Hot Picks: 100 Days to Fall in Love

In this original comedy-drama, four friends in their 40s decide to take a break from their spouses by signing up to be single for 100 days and exploring what that means in the modern world of social networks and dating apps.

One couple, who are both lawyers, have been married for 20 years, have two children and work together at their own firm.

The other couple separate at the same time, but have to go on living together in the same house because of their financial situation.

However, when one partner reconnects with an ex-boyfriend from high school and realises not only that she still loves him, but also that her daughter might be the result of this past love, things get complicated.

The series will air on Telefe Argentina in May. Viacom bought the free-to-air channel, which commands a 33% share of Argentina’s TV audience, in a $345m (£244m) deal in November 2016. The channel produces around 3,000 hours of original programming a year.

Creative pedigree

“We have great expectations in terms of audience since it is Telefe’s main comedy for the year,” says Viacom International Media Networks vice-president of content sales and co-productions for the Americas Guillermo Borensztein.

He says what sold him the idea was its creator, Sebastián Ortega, whose credits include Family Affairs, Los Vecinos En guerra and El Marginal.

“Together with his renowned group of writers, Ortega has a track record as an innovator in this genre, with proven success in Argentina and successful adaptations of his formats all over the world,”says Borensztein.

The same is true of the cast, he adds. “The actors and actresses have great local recognition, and a strong presence in previously sold series. Their popularity and recognition transcend just Argentina and they are very familiar in Europe.”

Borensztein says there are universal themes that will help the show travel: “The situations the couples go through reflect issues people face all over the world.”

He also believes the show’s gender politics make the series timely. “From the man’s viewpoint, the possibility of living the singleton’s life seems so beneficial at the beginning but becomes complicated to sustain. From the women’s perspective, they find out they’re more independent than they thought, and more necessary than they were made to feel. The show is a new way to approach friendship, marriage, cohabitation and the current leading role of women.”

VIMN will sell the show as a completed series, with the possibility of re-editing it into fewer episodes. It will also be offered as a format. “With the increased growth of local productions in Europe and the success of Telefe internationally, we believe this will be one of the main global fiction formats in 2018,” says Borensztein.

Viacom’s MipTV slate also includes Comedy Central Brazil series Borges Importadora, produced by Brazilian indie Porta dos Fundos, which was acquired by VIMN last year.

The series follows four employees of an import company who, after being cheated by their former boss, decide to turn the firm into an internet video production house.

Also on the slate is the latest instalment of the Shore franchise, MTV Floribama Shore; Channel 5 factual two-parter Concorde; and MTV’s Rob Dyrdek-hosted talent competition Amazingness.