Eight Contestants Try to Hide Shaquille O’Neal on ABC

By Daniel Okafor

Eight contestants will try to hide Shaquille O’Neal on ABC on Thursday, Dec. 3. The new competition series, “Can You Hide… Shaq?,” premieres with two episodes at 9 p.m. ABC will also stream them on the ESPN app. Hulu will carry the episodes the following day.

Comedian Nicole Byer hosts. The action unfolds in Dallas. The contestants must disguise, distract and deceive to hide him in plain sight. Their goal is grand prize money. ABC describes O’Neal as an NBA legend. Concealing a 7-foot-1 athlete presents an obvious logistical problem. The premise resembles moving a wardrobe into a busy shop and trusting nobody to ask why it has calves, while the teams work against a time clock.

In a statement, Shaquille O’Neal said: “I’m 7-foot-1. I’m not exactly easy to miss,”

“I love meeting people wherever I go, but for years I’ve always wondered, could somebody actually make me disappear? Well, we finally decided to put it to the test.

We turned it into a real competition, and I can’t wait for you to see the creative, ridiculous ways they tried to hide me in plain sight. The stakes are high, and so is the prize. But you know me, we’re gonna have some fun along the way.”

What must the teams do?

ABC’s series logline sets out two teams, set missions (timed tasks) and spottings (times the contestants are spotted). According to the logline:

“In the fast, funny and unpredictable challenges, contestants first split into two teams, each with a set mission and time clock. The team that completes its mission with the fewest spottings earns immunity for one team member in the next round, who then becomes team captain.

The teams must work together toward one greater mission: earning prize money to add to the ‘Shaq-pot’ that will ultimately be claimed by one winner.”

The sequence makes the hiding challenge part of a larger team contest, in which exposure affects the next round rather than merely the immediate performance.

The format starts with two teams, separate set missions and a time clock (a timed limit). A team that completes its mission with the fewest spottings earns immunity (protection from the next round) for one member. The protected contestant then becomes the team captain in the following round.

Both teams must work together toward a larger money mission. Prize money accumulates in the ‘Shaq-pot’ (the pot claimed by one winner). ABC’s announcement specifies no dollar total. O’Neal calls both the stakes and the prize high in his statement.

Who is behind the series?

Fulwell Entertainment and Jersey Legends Productions produce “Can You Hide… Shaq?” in partnership with ESPN. The announcement names the following executive producers (the people formally credited on the series):

• Shaquille O’Neal
• Ben Winston
• Colin Smeeton
• Mike Parris
• Jeremy Castro
• Emma Conway
• Charlie Van Vleet
• Shyam Balse
• Adam Cooper
• Nicole Byer

Byer hosts and also serves as an executive producer. O’Neal likewise produces the series built around his concealment. The credits have a neat symmetry.

ABC’s format has a scale, a host and a scoring system, not merely the promise of a 7-foot-1 man vanishing in plain sight in Dallas. The money is in the ‘Shaq-pot.’ The real test begins with eight contestants, one 7-foot-1 target and a time clock.