Jay Pharoah (SNL, The Blackening) has been set as the host of Fox‘s new game The Quiz with Balls. The series is set to premiere this summer.
As Deadline exclusively revealed earlier this month, the quiz show pits brains against balls combining a high-stakes quiz show with a large-scale physical competition. Each episode features two families competing for $100k in a “battle of the balls.”
The project hails from Big Brother and The Voice creator John de Mol’s Talpa Studios and Fremantle’s Eureka Productions, marking de Mol and Eureka’s latest project with Fox. They are also behind The Floor, the Rob Lowe-hosted game show that launched in early January.
The network teases contestants must work together while standing on a high platform over a pool as they face a multiple-choice quiz where each answer is allocated to a spot with a giant ball positioned up behind it. If the correct answer is chosen, the ball rolls down and stops just before colliding with the player. But if the answer is wrong, the ball will rapidly descend and mercilessly whack them into the pool below.
The more players each team loses, the harder the questions get. The longer they last, the more money they bank, until one “dry” family member plays the final round that could lead to the $100k grand prize.
“Playful, quick-witted and high-energy, Jay’s going to make a huge splash as our host of The Quiz with Balls,” said Allison Wallach, Fox Entertainment’s President of Unscripted Programming. “No matter the stage or show, Jay’s singular brand of humor and comedic timing elevates everything he does. With him at the helm of The Quiz with Balls, viewers of all ages are assured an exciting and hilarious hour of fun playing along with Jay and our family contestants.”
“When I got hit up about hosting an epic face-off between big brains and even bigger balls, I was like…’I got this,’” Jay shared in a statement. “Then I found out it was a game show series on Fox and thought…even better!”
Last Summer, The Quiz with Balls premiered on SBS6 in The Netherlands, where it averaged a 21.1% market share in the 20-49 demo, above slot average, leading to an order for a four-episode winter special. A second season of the show will air later this year. In addition to the U.S. format, Talpa Studios will soon announce other markets where this successful format will travel.
The series is produced by Eureka Productions and Talpa Studios. John de Mol, Maarten Meijs, Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and John Leahy serve as executive producers. Anthony Carbone serves as showrunner and executive producer.
Source: Deadline
