Hot on the heals of “Invasion of the Christmas Lights” (set to premiere December 6th, 2009) TLC has ordered a second installment of the show, to premiere in 2010.  Production is now underway.

In other Hotchkiss Industries’ news, Endemol (France) has picked up the option for “Smartest Guy in Town”.

Hotchkiss Industries extends a hearty glückwünsche (congratulations) to German TV, the first international broadcaster to turn their option on “Smartest Guy in Town” into a series.  Production of the multi-episodes begins shortly.  A special thanks goes out to London based Passion Distribution, who represent the show internationally and will be featuring it at MipCom 2009.

Production has begun on the Hotchkiss Industries TLC holiday special, “Invasion of the Christmas Lights.”  The show will premiere on December 6th, 2009 and will be distributed internationally by Passion Distribution.

Hotchkiss Industries is pleased to make several exciting announcements.

1. We have signed a deal to produce a holiday special for TLC that will premiere December 6th, 2009. (Details on a second holiday special for a different cable channel will be announced soon, too).

2. The HI format, “Smartest Guy In Town” was recently optioned in both Portugal and Sweden.

3. We have also made a deal with skateboard legend Tony Hawk’s production company, 900 Films, to co-produce an original Hotchkiss Industries format.

4. Hotchkiss Industries has also sold a book to a New York publisher. Details to follow shortly.

5. And, HI has renewed its partnership with Merv Griffin TV, making a deal to co-produce another Hotchkiss Industries original format.

6. There are other deals in the works… come back soon for more information.

Hotchkiss Industries is on the precipice of making several exciting announcements relating to newly commissioned projects, strategic partnerships and foreign sales of original formats.  Come back soon for details.

Hotchkiss Industries is pleased to announce the premiere of Punkin Chunkin 2008, Thanksgiving night (November 27th) at 9pm on Science Channel. For more information, click here.

**UPDATE: The ratings are in and Punkin Chunkin 2008 garnered 3X more viewers than the network’s prime time average!

“Smartest Guy in Town,” a Hotchkiss Industries original game show format, has been sold in Spain, France and Germany… and several other European and Asian deals are still pending! Many thanks to our fantastic London based partner, Passion Distribution who has spearheaded the sales and marketing effort.

Production has happily begun on the Hotchkiss Industries special, Punkin Chunkin: 2008 (Yup! That’s how it’s pronounced).  It will air on November 27th on The Science Channel.  This program reunites Hotchkiss Industries with comedian Brad Sherwood who hosted Smartest Guy in Town (also produced by HI). In a related story, there’s big news to report about SGIT. Come back in a few days for the details.

“Smartest Guy In Town,” an original Hotchkiss Industries game-show format will be available to producers and broadcasters around the world this October at MipCom.  Passion, a London based international television distribution company, headed by Sally Miles, has partnered with Hotchkiss Industries to be the exclusive distributer. To find out more, check out PassionDistribution.com.

The Hotchkiss Industries show “My Dad is Better than Your Dad” is now a global sensation, having been sold into more than 25 countries around the world.  The billboard above is from Croatia… where I spent the last week consulting as they prepared to shoot the premiere episode. Check back soon for more international news… and funny billboards.