News

Great Christmas Light Fight

February 18, 2023

ABC’S “LIGHT FIGHT” SEASON 11 TO RETURN FOR 2023 HOLIDAYS

Seasonal eye-candy continues as ABC and Fremantle bring back the hit holiday series “The Great Christmas Light Fight” for a visually stunning season eleven in December 2023. The upcoming six-episode order will include the recurring “Heavyweights” edition, which is comprised of over-the-top displays that are just too big to be on residential homes.

The hit holiday series features returning celebrity judges, lifestyle expert Carter Oosterhouse, and famed interior designer Taniya Nayak.

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Nov. 20, 2022

SEASON 10 PREMIERE

ABC’S ‘THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT’ RINGS IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH TWO BACK-TO-BACK EPISODES PREMIERING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th

The most wonderful time of the year is here as ABC’s hit holiday decorating competition series, “The Great Christmas Light Fight” returns for its tenth season, airing back-to-back episodes on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th (8pm-10pm EST), on ABC. New episodes will air MONDAY, DECEMBER 5th (8pm-10pm EST) and MONDAY, DECEMBER 12th (8pm-10pm EST) following the season ten premiere. The hit holiday series features the returning celebrity judges, lifestyle expert, Carter Oosterhouse and famed interior designer, Taniya Nayak.

All is merry and bright as the Christmas classic takes viewers across the nation to the most dazzling and “lit” holiday displays, as four families face off in each one-hour episode and compete to win $50,000 and the coveted Light Fight trophy.

ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” is produced by Fremantle in association with Base Camp Films with Brady Connell, Max Swedlow and Felicia Aaron White serving as executive producers.

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January 8, 2021

“LIGHTS STAY ON DESPITE COVID”

ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” shoots one year in advance, so the series’ eighth season was unaffected through the Covid holidays. We still saw crowds cheering on their neighbors… because it was shot during Christmas of 2019. Fremantle and Base Camp Films recently completed shooting season nine under the new entertainment industry Covid protocols, for airing during the 2021 Christmas season.

Although there will be minimal crowds for the 2021 airing, the show will still feature the heart-pounding reveals that the show is known for. Judges Taniya Nayak and Carter Oosterhouse still traveled the country seeking the most over-the-top Christmas displays in the country, and they awarded another $300,000 in prize money and six coveted Light Fight trophies. Season 9 air dates will be announced by ABC in September.

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December 4, 2017

‘The Great Christmas Light Fight’: Taking Holiday Decorating to the Next Level

A. Bottinick

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT - ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” stars Carter Oosterhouse and Taniya Nayak.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly…and icicle lights…and mega trees…and moving nativity scenes.

Five seasons in on The Great Christmas Light Fight, we really don’t need to explain the finer points of ABC’s supersized Christmas decorating competition hosted by designer Taniya Nayak and lifestyle expert Carter Oosterhouse. Suffice it to say, the family with the best holiday-themed house wins. But this year, the show had its ante upped—just not intentionally.

“We’ve dealt with plenty of pouring rain, hail and snow before,” executive producer Brady Connell says, “but our biggest obstacle this season was the weather. Hurricane Harvey slammed one of our families outside of Houston just as they were setting up. Yet they came back Houston strong!”

A brother-and-sister team hit a snag when the latter was deployed to Puerto Rico (both siblings are in the military) to help with natural-disaster relief. She did, however, get to watch their display’s big reveal, and the host’s reaction, over the internet. Thank Santa for FaceTime!

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THE BATTLE OF THE BULBS WILL CONTINUE AS

“THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT”

RETURNS TO ABC FOR SEASON THREE IN 2015

The Christmas combat continues! ABC has announced the series renewal from FremantleMedia North America and Base Camp Films. “The Great Christmas Light Fight” will be returning for a third installment next holiday season, where the displays will continue to dazzle, and families from across the country will compete for prize money, a trophy, and bragging rights.

Commented Jennifer Mullin, SVP, Current Programming, FremantleMedia North America and Executive Producer, The Great Christmas Light Fight, “Seeing nearly seven million viewers tune in for our second season opener was truly incredible. We are delighted to embark on this journey of lights again in 2015 and look forward to making The Great Christmas Light Fight a holiday tradition on ABC.”

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” first debuted on ABC in December 2013 and continued in 2014, increasing the field from 20 to 24 participating families. The families were chosen through an extensive nationwide search, based on their previous elaborate Christmas light displays, incredible choreography and over-the-top designs. On its second season premiere (on 12/08/14), “The Great Christmas Light Fight” jumped year to year by 24% in Total Viewers (6.8 million vs. 5.5 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.4/4) for the program’s best numbers ever. In fact, the ABC unscripted program has been up year to year on both telecasts this season.

Casting is already underway for season 3 of “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” please go to ABC.com for more information on how to apply to be entered in the competition.

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” comes from FremantleMedia North America (“American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent”) and Base Camp Films (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”). Executive Producers for the series are Brady Connell, Max Swedlow, Thom Beers and Jennifer Mullin.

About FremantleMedia North America

FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) is the U.S. arm of global media giant FremantleMedia, which includes a distribution arm, FremantleMedia International, a digital and branded entertainment division and a kids & family entertainment business.  As one of the world’s largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of TV  brands in the world, FremantleMedia’s comprehensive global network has operations in 28 countries, creating over 8500 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 60 formats and managing over 400 individual titles. The company also distributes more than 20,000 hours of content in over 200 territories. FMNA and its portfolio of companies, including Original Productions and 495 Productions, produce entertaining and innovative scripted and alternative programs for network, cable, syndicated and online platforms. Their slate includes a diverse range of both critically-acclaimed and award-winning successes including American Idol (FOX), America’s Got Talent (NBC), Family Feud (SYN), Let’s Make A Deal (CBS), The Price Is Right (CBS), The Great Christmas Light Fight (ABC), Deadliest Catch (Discovery), Married to Medicine (Bravo), Party Down South (CMT), Ice Road Truckers (HISTORY), Storage Wars (A&E), The Returned (A&E) and Celebrity Name Game (SYN), among others.

About Base Camp Films

Base Camp Films, LLC develops and produces high-quality unscripted content for network, cable, and online buyers. Base Camp’s most familiar credit is ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (Endemol) and now “The Great Christmas Light Fight” and its spin-off, “The Great Halloween Fright Fight” (Fremantle). Base Camp collaborates with studios and sponsors to produce projects with broad worldwide appeal for both television and the web.

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October 29, 2014

ABC SERIES PREMIERE

“THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT” RETURNS FOR ITS SECOND SEASON,

PREMIERING DECEMBER 8 ON ABC

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s” Michael Moloney & Sabrina Soto are Judges

It’s the most wonderful time of the year when ABC’s hit decorating competition series — “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” produced by FremantleMedia North America and Base Camp Films — returns for a second season! Each of the six one hour episodes features 4 families from across America who work harder than the elves in order to out-deck the halls of their competition and possibly win the ultimate Christmas Gift–$50,000! The total prizing for the series is $300,000. Michael Moloney & Sabrina Soto (both from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) return as judges for the series. “The Great Christmas Light Fight” will premiere with back-to-back episodes on MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 on the ABC Television Network. The airdates for the series are:

Monday, December 8 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) and (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET)

Monday, December 15 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) and (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET)

Monday, December 22 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) and (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET)

In the first Christmas lights series of its kind for television, 4 families will compete in each episode to transform their homes for the holidays. These 24 new families were chosen through an extensive nationwide search, based on their previous elaborate Christmas light displays, incredible choreography and over-the-top designs. (Families and hometowns for each episode will be announced at a later date.)

Last season, during its 3-week run, ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” improved the Net’s performance in the time period compared to its year-ago performance by 17% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49. On its debut, “The Great Christmas Light Fight” delivered ABC’s best December performance in the time period in 5 years in Total Viewers and 3 years in Adults 18-49 – since 12/22/08 and 12/27/10, respectively. On its finale, the program hit series bests in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” comes from FremantleMedia North America (“American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent”), and Base Camp Films (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”). Executive Producers for the series are Brady Connell, Max Swedlow, Thom Beers and Jennifer Mullin.

About FremantleMedia North America

FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) is the U.S. arm of global media giant FremantleMedia, which includes a distribution arm, FremantleMedia International, a digital and branded entertainment division and a kids & family entertainment business. As one of the world’s largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of TV  brands in the world, FremantleMedia’s comprehensive global network has operations in 28 countries, creating over 8500 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 60 formats and managing over 400 individual titles. The company also distributes more than 20,000 hours of content in over 200 territories. FMNA and its portfolio of companies, including Original Productions and 495 Productions, produce entertaining and innovative scripted and alternative programs for network, cable, syndicated and online platforms. Their slate includes a diverse range of both critically-acclaimed and award-winning successes including “American Idol” (FOX), “America’s Got Talent” (NBC), “Family Feud” (SYN), “Let’s Make A Deal” (CBS), “The Price Is Right” (CBS), “The Great Christmas Light Fight” (ABC), “Deadliest Catch” (Discovery), “Married to Medicine” (Bravo), “Party Down South” (CMT), “Ice Road Truckers” (HISTORY), “Storage Wars” (A&E), “Celebrity Name Game” (SYN) and the upcoming “The Returned” (A&E) among others.

About Base Camp Films

Base Camp Films, LLC develops and produces high-quality unscripted content for network, cable, and online buyers. Base Camp’s most familiar credit is ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (Endemol) and now “The Great Christmas Light Fight” and its spin-off, “The Great Halloween Fright Fight” (Fremantle). Base Camp collaborates with studios and sponsors to produce projects with broad worldwide appeal for both television and the web.

For more information on “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” visit ABC.com.

Photography is available at www.abcmedianet.com. Photography request line (818) 460-6611.

ABC Media Relations: Patrick Preblick (212) 456-7819, patrick.k.preblick@abc.com

FremantleMedia North America: Emma Harvey (818) 748-1236, emma.harvey@fremantlemedia.com

– ABC—

September 30, 2014

“THE GREAT HALLOWEEN FRIGHT FIGHT,” A ONE-HOUR SPECIAL TO

HAUNT HOUSEHOLDS BEFORE HALLOWEEN, PREMIERES OCTOBER 28 ON ABC

Michael Moloney and Sabrina Soto are Judges

From the producers of last year’s holiday hit “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” a one-hour special — “The Great Halloween Fright Fight” — premieres TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on ABC. The new special will feature a number of families competing for the greatest haunted Halloween displays and a $50,000 prize.

Commented Thom Beers, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, “We scoured the country last year showcasing some of the most incredible Christmas displays, and taking this amazingly creative competition to Halloween has been equally breathtaking. We’re delighted to have Sabrina and Michael back as our judges and look forward to celebrating another holiday on ABC.”

For the Halloween special, the families were chosen through an extensive nationwide search, based on their previous elaborate Halloween displays, incredible set decorations and over-the-top designs.

“The Great Halloween Fright Fight” comes from FremantleMedia North America (“American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent,” “The Price is Right”). Brady Connell, Max Swedlow, Thom Beers and Jennifer Mullin are the Executive Producers.  Michael Moloney and Sabrina Soto are the judges.

Sony unveils ‘Six Degrees’ for AXN channel

Oct. 11, 2007 

Hollywood Reporter
By Elizabeth Guider

CANNES — The business at MIPCOM is not only about selling finished product and not only about supplying content to foreign broadcasters. It’s also about commissioning new shows sometimes for one’s own foreign offshoots.

Sony, which like most of the Hollywood majors, has invested in a number of foreign program channels, unveiled Wednesday a reality format called “Six Degrees of X” for its global AXN action channel. (more…)

Studios bring U.S. shows to Mipcom - New fall series hope for overseas interest

Oct. 8, 2007

Variety
By Stuart Levine

Sony Pictures Television Intl. has commissioned reality format ‘Six Degrees of X’ for its AXN channel. Testing the theory that all people are connected by six degrees of separation, the show has contestants competing to find their links to a celebrity guest star. Carmen Electra will be the focus of the first episode. Skein is the first series from a development deal between SPTI and Los Angeles-based Base Camp Films.”

(more…)

Matter of ‘Degrees’ at SPTI

Oct. 5, 2007

Hollywood Reporter
By Steve Brennan

The networks group of Sony Pictures Television International has commissioned the reality format “Six Degrees of X” as a series for its worldwide AXN channel while also launching the multiplatform series as a new format for broadcasters at MIPCOM.

The series, to be announced at the market, initially was greenlighted as a pilot this year, part of an overall development agreement between SPTI’s networks group and Los Angeles-based production company Base Camp Films. This marks the first series commission under the pact. (more…)

Beatty tapped as Director of Development

Jan. 6, 2007

Base Camp Films has announced the promotion of Whitney Beatty to the position of Director of Development. Beatty got her start at the William Morris Agency prior to joining Base Camp Films in April of 2006. She holds a MFA in film production from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where her film “Last Chair” was named the winner of the prestigious west coast DGA Student Film Award and was screened at the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. The Director of Development position is integral to the infrastructure of Base Camp, responsibilities will weigh heavily toward creative development and brainstorming of projects, overseeing the overall development calendar and building and managing creative relationships as well as charting market trends for BCF to develop into.

Sony Int’l Sets Up Base Camp

Dec. 15, 2006 

Reality production house Base Camp Films has signed a year-long deal with Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) for format development and series production across all of Sony’s international TV operations.

Base Camp principals Brady Connell and Jim Jusko will exec produce on projects developed under the deal. Company will also adapt formats acquired overseas by SPTI for sale stateside.

Sony Press Release

“No Boundaries” Marathon Airs on Fox Reality Channel

Aug. 1, 2006 

“No Boundaries has a physical intensity most of the competition lacks….the best unwatched reality show since CBS’s ‘The Amazing Race’.”

-Tom Long, Detroit Free Press

Five years after it began airing on The WB, the first season of “No Boundaries” returns to the airwaves again on the Fox Reality Channel August 6, 2006. Although the series was not renewed, the first season has a cult following… all 13 episodes aired three times back in 2002 on OLN, and the series aired once before on the new Fox Reality Channel. (more…)

Base Camp Jams with GSN and AOL

June 1, 2006 

Base Camp Films will produce the Worldwide Web Games Championship television special for GSN and SkillJam Technologies. Together with Worldwinner, a subsidiary of FUN Technologies Inc., SkillJam is one of the world’s leading providers of online games competitions - they comprise a collective audience of 27 million online games. The competition will give away $1,000,000 to the best “casual gamer” in the tournament. (more…)

Base Camp Gets ‘Gift’ from SciFi

March 3, 2006 

2006 is shaping up to be a present-filled year for Base Camp Films. In addition to their partnerships with Imagine Television on Fox’s announced X-Quest, owners Brady Connell and Jim Jusko will Executive Produce and showrun SciFi Channel’s The Gift, a reality series that gives ordinary people a chance to develop their psychic skills. Base Camp will co-produce with Tony Krantz’s Flame TV. (more…)

Electronic Arts Asks for Bonus from Base Camp

Jan. 10, 2006 

Electronic Arts’ 10th anniversary release of their successful Command & Conquer series will include a full 90 minutes of specialized content on a second bonus DVD. Reality production company Base Camp Films was contracted to produce the material, which includes interviews with Louis Castle, the creator of the Command & Conquer franchise and founder of Westwood Studios. (more…)

American Red Cross working with Base Camp Films to Document Activities of the Hurricane Disaster Workers

Sept. 15, 2005 

For the first time in its history, the American Red Cross has allowed crews to embed with its volunteers and staff as it conducts the largest natural disaster response it has ever faced. Base Camp Films has joined disaster workers in the hardest hit areas of New Orleans, and also the Red Cross Alert Team in southern Florida as they prepare for Hurricane Wilma. (more…)

X-Quest

July 28, 2005

“Quest for Reality”
by Josef Adalian, Daily Variety

[click link above for .pdf file of article]

No Boundaries

March 2, 2002
“No Boundaries: Eugene Man Ventures Into ‘Reality’ TV”
by Bob Keefer, The Register-Guard

March 2, 2002
“No Boundaries Get Really Real”
by Dave Mason, Scripps Howard News Service

April 11, 2001
“New Reality Show Shackle, Pummel or Insult Contestants”
by Joanne Weintraub, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal TV Critic

No Boundaries Review Quotes

Red Cross

March 2, 2002 

“Show Gets Real with Red Cross”
by Nellie Andreeva, The Hollywood Reporter