Fox's new reality TV show Ultimate Tag is coming and it looks intense. The trailers dropped over the past month show a game of tag that isn't quite like what most people remember playing as kids.
As The Masked Singer heads into its finale, Fox has several new reality TV shows coming out to fill that void. One of those is the show, Ultimate Tag. The concept of an extreme tag game isn't new. It has been explored fictionally in the movie Tag with Jeremy Renner. This movie followed a group of friends who had a game of tag that spanned decades. Shockingly it was actually based on a true story. Fox has gone one step further with the popular kids game turning into an extreme sport full of superhero looking taggers.
Ultimate Tag is hosted by NFL siblings J.J., T.J. and Derek Watt. As expected with this super sports trio at the helm, this is an action-packed competition. The professional taggers sport names like Rocket, Banshee and The Flame. These intimidating monikers combined with their very intimidating physiques will remind many of the gladiators on the classic show American Gladiators or WWE personalities. The contestants trying to escape these taggers are regular citizens, not professional athletes. The game takes place in an arena of sorts with all kinds of obstacles. The only goal is the obvious one, not to get caught.
The contestants speed around, on, in, over, and under the various apparatus available trying to lose or their tagger or at least stay far enough ahead of them to survive the round. It is not clear if the obstacles will be different each week or remain the same. The taggers appear to be rotated in and out as there are quite a few of them. With built-in underdogs, the viewers instantly have someone to root for. In addition to the intentionally villainous personas the taggers represent, the tag aspect makes it feel a little like those movie scenes, and way too many real-life ones, of the kid trying to outrun the bully. This makes us all very invested in seeing them get away.
With many pro sports on hold at the moment, fans my want to check out this new show. It seems to be targeting a broad audience that includes sports fans, WWE fans and game show fans. With a limited amount of new content coming in, its a good time for a new show. Ultimate Tag may be just what people need. It's a bit of competition, a bit of bad acting, and lot of adrenaline all wrapped up into one show.
Ultimate Tag premieres Wednesday at 9pm EST on Fox.