EXCLUSIVE: Most things James Corden touches turns to gold these days, but a new comedy entertainment show from his company Fulwell 73 may be a rare exception to the rule.
Pants On Fire, an extreme bluffing format hosted by The Circle presenter Emma Willis, has been quietly rested by Channel 4’s youth station E4 two-thirds of the way through its first nine-part run.
A Channel 4 insider said it always intended to pause the show part-way through its series and stressed that the final three episodes will be broadcast in early 2020. But another well-placed source told Deadline that a mid-season break was never part of the original plan.
Pants On Fire‘s first six episodes seriously underperformed slot average, with some installments down 100,000 viewers or more on what a show would usually achieve on E4 at 9PM on a Thursday.
It vanished from the schedule after its November 14 episode and the mid-season break was not mentioned on any of the relevant Channel 4 Twitter channels, including the @PantsOnFireE4 account operated by Fulwell 73. Furthermore, Willis did not say the show will be back in the New Year in her sign off at the end of the sixth episode.
In Pants On Fire‘s place, E4 has broadcast repeats of Gogglebox and The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything, meaning it has not been replaced by another original show in the plum primetime slot.
Each episode of Pants On Fire sees teams of comics plotting their own crazy and outrageous challenges. From swimming with sharks to winning a pro-wrestling battle royale, the teams must then prove to a studio audience and a celebrity jury that they completed the stunts. Gabe Turner, Andy Price and Leo Pearlman are the executive producers. It was ordered by E4 controller Kark Warner and entertainment commissioner Steven Handley.
Corden is a partner at Fulwell 73, which makes CBS’s The Late Late Show With James Corden. The actor, presenter and writer urged his 10.6M Twitter followers to tune into Pants On Fire when it launched on October 10.