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The Sims Spark'd

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The Sims Spark'd
A man looks up imaginatively at a Sims "plumbob" (green octahedron) which has lots of Sims imagery drawn around it
Promotional poster
GenreReality competition
Created by
  • Evan Denbaum
  • Michael Duke
Inspired byThe Sims 4
by Electronic Arts
Presented byRayvon Owen
Judges
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
  • Joseph R. Lynch
  • Evan Denbaum
  • Michael Duke
  • Sheila Judkins
  • Allison Tom
  • Richard Hall
  • Michael Hughes
  • Greg C. Lake
Camera setupMulti-camera
Original release
NetworkTBS
ReleaseJuly 17 (2020-07-17) –
August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07)

The Sims Spark'd is a reality competition television series that premiered on the TBS network on July 17, 2020.[1] The first season of the series, filmed from December 9 to 14, 2019, features 12 contestants, selected from those known to feature The Sims in their online gaming channels,[1] tasked with challenges within The Sims 4 to create characters and stories following the challenge's themes and limitations. Each competitor's creation is judged by a panel consisting of EA Maxis developer and The Sims 4 producer Dave Miotke[1] (a.k.a. "SimGuruNinja" within the Sims Community), YouTube personality Kelsey Impicciche[1] (known for her "100 Baby Challenge"), and singer-songwriter Tayla Parx,[1] who is also a voice actress in The Sims 4. The series is hosted by American Idol season 14 finalist Rayvon Owen.[2]

Each episode of the first season premiered on TBS on Friday nights at 11pm ET/PT in the United States, and was later uploaded on YouTube channel BuzzFeed Multiplayer the following Monday for international audiences at 8am Eastern.[1][3] Challenges were posted to The Sims 4 website following the series premiere to seek potential contestants for a second season.

Format

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At the beginning of the competition, all 12 contestants were assigned to teams via random draw. Each team is composed of a Stylist (handling the designs), Builder (in charge of buildings), and the Storyteller (invents the stories related to Sims). For every episode, they have to fulfill specific challenges as a team based around several scenarios.[4][5][6]

Cast

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Contestant Team Skill Result
xMiraMira Team Llama Stylist Winner[7]
SimLicy Builder
DrGluon Storyteller
LittleSiha Team Cowplant Stylist Runner-up
Doctor Ashley Builder
The English Simmer Team Gnome Ep1-2
Team Cowplant Ep3-4 a 		Storyteller
Steph0Sims Team Cowplant Withdrew
Plumbella Team Gnome Stylist Eliminated
Simproved Builder
xUrbanSimsx Team Freezer Bunny Stylist Eliminated
SpringSims Builder
DeeSims Storyteller

Notes

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  • ^ a Due to Steph0Sims' withdrawal from the competition, the producers invited the previously-eliminated Storyteller, the English Simmer, to join Team Cowplant.

Challenge Results

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Team Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4
Skill Elimination Skill Elimination Skill Final
Llama Safe Bottom 2 3rd Won 5/9 votes Won[7]
Cowplant Safe Safe Won Bottom 2 4/9 votes Runner-up
Gnome Won Won 2nd Eliminated
Freezer Bunny Safe Eliminated

Episodes

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Each episode premiered on TBS on Friday nights[1] at 11pm ET/PT and on YouTube channel BuzzFeed Multiplayer the following Monday[1] at 8am Eastern.

No.TitleOriginal air dateYouTube air date
1Episode 1July 17, 2020 (2020-07-17)[1]July 20, 2020

Twelve Sims influencers are divided into four teams and must work together to compete in their first skills and elimination challenges.

  • Skills Challenge - Inspiration: Teams must create a story inspired by items chosen by racing against each other on foot. (Time limit: 90 minutes)
  • Elimination Challenge - Family: Teams must create a family of 4 Sims and build their house within the Willow Creek neighborhood. Teams must then create a short video presentation showing the backstory of their family. The winning team in this challenge gets their family featured in The Sims 4. (Time limit: 5 hours)
2Episode 2July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)July 27, 2020

The three remaining teams compete in the second round of challenges.

  • Skills Challenge - Parenthood: Teams must create 3 Sims and show each of them growing up in the toddler, child and teenage life stages, with unique rooms to match their personalities. (Time limit: 2 hours)
  • Elimination Challenge - Supernatural: Based on the ranking from the Skills Challenge, teams took turns choosing content packs to use. Using these packs alone, teams must create a video inspired by science fiction or fantasy. (Time limit: 6 hours, split across 2 days)
3Episode 3July 31, 2020 (2020-07-31)August 3, 2020

The two remaining teams compete in head-to-head Skills Challenges.

  • Stylist Challenge - Gender Not Required: Stylists must create six Sim models of various shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicity and create a cohesive gender-fluid fashion collection for the Sims to showcase. (Time limit: 45 minutes)
  • Builder Challenge - Unconventional Build: Builders must create a mode of transportation with unconventional materials. (Time limit: 45 minutes)
  • Storyteller Challenge - Sell That Fixer-Upper: Storytellers must improvise their way through a live real-estate walk-through of a house with messes, broken objects and other surprises, controlled by judge Dave Miotke.

Note: In between the Builder and the Storyteller challenges, Steph0Sims withdrew from the competition, unable to handle the pressure of the challenge and not wanting to continue without her friends in Team Gnome who were eliminated in the previous episode. As a result, the producers invited The English Simmer to join Team Cowplant.

4Episode 4August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07)[3]August 10, 2020

The two remaining teams compete in their final challenge.

  • Final Challenge - Play With Life: Teams must find a common thread with each other among the reasons why they play The Sims, and use that to create a video narrative with three Sims and a build. (Time limit: 15 minutes prep time, 6 hours to create the video)

Development

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As a project in planning, Spark'd had a long lead time as Electronic Arts wanted to combine the players' personal stories with a TV reality format filled with challenges. The company decided to make the show in-house instead of outsourcing it to anyone else. EA was worried about the specifics of translating a video game into another medium, and thus tried not to diverge from the main aspects of The Sims while putting an effort to represent diversity.[8] The initial idea was to develop Spark'd as a short-length show for the millennials. However, after the initial filming in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted EA to retool their marketing plans from scratch. The Sims Spark'd was found to be a fit for a TBS's ELeague Friday programming block change to include shows that are not just aimed at dedicated gamers.[9]

During and following the broadcast of the first season, EA posted Spark'd challenges on The Sims 4 website for players to complete in-game and upload to the website for the opportunity to be selected for a potential second season of The Sims Spark'd.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Webster, Andrew (July 8, 2020). "The Sims 4's new reality show has players compete to tell the best stories". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  2. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 8, 2020). "'The Sims' Reality-Competition TV Show Coming to TBS, BuzzFeed". Variety. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Mercante, Alyssa (August 11, 2020). "The Sims Spark'd team reflects on the revolutionary reality competition after its first season". GameRadar. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  4. ^ Bell, Alice (July 28, 2020). "EA will never let The Sims reality show become the hot mess it needs to be". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Morrison, Sean (July 16, 2020). "Sims Spark'd offers a unique spin in the competitive gaming space". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Schiesel, Seth (July 15, 2020). "The Sims Is Bringing Its Inclusive Spirit to TV". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Shelby (August 15, 2020). "Why Sims reality show Spark'd is groundbreaking for gamers". CNET. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (August 17, 2020). "How EA turned The Sims into a reality TV show". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  9. ^ Laporte, Nicole (August 26, 2020). "EA has seen the future of esports, and it's shorter, celeb-filled, and for more than just dudes". Fast Company. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
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