Former Ask Harriet landing spot Fox is counting on romance, music mysteries and the charms of Jamie Foxx to capture your attention this summer.
This summer’s slate of unscripted programming for the network has been revealed with a healthy mix of new (or at least revived) properties and returning fare. Let’s get to the new stuff first because who doesn’t like shiny things?
The Andy Cohen hosted update of the sick day staple Love Connection will be making its reintroduction into the TV world on May 25. This version will attempt to foster romance (or discreet future boning) in a one-hour format with the promise that Cohen will bring “his personal brand of audacious fun to the series.”
Also new to the network? The game show/product placement showcase Beat Shazam. This game show is actually what it sounds like with the Shazam app getting top billing over host Jamie Foxx. Foxx has an Oscar, Shazam has the ability to sort out Sheryl Crow songs for your mom.
“The series pits teams of two against the clock and each other as they attempt to identify the biggest hit songs of all time,” beams the accompanying press release. “In the end, the team with the highest score will outlast the competition and go against Shazam, the world’s most popular song identification app, for the chance to win a cash prize.”
Seeing as we’re talking about Fox programming in the summer, there’s naturally a “new” Gordon Ramsay series as well. Ramsay’s new live series The F Word is slated to debut on May 31 and will arrive after the latest Masterchef season premiere.
Based on his hit U.K. series, each distinctive and fast-paced hour will combine good food and great cooking with Ramsay’s passion, energy and humor into a one-of-a-kind LIVE series. During each episode, teams of foodie families and friends will battle it out LIVE in a high-stakes cook-off, hoping to impress Ramsay, as well as celebrities, VIPs and other dinner guests. As the LIVE battle heats up, the show will feature Ramsay hosting highly-stylized cooking demos and weekly out-of-the-kitchen adventures with fans, foodies and surprise guests. We’ll see Gordon at his best inside the kitchen, and at his most mischievous outside the kitchen. With Gordon LIVE, anything can happen!
We imagine “anything can happen” doesn’t include cursing and knife fights, but we’re extremely open-minded on this front.
Elsewhere on the Fox slate, John Cena’s ratings-challenged American Grit is back for a second season on June 11, Mary Murphy reemerges on So You Think You Can Dance on June 12 and America’s favorite “let’s hangout with Mike Tyson, Christina Milian and Dr. Rahul Jandial” skill showcase Superhuman also returns on June 12.
Sadly, Take Me Out still sits in the Fox unscripted TV morgue.
