NBC to remake Korean TV show ‘Grandpas Over Flowers’

September 3, 2014
"Grandpas Over Flowers," a reality show about five actors in their 70s going on a backpack tour around the world, was a smash hit when it was aired on the cable channel tvN last year. (Yonhapnews)

“Grandpas Over Flowers,” a reality show about five actors in their 70s going on a backpack tour around the world, was a smash hit when it was aired on the cable channel tvN last year. (Yonhapnews)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — NBC, a major American TV network, will remake a popular South Korean TV reality show with the aim of broadcasting it in the first half of next year, the show’s local broadcaster said Wednesday.

“Grandpas Over Flowers,” a reality show about five actors in their 70s going on a backpack tour around the world, was a smash hit when it was aired on the cable channel tvN last year.

The show’s format has recently been sold to NBC through an American distributor, tvN said, adding that it became the first local TV entertainment show whose format was exported to a major TV network in the United States.

The remade version of the show will be aired across the U.S., possibly in the first half of next year, under the title “Better Late than Never,” it said.

The show will be produced by the acclaimed motion picture, TV and theater producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, best known for the American films “Chicago” (2002), “Hairspray” (2007) and “The Bucket List” (2007), tvN said.