crusoe, two stories featuring people marooned by shipwrecks.
Expedition Robinson: 2005, was the ninth version of Expedition Robinson, or Survivor as it is referred to in some countries, to air in Sweden and it aired in 2005. The major twist this season was that the contestants were divided into tribes based on their annual salaries, with the North team being the "rich" team and the South team being the "poor" team. Another twist was that of the change in voting format, each contestants were given thirteen votes that they could use at any time and in any amount. Robert Drakwind, formerly known as Robert Andersson, returned to compete for a third time since 1999 along with his girlfriend, Anna Carin Wase. Both were "jokers" and did not enter the competition until episode 3. Both jokers became "chiefs" of one of the tribes and were given immunity at all pre-merge tribal councils, however from episode 4 on they could be challenged by any member of their tribe for the position of chief. If challenged, the chief and challenger would face off in a duel in which the winner would become chief and the loser would be eliminated from the competition. The final twist of the season was that of the "Finalist Island". Introduced in a challenge immediately preceding the merge, contestants would compete in a series of duels in which the winner would earn a spot on Finalist Island. The two contestants left on Finalist Island when only seven contestants were left would have immunity until the final four, while the remaining five contestants not on the island would have to compete for the two remaining spots. Karolina and Max were the last two contestants on Finalist Island. Ultimately, Karolina Conrad went on to win the season with a jury vote of 6-5 over Max Stjernfelt.
Robinsonekspedisjonen was a popular Norwegian reality television program debuting in 1999. In the fall of 1998 TV3 purchased the broadcast rights to air their own version of Expedition Robinson. Norway was one of the first countries to adopt the Robinson format following its success in both Sweden and Denmark. While it has never achieved as high of ratings as that of Denmark and Sweden's versions of the show, it is still considered a ratings success.
Robinson Ekspeditionen is a popular Danish reality television program debuting in 1998. In the spring of 1998 TV3 purchased the broadcast rights to air their own version of Expedition Robinson. Following the success of the Swedish version, Denmark was the first country to adopt their own version of the show. The show has proven to be a ratings success since its premiere in 1998.
Baltic Robinson was a popular television show that aired in the Baltic region of Europe from 2000 to 2004 and was the first pan regional edition of Robinson, or Survivor as it is referred to in some countries. During its five-year run, the show was hosted by Emil Rutiku for Estonian, Vytautas Kernagis for Lithuanian and Pauls Timrots for Latvian audience. Due to the show's success, at least one contestant, Kristīne Koļadina, was given her own spin-off show which aired and was popular with viewers in her home country of Latvia.
Robinson Ekspeditionen: 1999, was the second season of the Danish version of the Swedish show Expedition Robinson and it premiered on 11 September 1999 and aired until 3 December 1999. This season was the first to feature added twist to the game. The first twist was that two contestants, Henrik and Lissi Andersen, were married. The second twist occurred in episode 2 when two additional contestants, Megl Pehn and Dan Marstrand, competed in a challenge for a joker spot on the South team. Dan Marstrand won the challenge and ultimately, he went on to win the season with a 7–2 jury vote over Peer Stakroge becoming the first joker ever to win a season of Expedition Robinson in the world.
Robinson: La Gran Aventura was a popular television show that aired in Venezuela from 2001 to 2002 and was one of the first editions of Robinson, or Survivor as it is referred to in some countries, to air outside Europe. The show was a huge success in Venezuela, however after only two seasons the show was canceled due to its high production cost. The name alludes to both Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, two stories featuring people marooned by shipwrecks.
Expedición Robinson was a popular television show that aired in Argentina from 2000 to 2001 and was the first edition of Robinson, or Survivor as it is referred to in some countries to air in South America. The show was not a success in Argentina and after only two seasons the show was canceled. The name alludes to both Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, two stories featuring people marooned by shipwrecks.
Suomen Robinson was the Finnish reality television program debuted in 2004. In the spring of 2004 Nelonen purchased the broadcast rights to air their own version of Expedition Robinson. Seeing the success of the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish versions of the show TV4 assumed that their own version would also be a huge success. They were wrong in their assumption and due to competition from shows like Big Brother after two seasons the show was cancelled due to low ratings.
Expedition Robinson was the Central European version of Expedition Robinson. In the spring of 2000, ORF in Austria and RTL2 in Germany decided to buy the broadcasting rights to the shows Big Brother and Expedition Robinson as they wanted to begin airing a new "reality soaps" genre. Neither show was quite as big a success as RTL2 had expected, however both were renewed for a second season. Following the first season, ORF chose to no longer broadcast Expedition Robinson leaving only RTL2 to air a second season. For an unknown reason in 2001 RTL2 decided to produce a show that was almost identical to Expedition Robinson known as Gestrandet. Gestrandet proved to be a ratings failure and after 2001, Expedition Robinson no longer aired in Austria or Germany.
Koh-Lanta is a French reality game show based on the popular international Survivor format. The series premiered on August 4, 2001. The show is broadcast on TF1 and there have been 17 regular seasons, and 4 special seasons. The host of Koh-Lanta is Denis Brogniart since the second season.
Baltic Robinson: 2004 was the fourth version of Expedition Robinson to be filmed and aired in the Baltic region. The season aired from September, 2004 until December 18, 2004 and is based upon a format originally devised by the now-defunct British production company, Planet 24.
