Finally, there’s a game show that prizes skills we all have in ready abundance: awkwardly talking to our families, revealing long-kept, embarrassing secrets, and pissing each other off. Spike has announced that it’s taking a break from its busy work rescuing bars and getting celebrities to pretend to be other, more musical celebrities, in order to make its first foray into the world of game shows. According to Deadline, the network is fast-tracking an untitled series in which parents and their adult children can publicly destroy their relationships in exchange for cash.
Developed by the production company behind Hell’s Kitchen and American Ninja Warrior, the series will force people to navigate an obstacle course even more perilous than the latter show’s collection of giant foam pads, swimming pools, and surplus American Gladiator equipment: talking to their mom or dad. Parent-child teams will compete to see who can identify the real secrets or revelations from their loved ones from a list of fake ones, ensuring that, win or lose, something embarrassing will likely be revealed.
Here are some suggested topics, from the show’s initial announcement: kids guessing at the details of their own conception, or revealing the secret marriage they never told their disapproving parent about. (We’re just waiting for the moment a parent says they think their kid’s a closet arsonist or something, only to find out that they just cheated on their taxes instead.) The winners will receive a large cash prize, a vague sense of their own shattered dignities, and an inclusive, all-expenses paid trip to screaming at each other over the Thanksgiving turkey when November comes around.