After more than a decade, the former Spike game show Pros Vs Joes is getting rebooted.
Per Deadline, the show’s format has been picked up by Glow Media, which plans on bringing the show to Europe in addition to the reboot in the U.S.
Glow’s Siobhan Crawford mentioned legacy brands outperforming newer brands in a brief statement discussing the reboot.
“I have chased this format for ages,” said Glow Media’s Managing Director, Siobhan Crawford. “We are in a time where older, familiar brands are out-performing new launches, where sports adjacent programming is in demand and everyone loves an underdog story. Now redeveloped, this format is stronger than ever.”
Pros Vs Joes aired on Spike, rebranded as the Paramount Network in 2018, for five seasons from 2006-2010. It features “regular people” (the Joes) taking on professional athletes (the Pros) in a series of physical contests related to each athlete’s sport. For example: can you score baskets against former NBA player Kendall Gill? It was mindlessly entertaining, and the format has been used many times since, in both local markets and in other, non-sports fields.
Here’s an ad for the show from back in 2006.
The first three seasons were hosted by Petros Papadakis, with the final two hosted by Jay Glazer and Michael Strahan.
Smashing the nostalgia button is often a hard pass for me, but given the ongoing surge of reality TV and game show content on networks, I think bringing back Pros Vs Joes is a pretty smart move. There will be plenty of interest across the board, from broadcast and entertainment cable networks to sports networks to streaming platforms. Now, I’m not completely sure the reboot will be well-executed, but it’s at least a good idea on the surface.
However, much of the reboot’s success will be based on the quality of athletes taking part. No one is going to care all that much if a “Joe” is able to outperform a Minor League Baseball journeyman, a third-tier soccer player, or an FCS backup quarterback in an athletic contest. Beating a former All-Star, though? That’s a lot more compelling.
[Deadline]