WE tv is following European television producers’ lead by ordering a one-hour pilot of the popular British talk show Sex Box.
At least for the first few minutes, the premise is exactly as the title implies: A couple enters a soundproof box that’s situated in the middle of a stage, does the horizontal tango and then exits to face an eager crowd.
Then the tone shifts as the pair talks about their ongoing relationship problems with a panel of renowned sex experts. According to WE tv, this “fosters conversations about intimacy that are completely filterless and emotionally honest.”
To give you a better idea, here’s the preview for the U.K.’s version…
Britain’s version premiered on Channel 4 in October 2013. Host Mariella Frostrup told Daily Mail at the time that she was initially skeptical, particularly because of the box angle.
“But ultimately I think it was a really, really mature — surprisingly for television — look at a subject we’ve allowed to proliferate in its worst manifestations and refuse to confront,” she said. “This will be a frank conversation about an essential element in all our lives.”
The show debuted to solid ratings — if not reviews.
“What is this program? I am dying. Awkward is an understatement,” one viewer said on Twitter.
Another said, “What was the point? Video diaries at home might have produced more honesty than a television studio.”
The stateside version will be produced by Relativity TV, which also produces Catfish. There’s no word on the show’s host or panel at this time. (The British version features American sex writer Dan Savage on the panel, but there’s no indication he’ll hop back across the pond.)
Will you tune into Sex Box?
