USA Network has signed on for another round of celebrity Air Cannon Cornhole and other games as it has renewed Barmageddon for a second season.

The Carson Daly/Blake Shelton-produced competition series features celebrity competitors competing head-to-head in a series of classic bar games. The series' December 2022 premiere episode garnered more than 1 million viewers, a network record audience debut for an unscripted series, according to USA. 

Season one featured such celebrity competitors as Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Trace Adkins, Kane Brown, Lil Rel Howry, and Malin Ackerman.

Barmageddon executive producers include Shelton, Daly, Lee Metzger and Chris Wagner.■

TBS has renewed its competition series The Cube for a second season, the network announced Monday during its TCA Winter Press Tour presentation.

The series, hosted by former NBA All-Star Dwayne Wade, follows contestant pairs as they endure seemingly simple physical and mental tasks while confined in a glass box defined as “The Cube,” said network officials.

Wade serves as executive producer for The Cube along with Layla Smith, Jill Pearce and Glenn Coomber. ■

 TBS on April 1 will resurrect popular reality competition series, Wipeout, 13 years after it first debuted on ABC. The 20-episode series, hosted by actor/WWE superstar John Cena and comedian Nicole Byer, will feature a group of teams attempting to navigate through an extreme obstacle course that will test participants’ endurance and stamina, according to the network. 

Wipeout creator, showrunner and executive producer Matt Kunitz recently talked to me about the timing of the show’s return, how this version of Wipeout differs from the original format, and what the prospects for future seasons of the competition series are. Here’s an edited excerpt from our conversation. 

Picture This: Why bring back Wipeout now? 

Matt Kunitz: Of all the shows that I've done in my career, this is the one that I sort of always knew was going to come back. We premiered originally in 2008, right after the recession when America was in a little bit of a slump. We came out with this silly and quite frankly, mindless show that you could just watch and forget about all the troubles in your life. It was perfect timing after the recession and it brought families together. Flash forward 13 years later, and we're coming out of a similar kind of psychological slump where Americans have been trapped in their homes dealing with COVID for the last year and are looking for different ways to be entertained. We're coming back and it's the same kind of thing --  it doesn't matter how bad your day was, when you tune in to Wipeout for an hour you can just laugh, forget about the troubles of life and just have a good time.

Read also: TBS Takes Flying Leap and Orders New 'Wipeout' Series

PT: Today’s television environment has changed over the past 13 years since Wipeout first launched. Are you concerned about reaching those viewers who might have seen the show previously as well as drawing in new viewers in such a crowded TV environment?

MK: When we first came out there were basically four channels and now there's probably 400, so it is very different. How people watch television is also very different. Having said that, we have a robust plan to find those viewers. While we may not have 18 million people tune in for any particular episode, we will find viewers through social media, through streaming, through multiple airings of the show on TBS. So while I think that viewers will come into the show from different directions, we'll still get those viewers. We’re getting a tremendous promotional platform with the NCAA [college basketball tournament] that is going on right now, and I think that's a very similar audience. TBS has put a full court press into promoting the show, so I'm not concerned about awareness. TBS has done everything they could to set us up for success. 

PT: How does this version of Wipeout differ from its previous iteration? 

MK: When we started talking about this a year ago with [TBS, TNT and truTV EVP of unscripted] Cory Henson, she said, ‘if we're going to bring it back, it needs to be bigger, bolder and edgier than it ever was before.’ I said to her, ‘bigger and bolder generally means more money,’ and they were willing to put the money into it. The evidence of that is the star power that we’re bringing to the table in [series hosts] John Cena, Nicole Byer and Camille Kostek. It really freshens the show to have this new, comedic talent come in and give their take on it. The only thing that’s the same are the big balls, because they're so iconic -- other than that, everything's changed. It'll be a completely fresh course and it'll be a completely fresh look from the way we shoot it. Technology has advanced leaps and bounds in the way that we shoot -- we now are shooting with drones, 360-degree cameras and underwater cameras that just didn't exist back in the day. That makes it much more of an immersive experience, which for the viewer I think will be a lot more fun. This season features all teams -- so it could be a mother and a son running the course together -- and that adds a whole new dynamic. So it's going to be very fresh, but there also will be familiar elements like the big balls.

PT: There seems to be a resurgence of reality competition shows on television. Is that pandemic-driven or are there other factors involved with the genre’s growing appeal? 

MK: I think that television is cyclical so yes, we are seeing a resurgence of game shows and reality competition shows. I think that the timing of that is good for us, but I think the primary thing is that people are looking for an escape, and Wipeout is going to be the perfect escape for them. 

PT: What are the prospects for a second season of Wipeout, and what other projects are you working on? 

MK: We're absolutely in discussions about a second season. Ratings will be the ultimate decider on whether there's a season two and we should know that in the next two weeks, but we've actually started casting already for season two and we are actively starting to design the season two course. While Wipeout has kept me busy, I'm also in a long-term deal with Lionsgate, and we're continuing to develop a slate of content. At the beginning of the quarantine we were fortunate to have sold three shows -- one to HBO Max and two to Fox -- that were in active development. I can’t really say exactly what those shows are yet because they haven't been announced, but I'm keeping busy. While Wipeout is incredibly important it is just part of my focus at this point.

TBS said it will launch Celebrity Show-Off, a talent competition series hosted by Mayim Bialik, on June 23 at 10 p.m. 

The series is based on a Korean show My Little Television. Each week celebrities produce videos from their homes that appear online on TBS’s YouTube Channel. The videos that attract the biggest audience stay on the air and avoid going dark. On TBS, the celebrities appear in a virtual studio to screen the shows and see who has been eliminated. The eliminated contestant is replaced by a new celebrity.

The longer a celebrity stays on the show, the more money they earn for a designated charity. The last star on the air earns an extra donation.

Talent confirmed for the showcase so far are Diplo, Ja Rule, Action Bronson, Gabi Butler, Dwight Howard, Travis Kelce, Nene Leakes, Jason Mraz, Kevin Smith, Tori Spelling, Bella Thorne, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah Willis.

“Wait until you see what this cast has pulled off,” said Corie Henson executive VP and head of unscripted programming for TBS, TNT and truTV. “From sharing never-before-seen talents, to performing crazy stunts or even bringing on special guests, the celebs’ shows are creatively ambitious with DIY charm – since our cast are all working with the limitations of what they’ve got available at home.”

Celebrity Show-Off is being produced by Craig Pletsis of The Masked Singer.

“After discovering The Masked Singer and bringing it to American audiences, I have been on the lookout for interesting and innovative Korean formats. Celebrity Show-Off is exactly that - a fresh, fun series unlike anything else on television,” said Plestis. “It’s a cutting edge take on celebrity competition that will allow viewers to see their favorite stars in completely new ways, and put a smile on their faces in these trying times.”

Celebrity Show-Off is based on the Korean format from Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation and executive produced by Craig Plestis for Smart Dog Media. The series is produced by Critical Content with Tom Forman executive producing alongside Jenny Daly and Jon Beyer and Aliyah Silverstein serving as executive producer and showrunner.

Bravo will bring back its competition series Project Runway on Dec. 5, the network said Thursday.

The 18th season of the series, which will feature hosts Karlie Kloss, Christian Sirino and judges Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell and Elaine Welteroth, will feature a number of of fan-favorite elements, including “Siriano Save” and the “pièce de résistance,” according to Bravo. 

The new season will also feature within its competitors a variety of sexual preferences, racial backgrounds and ages, including a nonbinary model and a trans model, a “Dreamer,” and the oldest designer ever to compete on Project Runway.

Project Runway is produced by Magical Elves, Spyglass Media Group, and Alfred Street Industries.

USA Network will add to its unscripted series portfolio with a new competition series Cannonball, the network said Wednesday.

The series, produced by ITV Entertainment, will pit contestants against some of the highest, fastest and wettest challenges ever created, network officials said. The series, which debuts in 2020, adds to USA’s growing list of unscripted shows that include the upcoming reboot of The Biggest Loser and reality dating series Temptation Island.

“Cannonball is pure fun in the sun for the whole family to enjoy,” said Heather Olander, SVP of alternative development and programming for USA Network in a statement. “Filled with splashes, laughs and friendly competition, we are all thrilled to add such an energetic series to our schedule.”

Netflix will flex its original programming muscles in the reality competition genre, teaming with Sylvester Stallone to develop Ultimate Beastmaster.

The series, produced by Stallone (Creed) and David Broome (The Biggest Loser), will pit athletes from around the world in a global competition event.

Ultimate Beastmaster will feature six customized local versions featuring local languages, competitors and hosts from each competing, including U.S., Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Germany and Japan, according to Netflix.

All ten episodes of the series will be made available at the same moment globally on Netflix, according to the OTT service.

“As a global internet TV network, Netflix can uniquely create a compelling event that pits great competitors from six countries against one another, with commentators that audiences from these countries love and then unleash all of the episodes, at once, in multiple languages for our members to enjoy no matter where they are,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President, International Originals said in a statement. “With Sylvester Stallone and Dave Broome at the helm, it’s going to be outrageously fun.”