Mike Darnell Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Logo text One of the key people who shaped reality TV as we know it is headed to Netflix.
Former Warner Bros. TV and Fox executive Mike Darnell has signed an overall deal with the streamer. Under the multi-year deal, Darnell will develop and produce unscripted series and also provide what Netflix is calling “strategic creative guidance” on its larger unscripted slate.
The advisory role could be key, as Netflix’s previous head of unscripted series, Jeff Gaspin, departed that role at the beginning of July (he’ll still be involved with several Netflix unscripted shows, including a Monopoly competition series and Age of Attraction, as a producer).
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Darnell was president of unscripted television at Warner Bros. TV for 10 years before stepping down in 2023. Prior to that, he spent almost two decades at Fox, overseeing the network’s slate of reality series and specials.
Under Darnell, Fox’s unscripted division produced hits including American Idol, Hell’s Kitchen and So You Think You Can Dance and provocative (not always in a good way) series and specials including When Animals Attack, Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire? and The Swan. At Warners, notable shows and specials launched during his tenure included Ellen’s Game of Games, Friends: The Reunion and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses. Darnell also shepherded The Bachelor franchise and The Voice, both of which debuted before his arrival at WBTV.
Darnell seemed to revel in his image as a provocateur. When NBC announced a heavily hyped boxing competition series called The Contender for the 2004-05 season, Fox rushed a very similar show called The Next Great Champ onto the air several months earlier — and Darnell arrived at a TV Critics Association press tour session dressed in boxing gear. The Next Great Champ fared poorly in the ratings, but it also took some wind out of The Contender’s sails.
Deadline first reported the news.
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