Over the last few years, Spike TV’s original “TV for men” mission has evolved into “nothing but Lip Sync Battle,” and now it has decided to try and expand on that show’s great ratings by introducing a spin-off of sorts called Caraoke Showdown. Like Lip Sync Battle, Caraoke Showdown is copied off of a popular segment from a late-night talk show, but unlike Lip Sync Battle (which was partly developed by Jimmy Fallon, whose Tonight Show originated the bit), Caraoke Showdown is totally unrelated to James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke from his Late Late Show.
As indicated by the name, Caraoke Showdown is about people sitting in a car and singing songs, and it’ll have The Office’s Craig Robinson driving these people around and awarding them prizes. There’s also a bit of a Cash Cab element, in the sense that the contestants ostensibly don’t know they’re about to be picked up by Robinson and the Caraoke-mobile, setting them up for the exciting “oh my god, I’m on Caraoke Showdown and had no idea even though I had to apply and sign a release beforehand” moment that Cash Cab featured every episode.
Caraoke Showdown was originally picked up as a one-off special that was set to air later this year, but now it’ll be getting a full 10-episode season. Hopefully at least one of those episodes involves Robinson and the Caraoke-mobile getting into an awesome The Fast And The Furious-style drag race against James Corden.