The Masked Singer is in the middle of a landmark season, and it's a big celebration of just how much has been accomplished in the past decade. Through bizarre themed nights and callbacks to previous twists, Season 10 has highlighted so many wild elements that are unique to this series, but there are certainly still new places for it to go. For instance, many fans would love to see what live season of the Fox series would look like, so I asked the showrunner about those possibilities, and learned what it would take to happen.
CinemaBlend caught up with showrunner James Breen ahead of the start of Season 10, and when I asked if there were ever plans to produce a live season of The Masked Singer, he confirmed he's on board with how great it would be to make that a reality. However, he also addressed the various logistical issues behind the scenes that would make switching up the format easier said than done. In his words:
It's constantly discussed on the show, and we weigh it up every season. I think between you and I, if I'm being brutally honest, we would love to do it. I think it becomes a different time commitment for the contestants involved. It's one or two days a week over ten weeks instead of a solid block of 3 to 4 weeks. And budgetarily, there's some differences in terms of renting studio space and crew and things like that. It's something we'd like to do, and we continue to explore.
After getting some insight from James Breen, I can easily see why simply saying, "Let's do a live season of The Masked Singer," isn't nearly enough to actually make it happen. Ten weeks (or more) of the judges guessing contestants' identities and voting them off may seem fun for those at home, but there are celebrities and athletes underneath those costumes who are likely hoping to get back to their careers, families, and ability to speak freely about current projects. Could someone like Season 3's shocking contestant Lil Wayne have realistically committed to potentially making weekly appearaces over a three-month period of appearances if they had a chance of winning?
There's also the issue of increasing The Masked Singer's budget, which would need a boost in order to make a live season viable. The show has succeeded long enough to find its way to Season 10 based on its Fox ratings stats (presumably combined with those streaming via Hulu subscription), but even that audience size may not be enough to justify increasing the budget for such a major change in the production process. Additionally, would the series actually gain swaths of additional viewers with a live season, or would it just maintain the core group who were around the previous season? It's hard to know, and that uncertainty doesn't help.
On the flip side, many shows like The Voice and American Idol have celebrated long runs by transitioning from previously recorded episodes to weeks of live competition later in their seasons. Outside of the wacky costumes, the contestants already being famous, and the extremes to protect celebs' identities, the formats are fairly similar, so there are possibly ways for TMS to further adapt its structure.
I can understand just how much more difficult it would be to make The Masked Singer a live show while still saying I think it would be the coolest thing ever. Plus, could you imagine how much wilder unplanned moments like when Duff Goldman's mask fell off would be live?
I'd love to see The Masked Singer live on Fox, but for now, I'll settle for Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Season 10 is still in the early stages, so there's plenty of time to pick it up on streaming and catch up ahead of next week's episode.
