If you’re looking for a brand-new slate of groundbreaking and innovative TV shows to add to your agenda, look no further than the future series that will be broadcast on MTV.
Today, the network is proud to unveil a lineup of original formats that will premiere in the not-so-distant future. In addition to announcing the first weekly live music performance series in nearly 20 years, a newly re-imagined version of the beloved MTV Unplugged and development on a new music documentary series Year One, the channel revealed green lights for a slew of inaugural series.
Check out descriptions for the diverse comedy, drama and reality programs below:
Acting Out
An outrageous comedy series in which the most irreverent established and up-and-coming comedians of today have their best stand-up routines acted out. Viewers will witness hysterical reenactments of the best bits, bringing new life to your favorite moments from stand-up comedy history. Produced by A Smith & Co. Productions (Hell’s Kitchen, American Ninja Warrior).
The Almost Impossible Game Show
A humorous half-hour comedic game show which features contestants completing physical challenges ranging from the absurd to the outlandish. The goal? To beat the game and win cash prizes — with outrageous tasks including riding tiny bikes over a mud pit, putting on over-sized pants (while running full-speed on a giant treadmill) and grating a heaping block of cheese onto a plate of nachos by using a grater attached to the derrière.The Almost Impossible Game Show is based on a popular UK format by the same name, produced by Endemol Shine UK company Initial for ITV2. MTV is producing with Endemol Shine. Executive producers include Rob Smith and Georgie Hurford-Jones for Endemol Shine North America plus Matt Odgers and Scott Teti for Left Hook Media.
Going Off (working title)
In dance capital North Hollywood, choreographer Tricia Miranda (Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani, Demi Lovato, Iggy Azalea) holds a master class where the best young dancers in the world come to see how they stack up against the rest. In every episode, one winner will be crowned and win a high-stakes opportunity to book a professional job and take the next step on their path to greatness. Dave Sirulnick is executive producer for Radical Media. Directed by Austin Peters for Radical Media.
Loosely Exactly Nicole
Nicole Byer is living the Hollywood dream. Well, Hollywood adjacent (the deep valley, to be precise), and it’s not so much a dream but a struggle. In this hilarious half-hour comedy, we’ll watch as Nicole — exuding her special display of confidence and irreverence — demonstrates the comical missteps of what it means to be out on your own for the first time. For example, she’ll deal with humiliating auditions, unpaid electric bills, friendship ups and downs, and the battlefield that is Tinder as she slowly but surely finds her voice as a comedian. Christine Zander is showrunner/executive producer. Avi Gilbert (3 Arts) and Christian Lander are executive producers.
Mary + Jane
Paige and Jordan may be weed dealers, but in their eyes they are entrepreneurs. Their dope delivery app is quickly gaining popularity with foodies, celebrities and — the most particular and crucial consumer — hipsters. This half-hour comedy takes an entertaining look at two LA girls who are desperate to succeed, find a little romance, and keep their clients happy and high — all with the least amount of effort possible. Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Can’t Hardly Wait) serve as executive producers. Television 360 (Game of Thrones) is executive producer.
MTV’s The Investigation (working title)
This serialized documentary series follows the journey of alleged wrongfully convicted prisoners fighting for their freedom. MTV’s The Investigation will navigate these separate cases in an effort to uncover the truth with the highest possible stakes — the lives and freedom of innocent people locked up for life, and the duty to honor the lives of those lost. This series takes an in-depth look into three criminal cases through the unique POV of Ryan Ferguson, who at 19 years of age was convicted of a murder he didn’t commit and was released in 2013 after serving nearly a decade behind bars. MTV is producing with Embassy Row. Michael Davies, Debbie DeMontreux, Stacey Altman and Andrew Jenks are executive producers.
The Outsiders (working title)
Across America lie people with very different lives and perspectives on the world. In this compelling and distinctive series, we go beyond front doors and shocking headlines. This close-ended docuseries will follow eight different families who have very polarizing beliefs, from white supremacists to devil worshipers. MTV is producing with Barcroft Media.
Shinesty (working title)
Shinesty is a comedic doc series about the young entrepreneurs behind Shinesty, a Boulder-based apparel company that made $5 million in sales last year. The Shinesty team lives a wild, zero-fucks-given lifestyle that is every bit as over-the-top as the apparel they create, and this show will take us inside the world of a millennial business doing things 100% their own way. MTV is producing with Critical Content.
Stranded with a Million Bucks
Ten cast members are stranded on an island with nothing but the clothes on their back and a million dollars in cash! Those who can survive for 40 days will split that money as their prize. The catch? They can buy any supplies they want, but everything is crazy expensive — and comes out of their winnings. Tollbooth TV is producing. Kevin Lee is executive producer.
Sweet/Vicious
This is a dark one-hour dramedy about two very unlikely friends taking justice into their own hands and kicking literal ass on their college campus. Jules comes off as the perfect sorority dream girl, but little do her Red Cup-toting sisters know, she’s got a completely different agenda come nightfall. Ophelia, your everyday stoner-hacker-hellion, has officially run out of effs to give, and when she discovers Jules may be the masked vigilante exacting justice on campus, her interest in college life is re-energized. Amanda Lasher (Gossip Girl) serves as showrunner. Stacey Sher (The Hateful Eight, Into the Badlands) is executive producer and Jennifer Robinson is creator and co-executive producer.
Untitled Mark Burnett Project
Welcome to the recording studio, where talent is transformed and legends are discovered. At the intersection of music and business, this show gives hip-hop’s freshest talent a chance at every musician’s dream: getting signed. Mark Burnett, the executive producer of Shark Tank and The Voice, brings us the best of both worlds, with undiscovered artists performing in front of music’s biggest moguls, each eager to sign the next breakout star. But forget the shiny floor stage: It’s all happening in the recording studio in the first of its kind, organic music competition series that breaks all the rules. Burnett and MGM Television will executive produce.
Untitled Zac Efron Documentary
Host and executive producer Zac Efron explores how food has moved to the center of millennial culture through his own unique lens as an actor, traveler and food lover. The project will look beyond the extravagant and obscure in cuisine to explore the artistry, storytelling and journeys in what we eat and the issues and experiences surrounding what we find on our plates. Executive producers are Efron, Michael Simkin, Jason Barrett, Brian Volk-Weiss, Cisco Henson and Edwin Zane. Comedy Dynamics and Ninjas Runnin’ Wild are producing.
The network also announced newly signed deals with a host of new creative partners including Mark Burnett, who will develop comedic reality half hour First World Problems (working title); rapper Pitbull, who will executive produce Miami-based drama 305(working title); and Drew Barrymore, who’ll executive produce coming-of-age twin drama Blooms (working title). Also on tap: It’s The Real (working title), a comedic half hour from the Upper West Side Jewish hip-hop duo of the same name produced by John Legend’s Get Lifted, and Greatest Movie Show of all Time, This Week (working title), a weekly half-hour comedy/talk show executive produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that celebrates the latest movie news, trends, and rumors through interviews, sketches, and panel discussion. Greatest Movie Show of all Time, This Week is co-created by and features MTV News movie correspondent Josh Horowitz.
Additional MTV projects in development include Pick Me Up(working title), a scripted comedy about a ne’er-do-well brother and sister duo with executive producer Dave Becky (Broad City,Louie) of 3 Arts, and an adaptation of the bestseller 99 Days(working title) with Alloy Entertainment (Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars).
Be sure to stay with MTV News for more updates on these upcoming series!
