VH1 has given the go-ahead to a long-awaited sequel to its “Pop-Up Video” hit show from a few years back with a series that aims to do for pop culture icons what the original did for rock stars.
The series, “Pop-Up Culture,” is slated to debut in spring or early summer, according to creator/executive producer Woody Thompson, whose company made the original series under the Spin the Bottle banner.
The show will feature the same format as the original, but the snarky bubble notes will accompany clips from iconic moments or elements from pop culture, from clips of “Seinfeld” or “Survivor” to Monica Lewinsky’s deposition or old Evil Knievel publicity stills.
Thompson is a busy man these days as he tries to build a pop culture empire on two coasts. The New Yorker is spending much of his time in Los Angeles after aligning himself late last year with former VH1 producer Matt Sharp to help develop programming from New York.
Sharp set up his own shop late last year -- Sharp Entertainment -- under a deal with VH1 that kept new “Fabulous Life” episodes in the pipeline this year and resulted in the pair sharing a New York office in hopes of setting up a one-stop shop for creating pop culture-related programming.
In addition to producing minutelong segments from Us Weekly magazine, currently running in primetime on ABC Family, Thompson has been developing a trio of new series.
- a game show pilot under consideration at ESPN called “Tossup,” in which guest athletes predict the outcomes of absurd little contests. Inspired by the computer-generated games visible on the Jumbotron at your local sports arena, “Tossup” reimagines them on a grander scale: For instance, athletes would guess whether a 400-pound man or a 4-year-old girl can make a higher vertical leap right there in the show’s studio.
- a nonscripted series in development at Fox TV Studios’ alternative division in which people who are the subjects of lawsuits are served actual subpoenas through elaborate stings. The subpoenas would be served with the help of a team of cast members, including a fat man and a blonde bombshell. The series is expected to land at a cable network.
- a sexed-up update of the classic series “This Is Your Life,” under consideration at Spike TV. In this version, an unsuspecting male contestant will get the surprise of his life when some or all of the women he has slept with in the past are rounded up to confront him and dish on his romantic history.