Spike TV Picks Up Five Unscripted Series
MTV Networks-Owned Cable Network Targets Young Men
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/8/2008 11:34:00 AM
Spike TV, the MTV Networks-owned cable channel targeting young men, announced the pickup of a slate of unscripted programming.
The pickups are:
• River Men, in the same vein as Deadliest Catch and Axe Men, will follow barge captains as they navigate the tricky waters of the Mississippi River;
• USA vs. the World will pit average Americans with rough jobs against their foreign counterparts. For example, an American alligator wrangler would face off against an Australian crocodile wrangler;
• Tank and Cobra follows the bounty-hunting team of William “Cobra” Stubbs and Gregory “Tank” Camaron as they hunt down criminals;
• Human Predators reveals through first-hand accounts the stories of people who take others’ lives, professionally or criminally; and
• Idiot Hall of Fame, perhaps taking a cue from the Darwin Awards, will take a humorous look at some of the dumbest actions ever caught on tape.
The network also announced that wrestler Kurt Angle will host hidden-camera show Caught in the Action and former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley will host Surviving Terror. Both shows had been previously announced.
The announcements come on the heels of the debut of DEA, an unscripted series that has proven to be a winner for Spike, delivering 1.3 million viewers per week during its time slot, a 45% increase over the same time slot last year.
