Alex Horne pilots People Watching game show for Channel 4
- Alex Horne and the Taskmaster team are piloting People Watching, a new comedy game show for Channel 4
- Featuring comedians judging members of the public, a run-through of the format was shot in London in January
- Prospective participants were asked: "Is there more to you than meets the eye? If you've ever wondered what strangers think of you, now's the chance to find out!"
Alex Horne and the Taskmaster team are piloting a new comedy game show for Channel 4, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Featuring audience interaction, People Watching has comedians trying to "match fun facts to the people in the room".
A casting call notice for the non-broadcast pilot, shot in London in January by Taskmaster director Andy Devonshire, asked prospective participants: "Is there more to you than meets the eye? If you've ever wondered what strangers think of you, now's the chance to find out!"
The People Watching format, produced by the programme-making arm of Horne's management company, Avalon Television (Starstruck, Not Going Out), has been in development for at least two years.
A taster was made in the summer of 2021 with Mawaan Rizwan hosting, after the musical comic and Juice star appeared on Series 10 of Taskmaster the previous year. However, BCG understands that Rizwan did not host the recent run-through.
If commissioned for a series, People Watching would further solidify Horne's relationship with Channel 4.
The channel poached Taskmaster - the hit panel show devised by him in which Greg Davies challenges celebrities, mostly comedians, to complete tasks, with Horne as his sidekick - from Dave in 2020 and aired The Horne Section TV Show last year, a sitcom revolving around the comic and his band hosting a late-night music chat show for Channel 4.
Taskmaster won best comedy entertainment show at the National Comedy Awards last month, and once again was voted Best TV Entertainment Show by fans in the Comedy.co.uk Awards.