51 Minds Entertainment
American television production company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
51 Minds Entertainment (or Fifty One Minds Entertainment) is a production company founded by Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, that specializes in reality TV.[2][3] It was created in 2004 as a merger between Cris Abrego's 51 Pictures (formerly Brass Ring Entertainment) and Mark Cronin's Mindless Entertainment.
Mindless Entertainment
 | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Predecessor | 51 Pictures Mindless Entertainment |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founders | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
| Products | Flavor of Love Below Deck |
Number of employees | 200+ (2008) |
| Parent | Endemol USA (2008–2015) Endemol Shine North America (2015–present) |
| Website | 51minds |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
The company is best known for producing the "celebreality" programs on VH1 (such as Flavor of Love, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, Real Chance of Love, etc.) and other shows such as The Surreal Life, La La's Full Court Life, and the Below Deck franchise.
History
In 2005, the company signed a two-year, seven series production deal with VH1.[4] The company has been credited in helping revive VH1 ratings during this time.[5] In 2008, the company was purchased by Endemol (later Endemol Shine Group, now Banijay Entertainment).[1]
In 2009, after the Murder of Jasmine Fiore case, VH1 canceled Megan Wants a Millionaire and the third season of I Love Money, and 51 Minds was forced to reimburse VH1 for over $12 million in losses.[6][7]
In 2010, the company branched out in Internet distributed programming, producing The Tester for the PlayStation Network.[8] Other popular shows include Below Deck and their franchises on the NBCUniversal network Bravo.
In 2014, Cronin left the company to form Little Wooden Boat Productions, but still continued to work on shows by 51 Minds, such as Below Deck and Idiotest.[9][10][11]
Filmography
As 51 Minds Entertainment
2000s
| Title | Creator(s) / Developer(s) | Premiere date | End date | Network | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Surreal Life | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
January 9, 2003 | September 3, 2024 | VH1 | First television show created by the company. Credited as Mindless Entertainment for the first season. |
| Strange Love | January 9, 2005 | April 24, 2005 | |||
| My Fair Brady | September 11, 2005 | March 9, 2008 | |||
| Flavor of Love | January 1, 2006 | May 26, 2008 | First reality dating "of Love" show created by the company. | ||
| Celebrity Paranormal Project | October 22, 2006 | December 17, 2006 | |||
| I Love New York | January 8, 2007 | January 6, 2008 | Spin-off to Flavor of Love. | ||
| Gotti's Way | October 8, 2007 | June 22, 2009 | |||
| Rock of Love with Bret Michaels | July 15, 2007 | April 19, 2009 | |||
| Charm School | April 15, 2007 | July 27, 2009 | |||
| America's Most Smartest Model | October 7, 2007 | December 16, 2007 | |||
| I Love Money | July 6, 2008 | December 1, 2010 | |||
| Real Chance of Love | October 20, 2008 | October 26, 2009 | |||
| Daisy of Love | April 26, 2009 | July 26, 2009 | First spin-off to Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. | ||
| Megan Wants a Millionaire | August 2, 2009 | August 16, 2009 | Second spin-off to Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. | ||
| New York Goes to Work | May 4, 2009 | June 29, 2009 | |||
| For the Love of Ray J | February 2, 2009 | February 8, 2010 | |||
2010s
| Title | Creator(s) / Developer(s) | Premiere date | End date | Network | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank the Entertainer in a Basement Affair | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
January 3, 2010 | March 28, 2010 | VH1 | Spin-off to I Love New York and I Love Money. |
| The Tester | Sony Computer Entertainment | February 18, 2010 | April 3, 2012 | PlayStation Network | |
| Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin Ray J |
April 11, 2010 | February 27, 2011 | VH1 | |
| Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch | Bob Horowitz Lewis Fenton Cris Abrego Mark Cronin Chad Ochocinco |
July 11, 2010 | September 5, 2010 | ||
| Money Hungry | Cris Abrego Ellen Rakieten |
August 2, 2010 | October 4, 2010 | ||
| Real and Chance: The Legend Hunters | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
September 19, 2010 | November 24, 2010 | ||
| La La's Full Court Wedding | October 24, 2010 | ||||
| Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It | Bret Michaels Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
October 18, 2010 | December 20, 2010 | Third spin-off to Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. | |
| Mario Lopez: Saved by the Baby | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
November 1, 2010 | January 3, 2011 | ||
| Bridalplasty | November 28, 2010 | January 30, 2011 | E! | ||
| Same Name | July 24, 2011 | August 14, 2011 | CBS | ||
| Famous Food | July 10, 2011 | September 7, 2011 | VH1 | ||
| Ton of Cash | August 17, 2011 | October 26, 2011 | |||
| La La's Full Court Life | La La Anthony Cris Abrego |
August 22, 2011 | July 2, 2014 | Spin-off of La La's Full Court Wedding. | |
| Scouted | Cris Abrego Mark Cronin |
November 28, 2011 | January 16, 2012 | E! | |
| T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle | Brian Sher Cris Abrego Stella Bulochnikov |
December 5, 2011 | May 29, 2017 | VH1 | |
| Redneck Island | Steve Austin | June 9, 2012 | March 31, 2016 | CMT | |
| Marrying the Game | Jayceon Taylor Tiffany Clambridge |
November 19, 2012 | July 2, 2014 | VH1 | |
| Ghost Mine | Mark Cronin | January 16, 2013 | November 20, 2013 | Syfy | |
| Whodunnit? | Anthony E. Zuiker | June 23, 2013 | August 18, 2013 | ABC | |
| Below Deck | Mark Cronin | July 1, 2013 | present | Bravo | Second longest-running show franchise by the company. |
| Mind of a Man | January 8, 2014 | May 14, 2014 | Game Show Network | ||
| Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge | Steve Austin | July 6, 2014 | December 19, 2017 | CMT | In co-production with Broken Skull Productions. |
| Sisterhood of Hip Hop | T.I. | August 12, 2014 | September 13, 2016 | VH1 | |
| Follow the Rules | Ja Rule | October 26, 2015 | December 7, 2015 | MTV | |
| Below Deck Mediterranean | Mark Cronin | May 3, 2016 | present | Bravo | |
| Truck Night in America | Christian Sarabia
James Patrick Costello II |
March 18, 2018 | March 28, 2019 | History Channel | |
| The Grand Hustle | T.I. | July 20, 2018 | October 4, 2018 | BET | |
| T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle | T.I.
Tameka Cottle Brian Sher |
October 22, 2018 | June 29, 2020 | VH1 |
2020s
| Title | Creator(s) / Developer(s) | Premiere date | End date | Network | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Below Deck Sailing Yacht | Mark Cronin | February 3, 2020 | present | Bravo | |
| Married to Real Estate | Egypt Sherrod Mike Jackson |
January 13, 2022 | May 28, 2025 | HGTV | |
| Below Deck Down Under | Mark Cronin | March 17, 2022 | present | Bravo | Aired on Peacock for its first season. |
| Hack My Home | Ming Lee Howell | July 7, 2023 | Netflix | ||
