Spike TV has added 11 new unscripted pilots to its
development slate, including projects with Adam Carolla, Graham Elliot and Bar Rescue star Jon Taffer.
Based on the success of Bar
Rescue, Ink Master and Tattoo
Nightmares, Spike is looking to continue broadening its viewership to a
more gender-balanced audience with pilots in categories including food, home
design and workplace.
"This slate is a very complementary slate, it shows the
projects we've identified have a lot of the attributes that are on the air and
working," said Sharon Levy, executive VP of original series for Spike TV. "A
lot of our shows have a point of entry that both women and men can enjoy."
In the home space is Carolla's To Catch a Contractor, where he and a contractor hunt down a shoddy
builder and make him finish the job; and Property
Monstrosity, where concerned neighbors offer to renovate a disastrous house
as long as the owners vacate.
Food projects include Covert
Kitchens, where MasterChef's
Elliot takes viewers to one-night-only culinary events; Taffer's Hungry Investors, where struggling
restaurants compete for a cash investment; and Frakenfood, where food innovators compete to get their creations on
a menu and win a cash prize.
Spike has two workplace pilots: Take This Job and Love It, where hidden cameras capture applicants'
reactions as they compete in extreme on-the-job tests; and We're the Boss, where employees get to be in charge for one week.
Familiar reality show themes are present in the remaining
projects: An aspiring small business owner chooses to purchase one of three
companies for sale in Biz Brokers; Auto Body Avengers, where a team of
operatives go undercover to auto repair garages suspected of fraud; Reposa Justice, about an Austin criminal
defense attorney who confronts shady salesmen and lousy landlords; and Hard Money, which follows three
successful hard money lenders.
