{"id":930016,"date":"2026-10-12T08:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T08:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930016\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T08:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T08:18:10","slug":"tf1-brings-hit-formats-taskmaster-holey-moley-to-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930016\/","title":{"rendered":"TF1 Brings Hit Formats ‘Taskmaster,’ ‘Holey Moley’ to France"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTF1<\/a> is bringing hit British comedy format \u201cTaskmaster<\/a>\u201d to France as part of its big push into premium unscripted entertainment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTaskmaster,\u201d created by British comedian Alex Horne and originally launched in the U.K. in 2015, pits five celebrities against one another in a series of increasingly absurd challenges. <\/p>\n

\n\tCamille Combal<\/a>, a popular French TV personality who also hosts TF1\u2019s \u201cMasked Singer\u201d and \u201cQui sera le plus nul?,\u201d has come on board to produce the show, as well as play the Taskmaster\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve loved this format for a long time. It\u2019s an institution in comedy entertainment,\u201d said Julien Degroote, TF1 Group\u2019s EVP of content development, in an interview ahead of Mipcom<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re not buying it just because it\u2019s a hit, we\u2019re buying it because it addresses what we\u2019re seeing among French audiences: a desire for lighthearted entertainment, games, surprises and shared laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDegroote said TF1 has been working closely with the British team behind the original, visiting the U.K. set twice with Combal and meeting the producers and presenters to learn from their experience.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe format has so far been adapted in 15 territories outside the U.K.. Earlier this year, the Dutch adaptation launched on RTL4 to more than 1 million viewers and a Polish version delivered TVN\u2019s biggest primetime launch in five years, according to TF1. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe acquisition comes as TF1 is looking to build on the success of its long-running franchises, including \u201cStar Academy,\u201d \u201cKoh-Lanta,\u201d \u201cThe Voice\u201d and \u201cMasked Singer,\u201d while investing in a new wave of interactive entertainment shows that gathers both families and younger viewers.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Degroote, the goal is to deliver entertainment programs that have a strong enough interactive or live component to engage audiences and stand out in an increasingly crowded market that includes streamers, social media and YouTube. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re in a world of abundance and fragmentation. There\u2019s never been so much content available,\u201d said Degroote. \u201cEveryone is in their own feed, their own algorithm. We\u2019re in a battle for attention, and the content that\u2019s capable of capturing people\u2019s attention, creating enjoyment and, above all, bringing people together is becoming increasingly rare. And because it\u2019s rare, it\u2019s becoming more valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe strategy also makes economic sense at a time when French broadcasters, including TF1, are facing declining programming budgets and are looking for alternatives to pricey original drama series to fill primetime slots, while drawing audiences coveted by advertisers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs such, the broadcaster is also tapping into France\u2019s booming YouTube talent pool to lure the younger demos. One of its upcoming primetime launches, \u201cCrazy Mini Golf,\u201d an adaptation of the U.S. competition format \u201cHoley Moley<\/a>\u201d sold by Fremantle, will be hosted by French YouTube comedy duo McFly and Carlito (pictured below).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on ABC\u2019s \u201cHoley Moley,\u201d which ran for four seasons in the U.S., the show puts contestants through a giant miniature golf course filled with oversized obstacles, physical challenges and elaborate comic set pieces.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe French adaptation was filmed in Portugal, where TF1 joined forces with ITV in the U.K. and Amazon in Germany to finance it and recreate the elaborate American course, which Degroote says would otherwise have been too expensive for TF1 to produce independently.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking on McFly and Carlito, the executive says, \u201cThey\u2019re bringing their own tone, their own comedy language and their own community.\u201d Their large social media following also gives TF1 an opportunity to promote the format ahead of its linear launch.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey have their own community, and that obviously helps when we launch the show,\u201d Degroote says. \u201cThey\u2019ll talk about it on their social networks and their YouTube channel, so it gets people talking about the program before it\u2019s even on the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re in a very ambitious creative phase at TF1,\u201d says Degroote. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky to have strong brands like \u2018The Voice,\u2019 \u2018Koh-Lanta,\u2019 \u2018Dancing With the Stars\u2019 and \u2018Star Academy,\u2019 which structure our schedule and are successful. That allows us to take risks, to try things and test lots of new ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe investment in comedy-driven unscripted formats follows the breakout success of \u201cQui sera le plus nul?,\u201d TF1\u2019s adaptation of the Norwegian format \u201cNation\u2019s Dumbest,\u201d which brings celebrities back to school to test their knowledge.<\/p>\n

\n\tLaunched in January, the show\u2019s first season averaged 3.7 million viewers and attracted 4.5 million for its opening episode, making it the biggest launch for a new unscripted entertainment show on French television in five years, according to TF1.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success prompted TF1 to quickly commission a second season, which launched in September. \u201cThose are audience levels comparable to some of our strongest drama series,\u201d says Degroote. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe show has also become an international success story for TF1. Degroote says Fox acquired the format after executives watched the French adaptation, which significantly expanded the scale of the original Norwegian concept. The U.S. version subsequently aired over the summer.<\/p>\n

\n\tTF1 is also eager to develop homegrown formats. Among them is \u201cLe Dernier Cercle,\u201d an original quiz show co-created with French TV personality Arthur, which has already aired six primetime episodes on TF1 and been adapted in Germany.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, TF1\u2019s biggest existing unscripted hit remains \u201cStar Academy,\u201d the revived talent competition that has become a major driver of younger audiences.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to TF1, the show\u2019s most recent season reached 55 million viewers across its various broadcasts and platforms, with an average 49% audience share among 15-34-year-olds for its primetime episodes.<\/p>\n

\n\tPer Degroote, who\u2019s been in the unscripted business for over two decades, one of the key ingredients for a format\u2019s success today lies in audience participation. \u201cTwo years ago, our main question was how to make the audience active. Today, we\u2019re adding another question: How do we turn that active attention into a collective experience?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TF1 is bringing hit British comedy format \u201cTaskmaster\u201d to France as part of its big push into premium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,319523,48,75,319524,98913,319525,24991,348],"class_list":["post-930016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-camille-combal","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-holey-moley","tag-mipcom","tag-taskmaster","tag-tf1","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}