Gervais Produces Network Game Show For Kids


Adults will compare their accrued knowledge to the intuitive wisdom of five children in ABC’s latest game show, “Five to Survive”, executive produced by Ricky Gervais. The acerbic British comedian will not serve as host of the show which will quiz groups of children with the questions asked to their adult counterparts. Gervais’ long career hosting awards shows like the Golden Globes and Oscars was based mostly on his unrelenting cruelty towards Hollywood; it’s unlikely that style will pervade ABC’s new game show.
“Five to Survive”, while superficially most similar to “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” follows a recently successful trend of unscripted game shows involving children. Whether reboots of pre-existing franchises seek to include child contestants or adult contests hinge upon a child’s approval, this is hardly a new trend. Dating back to “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” are surely earlier in television, child competitions serve a double-edged task of attracting young audiences that relate and older audiences taken in by the novelty of average children on camera.
Gervais produces the show in collaboration with Banijay Studios North America’s CEO David Goldberg and their Chief Creative Officer Caroline Baumgard. An episode count has not yet been decided, but will surely be released soon.
