"My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad," premieres Monday, February 18, and is a fun-filled, family-friendly competition series from the producers of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (Mark Burnett Productions) and NBC’s "The Biggest Loser" (Reveille).
Dan Cortese - © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi
The series will finally prove the familiar schoolyard boast -- "My dad is better than your dad!"
Hosted by Dan Cortese, the high-energy series features dads and their respective 8-12 year old son or daughter at the forefront of the action -- leading them in exciting larger-than-life challenges testing dad’s strength, smarts and ability to work as a team.
Ultimately, the triumphant dad will walk away with money for his child’s future and the all-important bragging rights.
Each episode will feature four teams competing against each other in a series of four challenges. The last team standing will earn the right to compete in the “money” round, with a chance to win the grand prize of $50,000.
"My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad" was created by Jon Hotchkiss and is a production of Reveille, Mark Burnett Productions and Hotchkiss Industries.
* NOTE: To enter as a contestant - go to the NBC links page for all their game shows that are accepting downloadable applications: HERE
Monsters and Critics had a chance to speak to Jon and Dan regarding this new show.
You guys are both dads. What personal experiences have you both had with organized sports that you wanted to explore with this new series - namely what intrigues you about the whole experience of being a parent with a child in a sport?
Jon Hotchkiss: I’ll quickly tell you guys. This whole series generated from a moment in my life. I bought my kids -- I have a seven-year-old and a three-year-old -- a bouncy house. I don’t know if you’re familiar with one of those.
It’s got a big inflatable floor and it’s a - you blow it up and kids jump inside it. And I bought one for my kids to play with in the summertime. And I was putting it away.
I was leaning on it and rolling on top of it, and trying to squeeze all the air out so - because it was getting late and I wanted to go back inside. And as I’m rolling and squeezing, and I’m going this is a TV show.
I said if I could think up things that are just like this, that suburban dads could do either with their kids or along with their kids, this would be a TV show. So literally from that moment, it was sort of a spark of inspiration - just the putting away of this thing and the sort of energy that I was expending.
I was like dads all across America are doing this. And it struck me as - if I could think up 10 or 12 more challenges like this, but only twice as big and three times more fun that we might have ourselves a television show.
Wow. Dan, what about you?
Dan Cortese: You know, my son is seven. My daughter is getting ready to be four. And unless you have children, it’s hard to describe the feeling and the sensation that you have as a father when you do things with them.
My son has been playing little league baseball the past two years and, you know, even if it’s as simple as going outside and pitching him a ball or playing catch with him, or even with my daughter - it’s one of those things that you realize that truthfully, a father will do anything for their kids.
I think that’s sort of the core of this show in the sense that yes, John has thought up the - and everybody has thought up some of these wonderful games to - for these fathers to play.
But - and in doing so, you realize that sometimes they’re very strenuous. You have to be athletic to do them. Sometimes they’re embarrassing for these guys. Sometimes they’re funny to watch.
But at the end of the day, these guys would not be doing any of this if their kids weren’t right there with them and their kids weren’t cheering for them. And so I think it’s that bond that, I’ve said before in interviews that I really don’t think - somebody had asked me, well is this a show for people who have kids?
And I said no. Well it is, but to me really it’s a show for anybody who has ever had a dad and done something with their dad. And that’s the experience that takes place in this show, and that’s why I was attracted to it.
Where do you find these parents? And is there counseling afterwards for the parents who were embarrassed and they lose, and their dad isn’t smarter?
Jon Hotchkiss: Well, you know, we had a, you know, a cross country search with - our casting team looks all over the country for dads and kids who are going to make dynamic television personalities.
And the good thing about the show is that although it’s a competition, it’s more of a friendly kind of competition that happens. For example, like when the family gets together on Thanksgiving and you divide up into two teams to play some touch football.
Everyone takes the game seriously, but afterwards everyone shakes hands and they walk off the field having had a great time together.
So obviously you’re not from Oklahoma.
Jon Hotchkiss: That’s - okay. But I would say that perhaps in general, the idea is that it’s not a competition in the sense that I’m - you know, it’s a friendly kind of competition.
It’s the kind of competition that happens, you know, like when your kids play softball or in the, you know, in the peewee baseball league. They try real hard and at the end of the game everybody lines up on both sides of the field and they shake hands with one another.
So is it competitive? Of course. Nobody wants to not win. But you also understand that - when you go into it, that three of the teams are going to be eliminated and one is going to get a chance to play for some amount of money.
But the truth is that they all had a fantastic experience. And this isn’t the kind of show that embarrasses people. This is the kind of show that celebrates the relationships between dads and their kids.
And it’s not one of those shows where people walk away feeling bad about themselves or that they got jerked around. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Everyone, across the board, has come up to us to say what a wonderful experience they had, how much fun they had and how they’re going to remember this for a long time.
Dan Cortese: Jon, you should do that.
Jon Hotchkiss: All right. I’ll give you a couple of examples. We have a game called Alphabet Soup where we built giant soup bowls that are 12 feet in diameter and each one holds 1000 gallons of green goo. So there’s four of these on the stage.
And then unscramble the letters to spell a word. Only, there’s a lot of slipping and sliding because the goo is well, sticky and slimy. So that’s one game.
It’s just really magnificent. The kids are having such a great time and the dads are, you know, the dads pull their kids back. The kids fly across the stage and everyone just seems to love it.
Dan Cortese: That particular game, these guys have created a wonderful set. The set itself, is basically a suburban cul-de-sac on steroids. And in that game, these kids are - when he says they’re flying across the stage, they are.
They’re about 15 feet up in the air hooked to a bungee harness. And their dads are the ones that are tossing them across the stage, in the air, into this giant Velcro wall. We like to say it’s the largest Velcro wall on the planet.
It’s 40 - or what is it, 40 feet long by I think, two stories high. So the kids love that game and the dads enjoy, I think, tossing them across the stage from time to time as well.
But really, just a - that’s a great game to watch and also everybody really enjoys themselves in that game as well.
Jon Hotchkiss: We have another game that we created where dads fire a souped up sort of air cannon that fires rolled up newspapers at the other dad who is defending some windows on his house.
And so each dad takes a turn. This is a game that happens towards the end of the show where - when only two dads remain. So one dad fires the air cannon and the other dad is defending the windows.
The dad who can break more windows and score more points is the one who advances to play in - for the money in the following round.
Everyone who played in all of the games just could not have been more thrilled and more pleased, and happier to have participated.
And the dads, of course, were having fun. But the fact that they were having fun with their kids made it more special for everyone.
Dan Cortese: Jon, you should - do you want to reference the bobbing for tomatoes at all?
Jon Hotchkiss: Sure. We had another game where we would test - each one of the rounds of the show, we were testing a different one of dads’ sort of skills. In one round it would be who is the strongest. Then who’s the fastest.
Then there’s a quiz round where we determine which dad is the smartest. And then the fourth round of the show has games where we determine whose dad is the bravest.
So in one of these games we filled a 50 or 60 gallon aquarium with snakes - and then also with a dozen tomatoes. So the dads would have to bob into the tomato - into the snake pit and pull out tomatoes using only their mouth, and then hand them off to their kids.
And they would have three minutes to test their bravery.
Jon- What gives you the most satisfaction as a writer - as someone who writes - putting out a script that makes people laugh and adds to the whole story of an ongoing series or coming up with a really great reality concept like this NBC show?
Jon Hotchkiss: I’ll tell you, both are very rewarding. I would say the impetus for this particular program was I wanted to do a show that my kids could watch. And I’ve worked, you know, with Penn & Teller and Bill Maher for quite a number of years.
So that’s just - and I would say that as any type of creative person, you want to do a variety of different kinds of things - that you have - there are things that interest you from the scripted world and variety.
Then there are things where you have a sort of big idea where that excites you - where you’re like oh, yesterday this TV show didn’t exist and now I’m in business with the biggest players in the reality business, with Reveille and Mark Burnett who breathed fantastic life into this idea I had.
That was very creatively fulfilling. And so that has a reward to it in the same way that when I sit at my desk, sort of in solitary, and I come up with ideas for the - for Larry David or write jokes for Bill Maher - how, and then I see those things on television the next day, I get the same kind of, sort of creative, sort of joy out of both of those things.
Can you just give me a little bit of information regarding Chris Tallman. “Gary the Klansman” is one of the best side characters on “Reno 911.” Can you just give us a little taste of what you’re doing with him?
Jon Hotchkiss: Chris and I - I created a - I did a pilot with Chris and unfortunately, it didn’t materialize. We - and I probably shouldn’t get into the details. We did it for the - we - whatever. Chris and I did a pilot together that didn’t come to fruition, unfortunately, as a series. Chris is one of the funniest guys I know and I love working with that guy.
Dan, did you envision that you were going to be involved with a reality TV show like this in your career?
Dan Cortese: You know, having started at MTV, hosting MTV Sports for six years and then initially when I did move to Los Angeles in 1990, it was to become an actor. And then I sort of landed that MTV Sports gig, and then have basically acted since then.
I’ve been offered quite a few different jobs as far as hosting things. And, you know, it wasn’t ever that I didn’t want to host anything. It just sort of - I just wanted to find the one thing where I could sort of be myself and bring a little bit of myself to the show.
And when My Dad is Better Than Your Dad was brought up to me and explained to me from - by Jon and Mike Nichols, and Mark Burnett, it was one of those things where, you know, they told me that’s what they wanted me to do.
So it’s something that attracted me to it and I’m really glad I did it because it’s a really fun show to do and I think that comes across in the finished product as well. It’s a fun show to watch as well.
Jon Hotchkiss: And I’ll say this about Dan. He had - he has endless amounts of energy and enthusiasm. And he had all - he has all of the right characteristics that we wanted in a host. I mean, clearly exceptionally personable on camera.
He - as a father, he was great with kids. He has experience hosting from MTV Sports doing sort of sporting kind of events. So we really lucked out in getting what I think is the perfect host for this show - a guy who has - who is funny, who is personable, who is - am I saying enough nice things about him by the way?
Dan Cortese: Keep going.
Jon Hotchkiss: Okay, good. And, you know, we really - we got the total package when we got Dan.
Dan Cortese: That’s good.
Jon Hotchkiss: Okay, good.
If we have My Dad is Smarter Than Your Dad, are we going to have My Mom is Smarter Than Your Mom?
Jon Hotchkiss: If I have my way we will. Look, clearly this is an opportunity for there to be any number of spin-offs and franchises from this show. And so clearly, I’m sure my colleagues at Mark Burnett and at Reveille, and at NBC -- assuming this show is a great success, which everyone expects -- there’s no reason why we wouldn’t consider a show called My Mom's Better Than Your Mom.
Would it not be as physical?
Jon Hotchkiss: Well again - well when you say physical - what we tried - what we did is we have a playing field for many of the games. There are physical components to them, but there are also mental components too.
And so there is sections where it - where we level the playing field. And I don’t think - I would suspect that we would do a similar show for moms.
Dan Cortese: We’d have to then do Celebrity My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.
Jon Hotchkiss: Oh, believe it. We’re going to do…
Dan Cortese: We’ll have to talk to Mark about that.
Jon Hotchkiss: My - look, if I have my way, we’ll do My Third Cousin is Better Than Your Third Cousin, and this thing will run for 100 years, you know.
Would this show have come to fruition if there were not a writers’ strike now?
Dan Cortese: Go ahead, John.
Jon Hotchkiss: Here’s what I’ll say. The show was in the pipeline long before the writers’ strike and that - at the risk of - what’s the word I’m looking for? I was just going to say that the show was in the pipeline long before the writers’ strike and that I think that a good idea and the right kind of programming would find success no matter who was working when.
And that regardless of the strike, that a good television product will rise up if it’s good and that people will gravitate towards it.
Can you give us an idea of sort of what kind of cash prize amounts they are competing for?
Dan Cortese: The prize that contestants compete for is up to $50,000. Jon, are we allowed to talk about the final round or is that sort of a surprise?
Jon Hotchkiss: You know, I don’t know.
Dan Cortese: Because I really think that’s great, the…
Jon Hotchkiss: Dan, do you want to give a little of that and then I’ll follow up?
Dan Cortese: Yeah, when - and the only reason I’m touching on this is because, Theresa, you have asked about the cash prizes and how they win the money. The final round where there’s one family left, it’s basically - you know, we have a quiz round early, but it’s a Q&A sort of to find out not necessarily how smart your dad is, but how well our dads know their kids.
With - some of the questions may seem rather simple and you would assume that dads would know the answers to them. But it’s a great idea. John, it - he really - they came up with something unique and different here where every dad can relate to this because as a father myself, when I ask some of these guys questions -- each question being worth $10,000 if they have a correct answer -- and I’m asking potentially, what is your daughter’s shoe size, I’m thinking to myself I don’t know my daughter’s shoe size as of yesterday, you know.
Jon Hotchkiss: Right. And what’s nice about it is that there’s great play along for the families at home. People who are watching - kids can turn to their dads, dads can turn to their kids. And the kid says to dad, Dad what size is my shoe?
And the dads, you know, then you start conversations at home. And what you get is some great play along. Yes is it - are they personal about the team literally playing on the stage? Perhaps, but it’s also very universal and it’s really about the little things that go on in your lives, you know.
It’s a great, sort of fun test - like we’ve tested how smart dad is, how brave he is, how courageous he is, how fast and how strong. And now we want to see how well does dad know his own child?
And the sort of family fun that comes out during it is great. It’s tension-filled and clearly everyone walks away with some money. And - which is obviously what our intent is.
Do any of the families that were on the show as contestants stand out in your minds to you right now? Can you tell us about any of them?
Dan Cortese: I think they all stand out. But as Jon had alluded to earlier, sort of the - with the nationwide search for good television characters, I mean, we’ve had - we had a Navy SEAL that had been deployed to Iraq four times.
After our show he was being deployed for a fifth time. This was the last thing he was getting to do with his son before he was going back to Iraq.
We’ve had Los Angeles policemen, firefighters. We had an infectious disease doctor. We had…
Jon Hotchkiss: What’s nice is that the dads - I’ll just follow up. Do you mind if I interrupt?
Dan Cortese: Please.
Jon Hotchkiss: Okay. Is that the dads are getting to play outside their comfort zone and that, you know, these are ordinary guys playing on games that are potentially built for gladiators.
And so, for example, we have an infectious disease doctor. Now your expectation is that a guy like that, perhaps, might be more sort of cerebral. It turns out that he was incredibly competitive and was a great contestant.
Dan Cortese: We actually had two brothers, as well, compete against each other with their children. And one was in the US Army for six years and the other one was a ballerina.
So he is a professional ballet dancer and so - and like Jon is saying as well, it’s one of those where you may expect certain people to do well in the physical competitions. But a lot of times it’s the ones you don’t expect to do well that surprise you.
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