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Twentieth Clears Show Based on ‘Sale of the Century’

Jan 9, 2007  •  Post A Comment

Twentieth Television has cleared the new game-show strip “Temptations” on the ten MyNetwork affilates owned by Fox.

The show is based on the concept of classic game format “Sale of the Century.” Twentieth, the programming arm of the Fox Stations Group, will produce the series with “American Idol” producer FremantleMedia North America, which owns the “Century” format.

The game show, scheduled to debut in the fall, will pit three players against each other to see who can earn cash by answering a series of questions about pop culture and current events. The winning contestant is the individual with the most money.

Throughout the program, opponents are tempted to spend their money on high-end prizes at incredible bargain prices. Prizes featured on “Temptation” will be, for the first time in U.S. television history, available to viewers for discounted purchase via phone or at the program’s Web site.

Among the Fox-owned stations that will carry the show are WWOR-TV in New York, KCOP-TV in Los Angeles and WPWR-TV in Chicago.

Although sold to the MyNetwork affiliate group, the series is being designed for traditional syndication timeperiods, rather than as a replacement for the telenovela formats currently being run in primetime on the network. MyNetwork executives have been discussing changes to the fledgling network’s programming lineup in recent months.

“‘Temptation’ is an exciting game show with a proven format nearly unparalleled anywhere. It will draw in viewers with its fun games and give them the opportunity to further participate by offering the opportunity to purchase luxury prizes at significant discounts,” said Paul Buccieri, president of programming of Twentieth Television, in a statement Tuesday. “We are pleased to be working on ‘Temptation’ with FremantleMedia North America, whose format track record speaks for itself.”

The series, in its original U.S. format as “Sale of the Century,” aired on NBC between 1983 and 1989, during which is consistently won its daytime time period. In the United Kingdom, the program aired on ITV1 last October, attracting an audience of nine million viewers and ranking it as the highest rated game show of the year.

(Editor: Grego)