My New Best Friend

My New Best Friend was a hidden camera comedy game show that aired on Channel 4 from 8 August to 12 September 2003. It was hosted by Marc Wootton.

My New Best Friend
GenreHidden camera Comedy Game show
Presented byMarc Wootton
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time30 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companyTiger Aspect Productions
DistributorEndemol UK
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Picture format16:9
Original release8 August (2003-08-08) –
12 September 2003 (2003-09-12)

Format

The idea was a hidden camera show where a member of the public would enter into an agreement to be filmed for a whole weekend with the task of convincing their friends and family that a character being played by Marc Wootton was their new best friend. Their reward was a prize of £10,000. What made the game difficult was Marc's character constantly embarrassing them in front of their family and friends to extreme levels, but they had to agree and go along with everything he said. Marc Wootton's characters were chosen for different episodes to make them as different from the contestant as possible to make it difficult for their friends and family to be convinced.

Once they have made it through the weekend the cameras capture the moment where Marc gives them the money and leaves the scene. The contestant is left to explain to their friends and family that the whole situation was a TV game show to win £10,000.

DVD release

The series is available as a bonus third disk for the DVD release of High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, also starring Marc Wootton.

German adaptation

In the German adaption of the show, "Mein neuer Freund", former MTV-VJ Christian Ulmen plays Marc Wootton's part. Some of the characters played by Ulmen are exactly the same as in "My new best friend":

  • "Veith" ("Stevie")
  • "Jürgen" ("Gary")
  • "Marcel" ("Simon")
  • "Alexander von Eich" ("Sasha")

Other characters are:

  • "Uwe", a childish nerd with many allergies, similar to "Daniel"
  • "Martina", who used to be "Martin" in his earlier life. The male candidate has to tell his friends and family, that Martina has been his best buddy in old school days and that he fell in love with him/her, after Martin turned into Martina
  • "Collin", an American-German schizo freak who constantly wants to contact aliens
  • "Ecke", a pot-smoking good-for-nothing
  • "Knut", a singer-songwriter-entertainer-painter (who really has no idea of any of these things), hates to wash himself and loves corny jokes

The audience ratings were low so "ProSieben" (the TV station) dropped the show after having broadcast only one episode. But a devoted fan community emerging from the Internet addressed a petition in order to bring "Mein neuer Freund" back on the screen - and succeeded. It was the first time in German TV that such a thing happened.

See also
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