Endemol Shine North America has signed a first-look deal with unscripted TV veteran Craig Plestis and his Smart Dog Media.
Plestis, a former top unscripted executive at NBC, is set to launch his latest series, “Masked Singer” on Fox (Jan. 2, 2019), which his Smart Dog is producing with Endemol Shine NA.
“Craig has a remarkable track record in both identifying and developing unscripted hits and we’re thrilled he is now housed with our team at Endemol Shine North America,” said Sharon Levy, president, unscripted & scripted television, Endemol Shine North America. “And his latest discovery, ‘Masked Singer,’ is unlike anything we’ve seen here in the U.S. and is sure to make a lot of noise for Fox early next year.”
As the former executive VP, alternative programming, development and specials at NBC, Plestis helped develop and launch “America’s Got Talent,” “Deal or No Deal,” “The Biggest Loser,” “The Apprentice,” “Fear Factor,” “The Singing Bee,” “The Contender” among others, during his tenure at the network. He also oversaw production of the Golden Globe Awards.
Under Smart Dog, Plestis has executive produced series including “Minute To Win It” and “The Winner Is” for NBC. He also launched “Robot Combat League” for Syfy.
10 Notable Emmy Hosting Teams: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Photos)
Because they co-host the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live,” it makes perfect sense for Colin Jost and Michael Che to host the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards together on Sept. 17. But over the last 20 years, this will be only the third time the Emmys have used more than one host, even though two or more hosts were the norm in the show’s first half-century. Here are 10 other notable hosting teams, some that make perfect sense and some that don’t.
1952: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
Lucy and Desi were clearly the first couple of television in its early days, so it was natural that they’d be co-hosts only the fourth time the Emmys were handed out – a show on which their show “I Love Lucy” also won the top comedy award.
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1962: David Brinkley, Johnny Carson and Bob Newhart
Why three hosts? Because the 1962 show took place simultaneously in three locations: Los Angeles (Newhart), New York (Carson) and Washington, D.C. (Brinkley).
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1968: Frank Sinatra and Dick Van Dyke
Sinatra handled the L.A. show, Van Dyke the N.Y. one, and they had one thing in common in 1968: They both barely survived a snafu-ridden Emmys show.
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1976: Mary Tyler Moore and John Denver
Mary Tyler Moore had been a TV icon for more than a decade, and the night she hosted in 1976 her show would win five top awards. So why saddle her with a country-pop singer who was criticized for saying “far out!” too much? Only the TV Academy knows.
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1980: Steve Allen and Dick Clark
Allen famously hated rock ‘n’ roll; Clark popularized it on “American Bandstand.” But they were both TV icons, so that was good enough.
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1983: Eddie Murphy and Joan Rivers
By the standards of the time, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Murphy and “Tonight Show” regular Rivers were pretty rude and transgressive comics – and they didn’t disappoint on Emmy night, delivering the bawdiest (and, some thought, most offensive) Emmys ever.
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1986: Shelley Long and David Letterman
Letterman was only in his third year as a late-night host, while Long was already on her fourth nomination for her role in “Cheers.” But the show was on NBC and they were two of the network’s biggest stars, so they became co-hosts.
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1990: Candice Bergen, Jay Leno and Jane Pauley
Bergen played a Pauley-like newswoman on “Murphy Brown,” and Leno was the change of pace in the middle of a three-hour show in which each of the hosts handled duties for an hour.
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1995: Jason Alexander and Cybill Shepherd
Alexander was in the sixth year of the comedy series “Seinfeld,” Shepherd in the first year of her series “Cybill.” One of those shows would go on to be iconic, and the other wouldn't.
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2008: Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest
“It sounded like a good idea,” Probst told TheWrap of the ill-fated plan to put the five nominees in the reality-host category in charge of the Emmys. “[We] were supposed to be the best hosts, and yet we did the worst hosting in the history of the Emmys.”
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From Lucy and Desi to those reality-show hosts, the Emmys have both soared and stumbled when enlisting more than one host
Because they co-host the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live,” it makes perfect sense for Colin Jost and Michael Che to host the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards together on Sept. 17. But over the last 20 years, this will be only the third time the Emmys have used more than one host, even though two or more hosts were the norm in the show’s first half-century. Here are 10 other notable hosting teams, some that make perfect sense and some that don’t.
Bureau of Industrial Service
