‘Quiz and Wax’: Endemol Italy’s Naughty Version of ‘The Newlywed Game’

Yes, you read that title right: this one is naughty. So if you’re at your office desk right now, beware of watching the link above. Though if you did happen to be watching at work, you can at least take comfort in the fact that the show is not in English, so unless your co-workers happen to be or speak Italian, at least they won’t know what the heck you are watching. The screams of pain might bother them though…

The premise of Quiz and Wax is simple: it’s basically the television game show The Newlywed Game where couples are asked questions to see how much they really know about each other. The difference is that on Quiz and Wax, if the guys get the answers wrong, their punishment is to have their hair ripped out with with hot wax applied by a dominatrix who also serves to host the show.

Created for Italian online station Bonsai TV (which appears to be geolocked to Italy, but some of its shows can also be viewed on the station’s YouTube account), the show was created by Italian filmmaker Simone Damiani. He created the show specifically for Endemol Italy, with which he has been working with for quite a while.

Tubefilter caught up with Damiani on how Quiz and Wax came about. And while there is a bit of a language barrier, with Damiani’s native language being Italian of course, his enthusiasm and business savvy when it comes to online entertainment is clear. “I started working with Endemol simply

creating by myself some pilots and sending them to the boss of Bonsai TV, using as a “detective” all the social instruments that internet gives us,” he explained. “I realize my shows entirely with my working team. With the passing of time, with some colleagues I created a small “factory” which is able to create (web) TV formats “turnkey”, ready to be aired – from the idea to the final editing – with a low budget and in a really fast way.”

And why did he choose The Newlywed Game as his inspiration? “I decided to create this show because I love old TV shows of ’80, when I grow up,” Damiani said. “So, in my work i am trying to make them “up to date” and more “extreme”. I created my first TV format when i was 12. The protagonist was my cousin. She was standing in front of my cheap camcorder singing old classics holding in her hands a green hairbrush. Sometimes, she forgot it was a microphone and used it to comb her hair. In a single shot, I imagined Big Brother, American Idol and Tabatha’s Salon Takeover.”

Quiz and Wax has a 12 episode run on Bonsai TV. To see more of Damiani’s work, including several other projects he has completed for Endemol Italy, visit his YouTube page. And when you are in a safe, quiet place, check out the episode above…it’s worth it for the translations alone.