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The Power

kamui

Active Member
Just read that the channel group that commissions Big Brother in Germany secured the rights to a new reality tv show from France, which reads a bit like an evolution of the Big Brother concept. It's called "The Power" and aired on W9 earlier this year. A group of influencers/reality stars live together in a villa in Spain for eight weeks. Instead of having a Big Brother character, the show has an artificial intelligence called Delta that watches over the players.

But it's less the AI that has the power but one of the players that is picked by the AI. I've only flicked through the first episode, but that was done by them going into a separate room and drawing a card. The person who was picked as the Power Player had a card with a Delta underneath it. As the Power Player, they decide where others sleep (there is a room with just two camp beds), what they eat, who enjoys certain privileges, who takes part in challenges, who faces disadvantages in the game and who faces eviction at the end of the week. One example for the decisions that had to be made by the Power Player in the first episode: They had to pick a player who should not receive their suitcase, which was then blown up (just like it was done on ITV's first series of Big Brother).

The big twist of the show is: The Power Player needs to stay anonymous for the whole week. Because if their target for eviction can figure out who the Power Player is, they are allowed to stay and the Power Player is evicted instead.

During the week, there are some competitions where players will be able to win clues about the Power Player's identity. There is "The Game of the Clue" which is either done as individuals or teams. And there is the "Versus" where people try and beat the Power Player's score. If one succeeds, they unlock another clue. There is also an immunity challenge every week.

Once the Power Player selected their target for eviction, they'll have a phone call where the potential evictee can ask questions to figure out the identity of the Power Player. Afterwards, they make their guess and everyone has to scan their hands in the Delta pyramid. The Power Player will be revealed by a Delta sign and if the target's guess was correct, the Power Player will be evicted. Otherwise, the target is evicted.

I've only flicked through the first episode but the whole first season is available on YouTube:

France's W9 has already produced a second season (yet to air) and besides Germany, a couple of other countries have commissioned the format as well. Apparently, NBCUniversal has acquired the rights in the US, UK and Australia for development.
 
This feels like more of a rip off than some other formats (W9 has history of that). Basically HoH with a twist but not sure the hook is enough.

Feels very open to producer manipulation too with the clue aspect - you just know that if they want the Power Player to stay the clue would be "they are a human being" and if they want them to go they'll basically tell them their name.
 
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