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Seven to reboot Man O Man with Dr. Chris Brown

First project for Seven's hunky new recruit has leaked. And it's a doozy.

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Dr. Chris Brown’s first TV project with Seven has been leaked: a reboot of ’90s light entertainment show, Man O Man.

Brown recently announced he was leaving Network 10 to join Seven for new projects, the first of which is a return of a show once dubbed a “male beauty quest.”

When it screened in 1994 with host Rob Guest, Man O Man flipped the traditional beauty quest on its head with hunky men in Hawaiian shirts or dinner suits strutting their stuff before a crowd of rowdy women sipping cocktails.

As they voted for the hottest bloke, eliminated men were pushed into a purpose-built swimming pool -which can still be found under the studio floor at NEP in South Melbourne.

The new version set for 2024 offers a new car as prize, leaning into the eligible bachelor’s chiselled good looks and versatile hosting skills, whilst reviving a broadly-appealing game show set to lure in primetime viewers.

But there are no plans for Brown to get shirtless and be dunked into the pool.

Seven’s Chief Content Officer, Entertainment Programming, Angus Ross, said: “Man O Man will be event television when it returns for its 30th anniversary. It has the wow factor, heart and humour that we know will captivate viewers around the country. Dr. Chris Brown is the perfect host who isn’t afraid to have fun or offer a little mouth to mouth to a Shetland pony.”

“I am so excited to bring back this flagship show,” said Brown. “In challenging times with rising interest rates, housing affordability and climate change, a splash in the Man O Man pool is the perfect antidote to lighten the mood. It’s Australia’s greatest wet dream.”

The new-look series will also see Sonia Kruger poolside as one of six network faces who will dunk eliminated men into the drink. Joining her are Sam Armytage, Kylie Gillies, Natalie Barr, Rickie-Lee Coulter and Lynne McGranger.

Man O Man will also feature reunion episodes in which eliminated contestants will front for a dinner party where nothing is off the table, except actual food, to be replaced by copious amounts of alcohol and promo producers ready to edit the shit out of the thing.

Brown’s other projects which TV Tonight understands are part of his deal with Seven include Dancing with the Vets, Guinea Pigs Make you LOL, Bringing Sexy Dogs Back and a clip show of Russell Gilbert’s Favourite Roast Chooks.

Seven execs are understood to have baulked at one other idea, a 2024 revival of reality diving show, Celebrity Splash.

“Get real. There’s no way we’d bring that belly flop back,” said Ross.

Update: Happy April Fool’s everyone. Thanks for playin’!

Photo: Roberto Parlavecchio.

78 Responses

    2. There is no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable….Rufus Wainwright

  5. Great to start the month with some good news.

    Dr Chris Brown once appeared in an episode of ABC’s ‘Utopia’. Evidently, Seven is returning the compliment and Ita will be poolside dunking guys who don’t make the grade. As Ita says in the latest posters of her in Priceline, “I’m 80 and living life to the fullest”.

  8. Hopefully they keep the Hawaiian shirts because I’ve often found they are more attractive and appealing than the men actually wearing them. Besides there’s nothing better than getting hammered on a variety of cocktails. Count me in….but….. What no belly flop…hope they’re not replacing it with pot belly flab instead.

  11. Ch 7 Reviving Man O Man in 2024 with Dr Chris Brown must certainly be an April Fools Joke. If it is I wasn’t trick. If it was an April’s Fools Joke good one Channel 7

  15. I tried to eradicate April Fool’s from my thoughts this year so I wouldn’t try to make a fool of anyone, even on a subconscious level, so this almost fooled me. This is good because it’s somewhat believable.

    It could probably still work or be a surprise hit. After all, the last time Man O Man was shown, it was one of the most popular requested shows during the Coca-Cola Interactive Summer Night event, about three years after the show had ended. Seven or one of the networks could be having the last laugh if this is revived.

  18. Looking forward to this! Apparently there is also a Celebrity episode in the planning. Rumoured names attached to the special include Tommy Little (amongst other Project alumni), Farmer Dave from Big Brother, Darren Hayes, Hugh Sheridan and George Colombaris. Producers are currently looking at various ex-Home and Away luminaries also.
    The questionable idea of a Celebrity female special featuring Delta Goodrem, Toni Pearen, Justine Schofield, exMAFS stars and Jacquie Lambie was quickly nixed by Seven execs as being ill-advised.
    “Whenever a concept is in the think tank stage, producers tend to get slightly over enthusiastic and come up with ideas that don’t mesh with the social temperature” a source close to the show reported.
    Other vehicles under consideration for Dr Brown include a late night variety show like Vizard/Rove and some daytime formats aimed at positioning Dr Brown as a modern darling of the gray rinse set.

  20. “The new-look series will also see Sonia Kruger poolside as one of six network faces who will dunk eliminated men into the drink.” “We didn’t even contact her – every time we turned a camera on she was just… there. It’s like some kinda 90s Japanese horror thing”

  25. Channel 7 are recycling this turkey from the 90s? Their programmers really have run out of ideas, and Chris Brown is obviously being paid big bucks to host it.
    It’s sort of like “Holey Moley”, the spectacle of men especially getting pushed into swimming pools loses its attraction after episode one.

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