Hot Picks: Snake Oil

Showcasing a unique blend of business entrepreneurship and wacky humour, Snake Oil is the latest shiny-floor series to emerge from The Masked Singer and Lego Masters broadcaster Fox. The quirky concept was developed through Lego Masters host Will Arnett’s indie Electric Avenue, with the actor exec producing the David Spade-hosted and produced title.

Snake Oil is based on entrepreneurialism and sleuthing, and features contestants trying to figure out which products are created by real salespeople and which ones are cons, created by snake-oil merchants.

In the Fox Alternative Entertainment business format, the contestants are paired with celebrity advisers and are pitched a variety of odd products. Those who can figure out the shams have a chance to win a major cash prize. They are guided through by Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-nominated comedian Spade.

In each episode, contestants choose a pair of entrepreneurs and learn about their unique, and usually bizarre, products through visuals and a custom-made infomercial exclusively produced for the show, as well as by quizzing the business representatives themselves.

Promising outlandish products and even stranger visuals, audiences can play along at home as the contestants figure out what is real and what is fake.

The series is a big swing for the distributor, which is adding unscripted to its Mipcom catalogue for the first time this year.

“There aren’t many major shows beyond Shark Tank that have this added layer of entrepreneurship,” says Fox Entertainment Global executive vice-president Tony Vassiliadis. “Snake Oil fits a lot of different angles and can sit alongside a lot of different programmes for our buyers.”

Fox has had a lot of success in the international realm with comedy-led formats, with Vassiliadis referencing scripted comedy Animal Control as a series that is also serving it well.

There are numerous layers and elements to Snake Oil, alongside the comedic aspects, and Vassiliadis says the playalong element heightens the entertainment – as the contestants try to guess the real businesses from the fakes. Even host Spade does not know what is real and what is not.

“The resonance of celebrity is not the be all and end all here, but rather to be able to partake as a family” 

Vassiliadis says the target demographic falls between 18-49, but “co-viewing is a really important element to our shows”, citing Lego Masters and The Masked Singer, which have an emphasis on playalong value.

While some talent will resonate more in different locations, Vassiliadis says the format is universal, and has accumulated significant interest already, despite only airing on Fox at the end of September.

“The resonance of celebrity is not the be all and end all here, but rather to be able to partake as a family,” he says. “It’s also a great way to feature local talent as well as successful entrepreneurial stories.

“So many unscripted competition shows can feel very intense. This is a light and fun show that dials down the intensity and really focuses on the humour. We’ve found that our clients want things that are uplifting.”