NBC is making a game show based on mobile trivia game QuizUp

Late last month representatives of the NBC television network announced plans to develop 10 episodes of a live game show based on QuizUp, the remarkably popular mobile trivia game from Icelandic studio Plain Vanilla Games.

What's interesting about this (beyond the fact that people are making a TV show based on a mobile game, instead of the reverse) is that the proposed show, "QuizUp America", will challenge contestants to compete with people playing along at home on their mobile devices. 

This is a format that -- at least initially -- worked out very well for Microsoft's 1 vs. 100 Xbox Live game show. The game, itself an adaptation of a popular UK game show, was downloaded millions of times when Microsoft launched it in 2009. 

1 vs. 100 quickly became one of the most popular downloads on the Xbox Live service, and did well enough to merit a second season before being cancelled in 2010.

NBC has actually tried similar interactive game shows in the past -- the New York Times notes that it premiered "Million Second Quiz" in 2013, a game show that was also structured to pit contestants against viewers playing along at home via a mobile app. However, the show was not well-received and it was not picked up for a second season after its initial 10-episode run.