Yes, BYU, MarbleMedia revive ’80s format

The original Just Like Mom aired on CBC station CFTO-TV

Canadian channel Yes TV and BYU TV in the US have greenlit a remake of classic Canuck 1980s factual entertainment format Just Like Mom.

Canada’s Bell Media has licensed the rights to local production outfit MarbleMedia. Cameras roll on the 20-episode series in the autumn for airing in January 2018.

Rebranded as Just Like Mom & Dad, the gameshow will feature three parent-children pairs competing in interactive trivia-based rounds and a bake-off challenge in front of a studio audience.

The multi-year format deal provides multi-platform and ancillary rights, with MarbleMedia releasing a suite of digital media components to support the series.

A Just Like Mom & Dad app will be built by MarbleMedia’s in-house digital media arm, MarbleMedia Interactive.

Besides Yes TV and BYU TV, the show is produced in association with Omnicron Media Group’s Highway Entertainment in Canada.

It has been part-financed by the private Bell Fund, which supports the creation and development of Canadian digital/TV multi-platform projects, and Shaw Rocket Fund, which invests in children’s programming.

The original Just Like Mom gameshow was commissioned for CTV’s flagship station CFTO-TV in Toronto and ran for more than five seasons between 1980 and 1985 before going into syndication.

“There’s something really special about being able to revive a show so loved by its original viewers and re-imagine it for primetime television,” said Mark Bishop, co-CEO of MarbleMedia.

“We are thrilled to be announcing this licensing partnership with Bell Media and to have the opportunity to modernise a classic with hilarious new twists on-screen and in our digital media components, which we know our audiences will love.”