Initial's Shafted hits ITV1

Tonight sees the launch of a new Endemol gameshow format in a primetime 20:30 slot on the UK's ITV1, entitled Shafted.

The 12×30' show, produced by Endemol UK-owned Initial, is a big money show that tries to test the morals of its contestants by asking them the question: share or shaft?

Contestants get the first half of a question and must bid for the second half. Winners must then decide whether to split their winnings with their fellow contestants or to shaft them in the attempt to get the lot. The former Labour Member of Parliament turned chatshow host Robert Kilroy-Silk fronts the show.

Endemol UK's sales arm Gem has also teamed up with iTV outfit Two Way TV to produce an interactive version of the format, available on Sky Digital, NTL and Telewest. The iTV game is one of a number of interactive incarnations that Shafted has; the others include an online web game; a SMS mobile game on Cellnet, Vodafone and Orange; as well as an interactive voice response version.

{The days of Endemol UK developing entertainment projects as TV only concepts are long gone,{ said Endemol UK's head of interactive media Chris Short.

The Shafted format was developed at Initial by head of entertainment Adam Wood in conjunction with the company's creative intern scheme.

The format, distributed by Gem, has also been piloted in the US on CBS, and has been sold to TVN (Poland) and Channel 9 (Australia). Austria's ORF has also taken an option.