Ultimate Tag

Ultimate Tag comes to Seven in 2021

The Seven Network today announced that it has commissioned Ultimate Tag from Endemol Shine Australia (ESA), to air on Channel 7 in 2021 as part of its continuing content led growth strategy.

Ultimate Tag is an epic tournament of tag to find Australia’s ultimate taggers. It takes the universally known game of tag and elevates it to a level and scale never before seen. This fresh and unmissable new series will have the nation cheering on as everyday Australians try to evade elite Pro Taggers in what can only be described as the fastest game on Earth.

The high-octane physical competition follows competitors who must vault, dodge, tumble and dive their way through epic three-dimensional moving courses with one simple goal: “Don’t get caught”. As competitors progress through the series they are challenged to take on even more extreme courses to earn a place in a final heart-pounding end game where both a male and female champion will be crowned winners.

Commenting on the commission, Seven’s Network Programming Director, Angus Ross, said: “This is part of our tent pole strategy that delivers epic entertainment to all audiences. We’re excited to be partnering with Endemol Shine Australia to bring Ultimate Tag, a dynamic new format, to Australia next year. Endemol Shine are the masters of supercharging shows to massive success in Australia, and with Ultimate Tag we know they will deliver a great show that our viewers will love, just as they have done with Big Brother this year.

“We can’t wait to bring Ultimate Tag to our audience next year and continue our content led growth story that has reestablished Seven as the place for brands to reachkeydemographics.”

Mark Fennessy, CEO, Endemol Shine Australia, said: “It’s the fastest and most intense competition ever seen – a supersized family game that just became a sport. Everyday Runners must avoid our professional Taggers – a mischievous group of highly skilled freerunners, parkour artists and elite athletes. It moves at a frightening speed that delivers momentary thrills, surprising victories and startling defeats. Ultimate Tag is blockbuster family entertainment at its pulsating best - the Ultimate Test on the Ultimate Playground.”

Originally created by event entertainment specialists Znak & Co, Ultimate Tag’s launch on FOX marks broadcast’s highest-rated unscripted Summer debut in three years and FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched unscripted Summer debut in eight years.

Casting for Ultimate Tag is open now at www.ultimatetagcasting.com.au with more details to be announced at Seven’s 2021 Upfronts later this year.

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Now this is a fresh concept. Hope it succeeds.

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Sounds interesting. Let’s hope it’s well produced unlike Australian Spartan.

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Between this and Holey Moley, it’s good to see Seven taking some risks with non-reality shows. Sure they might not be successful ratings-wise but I rather them try different things than fail doing different versions of the same old types of formats/shows.

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Agreed. Less of the dating shows that they’ve attempted is always a good thing.

Could this be a potential replacement for one of their failed formats like House Rules?

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It is a US format that premiered on FOX in the US this year and has many elements similar to Ninja Warrior. It looks like an attempt to succeed with a Ninja copy where Australian Spartan failed.

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Yeah… Looks completely unoriginal to me and further dumbing down network television.

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Agree. It’s the same mindless rubbish. But the networkss are just responding to what the audience watches.

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Promo for applications:

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Seems silly, but at least Seven are finally looking beyond cooking shows for fresh concepts.

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In other words, just like most shows on Australian TV :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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If you watch the American version you’ll know this has flop written all over it.

Looks pretty much like a big scale version of the “Pursuit” game from Gladiators.

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I think the addition of studio audience makes the whole thing seem silly and tacky. Wouldn’t it be better to make a version that is based on objectives and missions (somewhat like video games) to tag others through a range of challenges or something like that (similar to Hunted).

Then again, they probably should commission Hunted if they want to go down that path :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Hosts have been announced

The world’s fastest show is here and there’s only one rule: don’t get caught! Ultimate Tag takes the universally known game of tag and elevates it to a scale and skill level never seen before.This fresh and unmissable new series will have the nation cheering on as everyday Australians try to evade elite Pro Taggers in what can only be described as the fastest game on Earth. Ultimate Tag hosts, Seven sports reporter Abbey Gelmi and 7NEWS sports anchor Matt Shirvington with commentator Bill Woods will cover all the intense action as the Ultimate Tag Champions are decided. Who will take home the $100,000 prize money?

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If this isn’t a sign that Seven have grand plans for Matt Shirvington in the future, I’m not sure what is.

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Don’t mind Abbey but not Shirvington again. He’s decent but he’s already on Seven News and Holey Moley. I’d prefer someone else like Mark Beretta or even Larry Emdur to host this one.

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Great pairing!

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Abbey Gelmi is a rising star.

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Bill Woods a notable inclusion.

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