After announcing last year that Big Brother would be axed, Channel 4 have been looking for new programming to put in it’s place as part of the channels ‘creative overhaul’. The first of the new shows to be announced is observational series ‘Notting Hill‘. Funnily enough, it will be set in a house in… Notting Hill. With a format based on Big Brother, 10 people will be chosen by the shows production company (no auditions) and they will live together. There’s no prize because it’s not a competition, but there are no rules (not yet anyway!). The ‘housemates’ will have access to everyday things, including internet access and newspapers. But, unlike Big Brother, they’ll be able to see what the press are saying about them, ouch?
There won’t be tasks, they won’t be locked inside, they won’t have things taken away from them and there will be no-one controlling them. The show was thought up by Wife Swap and Faking It creator, Stephen Lambert. “It wouldn’t be unreasonable to compare it to the multi-character structure of an EastEnders or a Coronation Street” he said. The show is due to launch in Autumn 2011 and will be broadcast on a weekly basis with high highlights from the previous week, condensed. Channel 4’s head of programmiming, Julian Bellamy, said the project involved “stepping into virgin territory” and the show would have an unlimited run, depending on audience response. “We are all stepping into the unknown because no one has actually done something on this scale in documentary in the way we are going to do it,” he said.
A similar show is due to start soon on Hulu, If I Can Dream. Created by Simon Fuller (American Idol), the idea will be the same as Notting Hill, but will have nearly 50 cameras streaming the lives of 5 people trying to make it big in Hollywood. The good thing about it is that you can choose which of the 50 cameras to watch, or you can just watch the producers’ live cut. More on this over the next few weeks!
