Jay Hunt unveils new programmes, including The 40-Year-Old Virgins, a French sci-fi drama and daily prayers during Ramadan
First came the film, now comes the Channel 4 reality show which will help two 40-year-olds lose their virginity.
In fact, the two people taking part in Channel 4's The 40-Year-Old Virgins are 45-year-old Clive and Rosie, 29, but that wasn't the name of the hit Steve Carell movie.
Unveiling more details about the programme today, Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt said it was an "incredibly heart-warming piece. I have never seen anything quite like it".
The two participants undergo radical sex therapy in the US and lose their virginity to two "sex surrogates".
One of the surrogates claims to have had sex with "850 people, not including my husbands".
Rosie tells the programme-makers: "Guys have this weird smell, kind of like a mix between aftershave and ham".
Hunt said the couplings would not be shown on screen but "it's clear what's going on".
"It's incredibly exposing for the two key characters in it," she said. "They talk in quite a lot of detail about what it's been like getting to a point in their lives where they have never had sexual contact with anybody.
"In a sense, what's extraordinary about it is they are normal people who for whatever reason have never ended up in a relationship."
Hunt added: "It feels like a sort of coming-of-age film and quite a responsible piece of broadcasting. But it's also got a real heart, it's quite an amazing film. Do we show them having sex? Not really, no. It's clear what's going on."
Hunt spoke about the documentary as Channel 4 unveiled a new season of programmes on Tuesday, including daily morning prayers during Ramadan, a behind the scenes look at a Scottish murder trial and French sci-fi drama Rebound.
The broadcaster will mark the Islamic holy month, which this year falls in July and August, with a nightly five-minute programme from a range of British Muslims on how they cope with Ramadan, as well as marking daily early morning prayers.
The Murder Trial will feature remotely operated cameras put into a British criminal court for the first time to capture a murder trial in its entirety.
The product of three years of negotiation which are still continuing today, it will feature the case of Nat Fraser, accused of murdering his wife Arlene Fraser, who vanished in 1998 and has never been found.
One of the first subtitled dramas to air on Channel 4 for many years, Rebound (Les Revenants) tells the story of a group of people in a small Alpine village who have trouble returning to their homes, unaware that they have been dead for several years and they are not expected back.
Other new shows include Olivia Colman in contemporary drama Run, Davina McCall gameshow Five Minutes to Make a Fortune, David Mitchell panel show Was it Something I Said? and two-parter Do You Speak English?, in which "ordinary" British people help four first-generation immigrants to learn English.
Peter Kay will also return to Channel 4 with his spoof of Secret Millionaire, which has now come to an end on C4, Malachy's Millions.
New drama London Irish, about a hard-drinking, hard-living ex-pat community of Northern Irish 20-somethings living in London, looks likely to cause controversy, featuring a scene in which a woman wakes up in bed with a young boy who passes her a lighter for her cigarette.
"It's obviously a gag," said Hunt, who said she hoped the drama would become "channel defining".
"It feels like we are entering a slightly different phase creatively," she said. "We are going to keep innovating in the months ahead."
Channel 4's coverage of its first Grand National will kick off with a special Alan Carr show the evening before and live coverage from Aintree, beginning at breakfast on 6 April.
The station will also start trailing its coverage of the big race today with an advert featuring horse riders jumping over urban obstacles such as cars and garden fences, with the strapline: "The Grand National - the original extreme sport".
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@guardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 days ago.
First came the film, now comes the Channel 4 reality show which will help two 40-year-olds lose their virginity.
In fact, the two people taking part in Channel 4's The 40-Year-Old Virgins are 45-year-old Clive and Rosie, 29, but that wasn't the name of the hit Steve Carell movie.
Unveiling more details about the programme today, Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt said it was an "incredibly heart-warming piece. I have never seen anything quite like it".
The two participants undergo radical sex therapy in the US and lose their virginity to two "sex surrogates".
One of the surrogates claims to have had sex with "850 people, not including my husbands".
Rosie tells the programme-makers: "Guys have this weird smell, kind of like a mix between aftershave and ham".
Hunt said the couplings would not be shown on screen but "it's clear what's going on".
"It's incredibly exposing for the two key characters in it," she said. "They talk in quite a lot of detail about what it's been like getting to a point in their lives where they have never had sexual contact with anybody.
"In a sense, what's extraordinary about it is they are normal people who for whatever reason have never ended up in a relationship."
Hunt added: "It feels like a sort of coming-of-age film and quite a responsible piece of broadcasting. But it's also got a real heart, it's quite an amazing film. Do we show them having sex? Not really, no. It's clear what's going on."
Hunt spoke about the documentary as Channel 4 unveiled a new season of programmes on Tuesday, including daily morning prayers during Ramadan, a behind the scenes look at a Scottish murder trial and French sci-fi drama Rebound.
The broadcaster will mark the Islamic holy month, which this year falls in July and August, with a nightly five-minute programme from a range of British Muslims on how they cope with Ramadan, as well as marking daily early morning prayers.
The Murder Trial will feature remotely operated cameras put into a British criminal court for the first time to capture a murder trial in its entirety.
The product of three years of negotiation which are still continuing today, it will feature the case of Nat Fraser, accused of murdering his wife Arlene Fraser, who vanished in 1998 and has never been found.
One of the first subtitled dramas to air on Channel 4 for many years, Rebound (Les Revenants) tells the story of a group of people in a small Alpine village who have trouble returning to their homes, unaware that they have been dead for several years and they are not expected back.
Other new shows include Olivia Colman in contemporary drama Run, Davina McCall gameshow Five Minutes to Make a Fortune, David Mitchell panel show Was it Something I Said? and two-parter Do You Speak English?, in which "ordinary" British people help four first-generation immigrants to learn English.
Peter Kay will also return to Channel 4 with his spoof of Secret Millionaire, which has now come to an end on C4, Malachy's Millions.
New drama London Irish, about a hard-drinking, hard-living ex-pat community of Northern Irish 20-somethings living in London, looks likely to cause controversy, featuring a scene in which a woman wakes up in bed with a young boy who passes her a lighter for her cigarette.
"It's obviously a gag," said Hunt, who said she hoped the drama would become "channel defining".
"It feels like we are entering a slightly different phase creatively," she said. "We are going to keep innovating in the months ahead."
Channel 4's coverage of its first Grand National will kick off with a special Alan Carr show the evening before and live coverage from Aintree, beginning at breakfast on 6 April.
The station will also start trailing its coverage of the big race today with an advert featuring horse riders jumping over urban obstacles such as cars and garden fences, with the strapline: "The Grand National - the original extreme sport".
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@guardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 days ago.