Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge flips the script on typical challenge shows by turning ordinary cars into tricked-out Hot Wheels cars and the show highlights that connection through the contestants' stories. Phil Breman and Ted Wu speak about how Mattel and Hot Wheels are continuing to evolve, and how the live-action television series are looking to capture nostalgia in smart, fun ways. So that, I think, makes it also something really unique, and that also helps it stand out in a way that you don't expect. Then having that emotional attachment by having it have been a car that was something that was meaningful to you at some point in your life.

So, I know it doesn't quite answer your question, but at the same time, it's like sometimes they're so filled with talent that this is the seed that grows on the ground, and then they just become the giant oak, you know?She has used these life-long passions to provide fan-focused interviews with Star Trek: Picard's showrunner and in-depth reviews of series like Andor.

She earned her Bachelor’s in Historic Preservation from the University of Mary Washington, where she focused on Colonial American history, British literature, and historic architecture. If you're doing it for the sake of doing it, then we would never do it, but if we're doing it where we feel like, “Wow, that's a great idea. Because watching the show and seeing how people react so sentimentally to these vehicles, it has to have some sort of emotional response for you as well. So for us, we really have to find ways to stand out, and the way we're gonna stand out is to connect with them on a level that no one else can. So how do you make that appealing to both kids and adults so that it's a family event rather than, “Oh, this is just a kid show,” you know?Phil, I am curious, with the craze of Barbie this weekend, is that changing how you're approaching both scripted and unscripted television that you're developing? And I think the same thing can be said about—obviously you're still selling toys—but the same thing is in the Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge , and also the Barbie Dream House challenges. Barbie and her friends know that camping can be a dream when you have a vehicle that's outfitted with all the comforts of home. The funny thing about that car is, in the movie, the car is, as you can tell, it's scaled down because it's a Barbie-size vehicle.