It’s a Japanese entertainment invasion! Leading content creator marblemedia, Canadian family broadcaster YTV, cable-channel multi-platform brand Disney XD and Canadian French language network VRAK TV have partnered to bring kids and families worldwide a crazy and colourful Japanese game show – JAPANIZI: Going, Going, Gong!
“The Japanese game show genre is inherently random and frenetic, loaded with physical humour that is sure to entertain families,” said Matt Hornburg, Co-CEO and Executive Producer, marblemedia. “A comedy at heart, JAPANIZI: Going, Going, Gong! is a fish-out-of-water experience of kids competing in a unfamiliar world full of wildly entertaining slapstick mayhem.”
“YTV is excited to pick up JAPANIZI: Going, Going, Gong! as it fits perfectly with our co-view strategy, which is to offer fun, comedic, participatory and crazy programming,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama. “YTV is the #1 co-view network and a zany show like this can be enjoyed by parents and kids of all ages at any time of the day. Viewers won’t be able to keep their eyes off the screen as surprises will be around every corner.”
In this adaptation of the popular series I Survived a Japanese Game Show — which was created by David Sidebotham with formatting rights licensed bySmall World IFT — audiences will experience the zany world of Japanese game show culture complete with conveyor belts, dizzy chairs, giant fans and Velcro walls.
JAPANIZI: Going, Going, Gong! features three elimination rounds to present one final winner. All 40 half-hour episodes will feature four teams of two contestants who are dropped into a world filled with crazy costumes, physical gags, over-the-top stunts and wild characters.
Audiences at home will immerse themselves in this manic world first hand through an extensive interactive website complete with a second screen experience mobile app.
JAPANIZI: Going, Going, Gong! will make its world premiere in Canada on YTV in Fall 2013.
The show will make its debut in the U.S. on Disney XD in Fall 2013 and will launch in 2014 on Disney Channels in Europe, Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia Pacific, including Australia, India and South East Asia territories through an agreement with Distribution 360 (D360), a marblemedia company.
D360 will handle distribution across all media in all other territories worldwide. The company is also looking for partners to expand this brand through licensing and merchandising.
