FremantleMedia Enterprises Grabs Satirical Reality Comedy Show

An international production company, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has announced the acquisition of international distribution and format rights (world excluding US and Canada) to Comedy Central's first ever unscripted competition show, 'Reality Bites Back'.
The eight-part series is produced by 3Ball Productions ('Beauty and the Geek').
'Reality Bites Back' is an intuitive and timely response to the high volume of reality programming which has emerged over the last decade.
It sees 10 comedians enter a competition in which they compete in a different spoof of a reality show in each episode.
Host Michael Ian Black serves as ringmaster for this circus of the stand-ups introducing parodies of programmes such as 'American Gladiators', 'Big Brother' and 'So You Think You Can Dance'.
These titles are wittily renamed and formatted to reflect the challenge in hand: 'So You Think You Can Dive' for example, attempts to make Olympic divers out of the contestants within 24 hours, with hilarious results.
The contestants, displaying razor sharp wit and over the top satire, are paid for each episode they remain in the competition.
The challenges may be absurd, but the game play is real and the ultimate winner of the series will receive $50,000 and the title 'Lord of all Reality'.
The participants including Kyle Cease ('Not Another Teen Move', '10 Things I Hate About You') and Jeff Garcia ('Happy Feet', 'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'), have been culled from the ranks of seasoned comedy veterans and up-and-comers across America and will do anything for cash and glory.
Jeff Tahler, FME Vice President Acquisitions and Development Americas, who brokered the deal, commented: "Comedy Central and 3Ball Productions represent comedy on an all together different level and it's great to be working alongside people creating such irreverent and edgy content. 'Reality Bites Back' offers another new twist on competitive reality and has defied anyone who thought that this genre had reach maturity."
FME Chief Executive Officer David Ellender said: "'Reality Bites Back' is a great edition to our MIPCOM slate. It's exactly what we look for in a comedy or entertainment show, it's both courageous and outrageous, original and sophisticated in its sense of humour."
David Bernath, Comedy Central Senior Vice President Programming said: "With reality television having become so pervasive across the globe, the time was ripe for a parody of the genre.
"The brilliance of 'Reality Bites Back' is that it satirises and and pokes fun at the staples of the reality genre while at the same time adding itself to the pantheon of such series."
(KMcA)