'Buddy Games' Host Josh Duhamel Unveils World's Greatest 'Adult Summer Camp' (Exclusive Clip)
Duhamel reveled that "Buddy Games" is something he originally conceived "20 years ago" with friends.
CBS' newest competitive reality series is Buddy Games, a team-based competition hosted by Josh Duhamel, at what just might be the world's greatest "adult summer camp. "We are at Camp Buddy Games," the Transformers actor says in a new exclusive clip, seen above. "This feels like an adult summer camp."
Offering some background on the show, and how it came about, Duhamel explained, "Buddy Games came about 20 years ago with a group of my friends who wanted an excuse to get back together, and we always dreamt about having a show based on that because we knew other people around the country did versions of this. We wanted to sort of share what we do and allow people to let that kid out. How often in life do you get a chance to go play, be with your friends and compete against a bunch of other friends, and that's exactly what this place is for. I can't ask them to do anything that I wouldn't do myself, right?"
Amid some comments from the contestants themselves, Duhamel later detailed, "We have six teams of four. Every episode there will be one big game and the team that loses, has to send one of their contestants home. You're going to be facing off and losers last stands. What we looked for was people that have certain qualities in these friendships and they had to be deep-rooted, old friendships, that thing that makes them real friends."
"It is very competitive," the host noted. "Some of the competitions that we have are crazy. It's also an opportunity for a lot of these people to rekindle old friendships and sort of relive their youth." Duhamel also revealed, "The big cash prize at the end of this thing is 200,000 bucks, so they are definitely incentivized to do well." Finally, he added, "People are going to watch this and they're going to be reminded of their friends. This is real and it's playing out right in front of you and it's hilarious."
"Being able to bring Buddy Games to CBS is truly a dream come true for me," Duhamel previously said of the series. "This is something my buddies and I have wanted to share with the world for a long time as we knew there was a relatability to it with other people doing similar things to strengthen their friendships. For me, getting to executive produce and host Buddy Games while observing these groups of friends let loose and become part of this big family has been an honor and will be a lot of fun for viewers to watch." Buddy Games premieres Thursday, Sept. 14 at 9 p.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. It will also be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.