ABC
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of “Claim to Fame,” which aired August 28 on ABC and streamed on Hulu the next day.
Production company Kinetic Content, best known for the romance series Love is Blind and Married at First Sight, threw their hat into the competitive reality television ring with the production of Claim to Fame. Unlike Survivor, which recruits average, everyday people, Claim to Fame draws on a unique demo – candidates related to celebrities.
“We were looking for a way to create a show [with] a different mechanism for the elimination contest,” executive producer Eric Detwiler tells Variety. “Having a game that’s close to celebrity coupled with a world full of mystery and intrigue makes for an entertaining show.”
The ABC series challenges contestants to hide the identities of their celebrity relatives as they live together in a house and participate in a series of challenges. Unlike other reality shows, on Claim to Fame everyone is related to someone who is famous – and the goal is to figure out who’s who. At the end of each episode, one person goes home each week in a “guess off.”
It was “an aha moment” for Detwiler when talks began about Kevin and Franklin Jonas hosting the series. “[They have] a real connection to the idea of the show,” he said. “Kevin is a star, a household name. And Franklin, when we started the show in Season 1 – not so much.”
Season 2 cast members included Tom Hanks’ niece and Eddie Murphy’s daughter, but it’s not the nepotism that makes the show entertaining, it’s the personalities. “They’ve never had a chance to step into the spotlight and show what they can pull out of their celebrity relative’s shadow,” says Detwiler. “When they’re given the freedom to express themselves and be the stars of the show, it’s undeniably entertaining.”
Reality shows feature everything from groups of wealthy women living in the same area to international couples embarking on the K-1 visa process, but there has never been a series featuring NFL Hall of Famers , Oscar and Nobel Prize winners. “They share a common experience,” he says. “You know what it’s like to be related to a celebrity and you can bond with that.”
Each challenge provides an opportunity to learn more information about the competitors by uncovering clues. “When we’re evaluating a celebrity relative to direct a show, we need to consider the number of clues we’re going to create to establish a connection to that celebrity,” says Detwiler.
How does the show’s creative team decide which celebrities are famous enough to cast their relatives? “The bigger, the better,” says Detwiler. “When a particular celebrity is only known for one thing, it’s difficult to find clues for the entire series. We are looking for celebrities who have a longer career behind them.”
And Kinetic doesn’t just cast the relatives of star musicians and actors – the second season cast also included astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s son, Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s niece and former US President Jimmy Carter’s grandson to see. “We create lists of people: actors, musicians, athletes, political leaders, and historical figures to get a true cross-section of what it means to be a celebrity,” says Detwiler.
Although Detwiler noted that the relatives of the first season cast had “major reservations” about “showing themselves on TV,” this was not the case for the second season. “We could have cast two seasons in a row with the number of options we had.”
This explains why the undergraduate cast featured the nieces of Dolly Parton and Jenny McCarthy, daughter of JB Smoove and sister of Alicia Keys. Ultimately, Nick Cannon’s brother Gabriel won the season and snagged the $100,000 prize — and the hearts of the audience.
According to Detwiler, Gabriel Cannon’s approach to “Claim to Fame” differed from that of the other contestants because he used his “social skills” (I guess that runs in the Cannon family!) to encourage his fellow guests to assume he was related to an NFL player. “Gabriel took [the game] to a whole other level,” he said. “He’s such a good, nice person that you instantly feel relaxed around him… I think Gabe played it perfectly.”
Cannon worked closely with Donny Osmond’s son Chris, who also caused a stir in season two. “Nobody in the history of ‘Claim to Fame’ has been called to the Guess Off more times than he has,” says Detwiler. Parton’s niece Jada (who called herself Jane throughout the season) first tried to guess Chris’s relatives – she believed he was related to Elvis Presley.
“I remember the moment Jane had the revelation that Chris was related to Elvis Presley,” recalls Detwiler. “When she had that shocking moment on her face, I think everyone looked exactly the same because we knew she was wrong. It was like watching a runaway train scene because she had convinced herself — and she did [be wrong]it was wonderful.”
Also Carter’s grandsons Hugo Wentzel and Lil Nas “When Jane guessed Chris wrong, I was thrilled – because it shows how the format works,” he adds.
The most viral moment of the season came when Tom Hanks’ niece Carly Reeves was correctly identified by Hugo in the first episode of the series. “Carly’s exit at the end of Episode 1 was pretty shocking,” says Detwiler. After being eliminated, Carly returned to the house, audibly distraught at having to leave the game. “It was a big reaction and it started with a bang – it definitely made an impression.”
“Our production team took steps to ensure their feelings were heard and the situation was de-escalated as much as possible,” he continues. “When she had the moment to say goodbye with Hugo, as I watched, I knew, ‘This is going to be a loud moment for the show.'”
The appeal of Claim to Fame is undeniable – it has created a world that gives an incredibly niche community the spotlight. While there are “no official announcements about Season 3 yet,” Detwiler and his team are “certainly confident there will be one soon.”
“It’s just a fun show to have space to play and have fun games,” he says. “From the beginning it was always about the sound. The game is essentially based on lies and hiding the truth, but is never mean. To be able to create a show where there’s competition but the show is still fun – that’s great.”