Entertainment - India;Channel V goes whacky with new family show

Chhavi Tyagi

Channel V is coming out with a new game show, Bingo! V Full On!!, to break the mould set by the countless reality shows and drama one gets to see on all the channels.

The game show will be hosted by the channel’s top two video jockeys, Neil and Juhi. The two VJs will be seen together after a long time; programmes such as Campus Star and Basement, which featured them together, went off air almost a year ago.

Bingo! V Full On!! will go on air on October 31; the half hour episodes will air thrice a week during the weekend – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – at 7pm. It will feature two teams fighting for a big final prize. Channel V officials refuse to divulge any details about the prize.

The contestants will be tested in physical feats such as running on treadmills, boxing with mechanical boxing gloves, using their bodies as human bowling balls and navigating the spinning turntables of doom.

Sheetal Sudhir, creative director, Channel V, tells afaqs!, “The game show will test the participants' physical limits as most of the games are designed towards that end. There are some other games, too, like eating hamburgers, but the show is mostly about testing physical stamina.”

The programme targets a family audience, encouraged by the fact that it is difficult today to find a show on television that the entire family can sit and watch together.

Saurabh Kanwar, vice-president, content and communication, says, “Our research showed us the lack of a show which a family can sit together and watch without flinching at the content. Today, there is a lot of drama – slapping and abusing – going on TV. There is clearly a place for a show which provides clean, unadulterated fun and that is what Bingo! V Full On!! plans to offer.”

The participants will be selected from colleges all over the country. Selection will be based on how they perform in given activities, which will be a sample of the real contests waiting for them on the show.

The show will have two teams, with three members each, and will have 13 episodes in its first run. When asked if there will be more seasons of the game, Sudhir says, “Going by the excitement that is being generated by the show’s promotions, we can safely say that there will be more of the show.”

Channel V released a music video on October 29 to promote the show; the video has Neil and Juhi rapping a song called Full On. This is the singing debut of the two VJs, and the music was composed inhouse by Channel V.