The Sims Spark'd

Last updated

The Sims Spark'd
Sims Sparkd poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Genre Reality competition
Created by
  • Evan Denbaum
  • Michael Duke
Inspired by The Sims 4
by Electronic Arts
Presented by Rayvon Owen
Judges
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
  • Joseph R. Lynch
  • Evan Denbaum
  • Michael Duke
  • Sheila Judkins
  • Allison Tom
  • Richard Hall
  • Michael Hughes
  • Greg C. Lake
Camera setupMulti-camera
Original release
Network TBS
ReleaseJuly 17 (2020-07-17) 
August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07)

The Sims Spark'd is a reality competition television series that premiered on the TBS network on July 17, 2020. [1] The first season of the series, filmed from December 9 to 14, 2019, features 12 contestants, selected from those known to feature The Sims in their online gaming channels, [1] tasked with challenges within The Sims 4 to create characters and stories following the challenge's themes and limitations. Each competitor's creation is judged by a panel consisting of EA Maxis developer and The Sims 4 producer Dave Miotke [1] (a.k.a. "SimGuruNinja" within the Sims Community), YouTube personality Kelsey Impicciche [1] (known for her "100 Baby Challenge"), and singer-songwriter Tayla Parx, [1] who is also a voice actress in The Sims 4. The series is hosted by American Idol season 14 finalist Rayvon Owen. [2]

Contents

Each episode of the first season premiered on TBS on Friday nights at 11pm ET/PT in the United States, and was later uploaded on YouTube channel BuzzFeed Multiplayer the following Monday for international audiences at 8am Eastern. [1] [3] Challenges were posted to The Sims 4 website following the series premiere to seek potential contestants for a second season.

Format

At the beginning of the competition, all 12 contestants were assigned to teams via random draw. Each team is composed of a Stylist (handling the designs), Builder (in charge of buildings), and the Storyteller (invents the stories related to Sims). For every episode, they have to fulfill specific challenges as a team based around several scenarios. [4] [5] [6]

Cast

ContestantTeamSkillResult
xMiraMiraTeam LlamaStylistWinner [7]
SimLicyBuilder
DrGluonStoryteller
LittleSihaTeam CowplantStylistRunner-up
Doctor AshleyBuilder
The English SimmerTeam GnomeEp1-2
Team CowplantEp3-4 a
Storyteller
Steph0SimsTeam CowplantWithdrew
PlumbellaTeam GnomeStylistEliminated
SimprovedBuilder
xUrbanSimsxTeam Freezer BunnyStylistEliminated
SpringSimsBuilder
DeeSimsStoryteller

Notes

Challenge Results

TeamEpisode 1Episode 2Episode 3Episode 4
SkillEliminationSkillEliminationSkillFinal
LlamaSafeBottom 23rdWon5/9 votesWon [7]
CowplantSafeSafeWonBottom 24/9 votesRunner-up
GnomeWonWon2ndEliminated
Freezer BunnySafeEliminated

Episodes

Each episode premiered on TBS on Friday nights [1] at 11pm ET/PT and on YouTube channel BuzzFeed Multiplayer the following Monday [1] at 8am Eastern.

No.TitleOriginal air dateYouTube air date
1Episode 1July 17, 2020 (2020-07-17) [1] July 20, 2020

Twelve Sims influencers are divided into four teams and must work together to compete in their first skills and elimination challenges.

  • Skills Challenge - Inspiration: Teams must create a story inspired by items chosen by racing against each other on foot. (Time limit: 90 minutes)
  • Elimination Challenge - Family: Teams must create a family of 4 Sims and build their house within the Willow Creek neighborhood. Teams must then create a short video presentation showing the backstory of their family. The winning team in this challenge gets their family featured in The Sims 4. (Time limit: 5 hours)
2Episode 2July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)July 27, 2020

The three remaining teams compete in the second round of challenges.

  • Skills Challenge - Parenthood: Teams must create 3 Sims and show each of them growing up in the toddler, child and teenage life stages, with unique rooms to match their personalities. (Time limit: 2 hours)
  • Elimination Challenge - Supernatural: Based on the ranking from the Skills Challenge, teams took turns choosing content packs to use. Using these packs alone, teams must create a video inspired by science fiction or fantasy. (Time limit: 6 hours, split across 2 days)
3Episode 3July 31, 2020 (2020-07-31)August 3, 2020

The two remaining teams compete in head-to-head Skills Challenges.

  • Stylist Challenge - Gender Not Required: Stylists must create six Sim models of various shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicity and create a cohesive gender-fluid fashion collection for the Sims to showcase. (Time limit: 45 minutes)
  • Builder Challenge - Unconventional Build: Builders must create a mode of transportation with unconventional materials. (Time limit: 45 minutes)
  • Storyteller Challenge - Sell That Fixer-Upper: Storytellers must improvise their way through a live real-estate walk-through of a house with messes, broken objects and other surprises, controlled by judge Dave Miotke.

Note: In between the Builder and the Storyteller challenges, Steph0Sims withdrew from the competition, unable to handle the pressure of the challenge and not wanting to continue without her friends in Team Gnome who were eliminated in the previous episode. As a result, the producers invited The English Simmer to join Team Cowplant.

4Episode 4August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07) [3] August 10, 2020

The two remaining teams compete in their final challenge.

  • Final Challenge - Play With Life: Teams must find a common thread with each other among the reasons why they play The Sims, and use that to create a video narrative with three Sims and a build. (Time limit: 15 minutes prep time, 6 hours to create the video)

Development

As a project in planning, Spark'd had a long lead time as Electronic Arts wanted to combine the players' personal stories with a TV reality format filled with challenges. The company decided to make the show in-house instead of outsourcing it to anyone else. EA was worried about the specifics of translating a video game into another medium, and thus tried not to diverge from the main aspects of The Sims while putting an effort to represent diversity. [8] The initial idea was to develop Spark'd as a short-length show for the millennials. However, after the initial filming in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted EA to retool their marketing plans from scratch. The Sims Spark'd was found to be a fit for a TBS's ELeague Friday programming block change to include shows that are not just aimed at dedicated gamers. [9]

During and following the broadcast of the first season, EA posted Spark'd challenges on The Sims 4 website for players to complete in-game and upload to the website for the opportunity to be selected for a potential second season of The Sims Spark'd.

Related Research Articles

An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry.

<i>Hes a Lady</i> 2004 reality television series

He's a Lady is an American reality television series broadcast by the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). The six-episode series premiered on October 19, 2004, and concluded on November 23, 2004. Filmed in Los Angeles, California, the series depicted eleven cisgender men in competition for a $250,000 reward over who could pass themselves off as a more convincing woman. The contestants were required to cross-dress and adopt feminine personas, which were then introduced to their family and friends. The contestants additionally competed in weekly challenges that required them to embrace femininity. The competition culminated in a beauty pageant, which was judged by a celebrity panel. The series was hosted by American television presenter Tony Frassrand.

<i>The Challenge</i> (TV series) Reality competition show

The Challenge is a reality competition show on MTV that is a spin-off of two of the network's reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules. Premiering in 1998, it originally featured alumni from these two shows. Casting for The Challenge has slowly expanded to include contestants who debuted on The Challenge itself, alumni from other MTV franchises including Are You the One?, Ex on the Beach, Geordie Shore, siblings and friends, and from other non-MTV shows and competitions. The contestants compete against one another in various extreme challenges to avoid elimination. The winners of the final challenge win the competition and typically share a large cash prize. The Challenge is currently hosted by T. J. Lavin.

<i>Survivor</i> (American TV series) American TV reality series

Survivor is the American version of the international Survivor reality competition television franchise, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson created by Charlie Parsons which premiered in 1997. The American series premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS. It is hosted by Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer along with Mark Burnett and the original creator, Parsons.

<i>The Sims</i> Series of video games

The Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. It is also part of the larger Sim series, started by SimCity in 1989.

<i>Wipeout</i> (2008 game show) American television game show

Wipeout is an American television game show that features contestants competing in the "World's Largest" obstacle course which originally aired on ABC from June 24, 2008, to September 7, 2014. In 2021, the show was rebooted on TBS, with John Cena, Nicole Byer, and Camille Kostek as hosts.

RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV, WOW Presents Plus, VH1 and, beginning with the fifteenth season, MTV. The show documents RuPaul in the search for "America's next drag superstar". RuPaul plays the role of host, mentor, and head judge for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week. Contestants are judged by a panel that includes RuPaul, Michelle Visage, one of three rotating judges, as well as one or more guest judges, who critique their progress throughout the competition. The title of the show is a play on drag queen and drag racing, and the title sequence and song "Drag Race" both have a drag-racing theme.

<i>Big Brother Canada</i> Canadian reality television series

Big Brother Canada is a Canadian television reality game show based on the Dutch reality show of the same name, which was part of the wider Big Brother franchise. The first season of the series premiered on February 27, 2013, on Slice. From the third season, the show aired on Global until the twelfth and final season ended on May 8, 2024. The series is produced by Endemol and Insight Productions. It is hosted by Arisa Cox, who is concurrently an executive producer starting from the ninth season.

<i>The Sims 4</i> 2014 video game

The Sims 4 is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in North America on September 2, 2014, for Windows, a macOS version was released in February 2015, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in November 2017. It is the fourth major title in The Sims series, following The Sims 3 (2009). The game was moved to a free-to-play model on October 18, 2022, monetized by the purchase of various paid downloadable content packs that have been developed since its release.

<i>King of the Nerds</i> American reality competition series

King of the Nerds is an American reality competition series co-produced by Electus and 5x5 Media. It was inspired by the Revenge of the Nerds films. The show is hosted by actors and executive producers Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, known for their roles as Lewis Skolnick and Dudley "Booger" Dawson, respectively, in Revenge of the Nerds. The series premiered on January 17, 2013, on TBS. The show features nerds and geeks with diverse backgrounds and interests competing in various challenges for a cash prize of US$100,000 and the title of "King of the Nerds". Following a three-season run, the series was cancelled by TBS.

<i>Nailed It!</i> American reality bake-off competition show

Nailed It! is an American reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2018. The series is exclusively available on Netflix. The series is a bake-off competition in the style of reality television, where three amateur bakers compete to replicate complicated cakes and confectionery in order to win a $10,000 cash prize and the "Nailed It" trophy.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race All Stars</i> season 4 Fourth season of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars

The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars was announced by VH1 on August 22, 2018. Prior to the official announcement, RuPaul confirmed, in an episode of his podcast What's the Tee?, that filming for the fourth season of All Stars currently was underway. All Stars Season 3 winner Trixie Mattel, with special guests Katya and Detox, hosted a special called Trixie's Playhouse to announce the cast for the fourth season. It was scheduled to air on November 8, 2018, but was postponed to the following day due to the Thousand Oaks shooting. The season began airing on December 14, 2018, and ran for ten episodes.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 12 Season of television series

The twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on February 28 and concluded on May 29, 2020. The competition was broadcast on VH1 in the United States and saw 13 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". VH1 renewed both RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars for a twelfth and fifth season respectively on August 19, 2019. At the time of the renewal the Drag Race franchise had earned VH1 a total of 14 Emmy nominations. Casting calls were opened in January 2019 while the cast was revealed by season 11 winner Yvie Oddly on January 23, 2020.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 13 2021 season of the television series

The thirteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 1 and concluded on April 23, 2021. The cast was announced via Twitter on December 9, 2020. The competition is broadcast on VH1 in the United States and showcases 13 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". VH1 renewed both RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars for a thirteenth and sixth season respectively on August 20, 2020. Casting calls for season 13 were opened in December 2019. In addition to airing on VH1, the premiere episode was simulcast across 5 other channels: Logo, MTV, MTV2, Pop, and The CW, becoming the most-watched episode in the franchise's history.

<i>Killer Camp</i> 2019 game show

Killer Camp is a British-American game show produced by Tuesday's Child Television. The series' first season aired on ITV2 as a Halloween Special 2019, on the five consecutive nights leading up to Halloween. After licensing the first season in summer 2020, The CW commissioned a second season of the series in March 2021, resulting in it moving to the network as an original.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 14 2022 season of the television series

The fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 7, 2022. The reality competition series, broadcast on VH1 in the United States, showcases 14 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". Casting calls for season 14 were opened in November 2020, and the cast was officially revealed by season 13 winner Symone on VH1 on December 2, 2021. The season premiere received 738,000 viewers, making it the most-watched premiere since Season 10.

<i>FBoy Island</i> American dating reality television series

FBoy Island is an American dating reality television series which focuses on three women trying to identify 24 men as either womanizers ("fboys") or seeking a serious relationship. The series is hosted by Nikki Glaser and premiered on July 29, 2021, on HBO Max. In August 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on July 14, 2022. In December 2022, the series was canceled, with STXalternative planning to shop the series elsewhere. It was also removed from the streaming service. In March 2023, The CW picked up the show for a third season, along with a spinoff, Lovers and Liars.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 15 Season of television series

The fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered January 6, 2023. The reality competition series moved to MTV for broadcast, instead of VH1 in the United States.

Kelsey Impicciche is an American YouTuber. She made gaming content on BuzzFeed Multiplayer before leaving the company in 2021. She is known for her videos in which she completed the '100 Baby Challenge' in The Sims 4.

Amira Virgil (1993), also known as XMiraMira, is an American gaming content creator and a community organizer for Black and female gamers. Virgil is particularly active in The Sims. She developed the Melanin Pack, to create more—and more natural—skin tone options for sims, has worked to integrate Black slang and pop culture more naturally into the world of The Sims, as well as developing multiple networks for Black gamers and developers. Virgil has worked extesnively with Electronic Arts and is a Twitch Partner and Ambassador. She won the Sims celebrity competition show, Spark'd, and was a 2018 Gamers Choice Awards "Fan Favorite Female Gamer/Streamer" nominee. In 2020, Virgil was one of Vice's Humans of the Year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Webster, Andrew (July 8, 2020). "The Sims 4's new reality show has players compete to tell the best stories". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  2. Spangler, Todd (July 8, 2020). "'The Sims' Reality-Competition TV Show Coming to TBS, BuzzFeed". Variety. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Mercante, Alyssa (August 11, 2020). "The Sims Spark'd team reflects on the revolutionary reality competition after its first season". GameRadar. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  4. Bell, Alice (July 28, 2020). "EA will never let The Sims reality show become the hot mess it needs to be". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  5. Morrison, Sean (July 16, 2020). "Sims Spark'd offers a unique spin in the competitive gaming space". ESPN . Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. Schiesel, Seth (July 15, 2020). "The Sims Is Bringing Its Inclusive Spirit to TV". The New York Times . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Brown, Shelby (August 15, 2020). "Why Sims reality show Spark'd is groundbreaking for gamers". CNET. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. Dealessandri, Marie (August 17, 2020). "How EA turned The Sims into a reality TV show". Gamesindustry.biz . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  9. Laporte, Nicole (August 26, 2020). "EA has seen the future of esports, and it's shorter, celeb-filled, and for more than just dudes". Fast Company . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.