Better Late Than Never (TV series)
| Better Late Than Never | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster for the series.
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| Genre | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Directed by | Troy Miller |
| Starring | William Shatner Henry Winkler George Foreman Terry Bradshaw Jeff Dye |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Henry Winkler Jason Ehrlich Tim Crescenti Craig Zadan Neil Meron Stephanie Chambers Alex Katz |
| Production location(s) | Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Chang Mai |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Universal Television Storyline Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Grandpas Over Flowers, South Korea |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Better Late Than Never is an upcoming American reality-travel show series that will air on NBC and is produced by Universal Television, in association with Storyline Entertainment.[1][2] The series is an adaptation of the popular South Korean Grandpas Over Flowers series.[3][4] The cast includes four "seasoned" American celebrities William Shatner, Henry Winkler, George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw, accompanied by younger comedian Jeff Dye, as they backpack through Asia without luxuries, experiencing new cultures and checking off their bucket lists.[4][5] The series started productions in August 2015[6][7][8] and will premiere sometime in the 2015-16 season, around the end of August 2016.[9][10]
Production
In late 2014, NBC bought the remake rights for the South Korean series Grandpas Over Flowers from CJ E&M.[3][11] The original show was one of the first successful programs for cable tvN and had two spin-off shows.[3][4] It premiered in 2013, reached a high local rating of 12.5 percent, and became popular in other Asian countries, with the combination of veteran actors in their seventies and a popular young actor attracting a wide demographic range of viewers for a reality show.[12][13]
The show is being produced by cast member Winkler, along with Jason Ehrlich, producer of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Tim Crescenti, of I Survived a Japanese Game Show and Storyline Entertainment's two producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, of The Bucket List.[1][2]
Plans for the series were announced in June 2015.[1][2] Productions started in Japan in August, and on August 12, 2015, the cast were interviewed by comedian Bibiru Ohki on Japan's Nippon TV talk show PON!, and filmed for the NBC show with the Japanese cast.[14] Also in August, the cast visited South Korea, arriving in Seoul on August 20 for a three-day trip, including a visit to COEX for filming with cameo guests, K-pop girl group Girls' Generation, and trips to Hwaseong Fortress,[15] Caribbean Bay, Itaewon, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone[6][7][16][17]
Japan, including Tokyo and Kyoto, was the first stop for the show, with the South Korea visit second, and more trips to include Hong Kong, Bangkok and Chang Mai.[4][12][18]
According to NBC, the five cast members will rely on each other for support and encouragement and demonstrate that friendship is the ultimate gift.[9] While filming the show in Southeast Asia, Shatner, the oldest cast member,[19] and very active with his career at age 84, became interested in Buddhism and meditation after spending time with a Buddhist monk.[20] He said, "The disaster of death is encroaching so I’m more and more aware of how beautiful it is to be alive."[20]
Cast
The cast includes actor, producer, writer and director, Henry Winkler, best known by his iconic character, The Fonz, from the series Happy Days,[1] actor, director and writer William Shatner who starred, among other roles, as Capt. James T. Kirk in Star Trek,[1][18] four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Terry Bradshaw,[9] and former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.[9] Like the original show, the older cast will be accompanied by a younger cast member, comedian Jeff Dye, from NBC's Last Comic Standing, who will take on the equivalent role as Lee Seo-jin’s, as "bag carrier and human navigator."[4][19]
Reception and impact
This is the first time a South Korean local variety program was adapted by a North American national broadcast network.[3][11] During production time, the show's sponsors, Korea Tourism Organization, anticipated the advertising effect of the airing of the Korea episode on NBC prime time to amount to as much as 11 billion won ($9.2 million dollars).[16]
References
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