Comedian James Acaster’s new game show, People Person, will not be moving forward at Channel 4. The show, which had a pilot episode, was a co-development between Interstellar and Tuesday’s Child.
Here’s the Lowdown: People Person was a comedy quiz where a panel of comedians, led by Acaster, had to guess which person from a line-up was the answer to a question. The audience was heavily involved, playing for a share of a prize fund. The pilot was funded through a joint initiative between Channel 4 and Screen Scotland.
What This Means Now: The show won’t be progressing beyond the pilot stage. This means that viewers won’t get to see the full series, and Acaster’s foray into game show hosting (at least on this particular project) is over for now.
The Bigger Picture: The cancellation highlights the competitive nature of television commissioning. Even with a well-known comedian like Acaster attached, and funding from both Channel 4 and Screen Scotland, a pilot doesn’t always translate into a full series order. The show was commissioned by Head of Reality and Entertainment, Steven Handley and Commissioning Editor, Cimran Shah.
