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waiting in the wings
All
manner of contests in the spirit of 'Survivor'
By Gabriel Spitzer
If you think you're ODed on reality shows, you've got just
a spell to detox.
Network suits know a good thing when they see one, and what
they are seeing for summer is lots of new reality shows.
"We want one of those [types of] programs. It would just make everything much easier," NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker told reporters this week.
The network announced that it will be picking up the one-hour British game show "The Weakest Link." The show combines the mental rigor of "Millionaire" with the ruthlessness of "Survivor"; contestants answer questions in order to accumulate collective prize money, and at the end of each round they vote one contestant off the show.
Each departing contestant exits to host Anne Robinson’s hook line, "You’re the weakest link. Goodbye."
NBC reports that "The Weakest Link" is the first show to beat "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in England and Australia, a claim that ABC disputes. ABC reportedly passed on the show. The show will begin its run on Monday, April 16.
NBC has also picked up reality/game show "Fear Factor," a one-hour program now in production from Endemol Entertainment.
"Fear Factor" pits contestants against themselves and their phobias in pursuit of a $50,000 prize (those prizes seem to be getting smaller, don’t they?).
Contestants’ challenges will range from "free-falling from a 12-story building (without a bungee cord or airbag)…to facing the challenge of having to lie still while in a bed of snakes, to walking across a six-and-one-half inch-wide beam suspended more than 100 feet in the air," said an NBC statement.
The show boasts veterans of "The Real World" and "Big Brother" among its producers. There is no premiere date set for the series, though it seems a likely candidate for summer.
NBC said this week that it is still developing "Destination Space" (called "Destination Mir" until the Russians decided to plunge the space station into the drink later this month). Creator Mark Burnett is negotiating in Russia at the moment.
It appears that CBS will go without a "Survivor" sequel this summer, saving "Survivor 3" for next fall.
A "Big Brother" sequel may not be all that far off, however. CBS has yet to set a date, but the network may be anxious to run the program out of "Survivor’s" shadow this summer.
CBS will also debut its "Summer Global Adventure Series" (formerly "Race Around the World" before Fox Family sued, claiming the idea had been stolen from them). The show will feature eight teams of two racing across foreign lands and completing various tasks. The winner will receive a million dollars (now here’s a network that knows how to give a prize).
On ABC, the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck project "The Runner" has been talked about since last summer, but it seems that this summer it may finally materialize. Contestants on the show will compete for prizes in various venues as they race across the country.
ABC will also dust off "Making the Band," an early entrant into the reality sideshow that chronicled the formation of the boyband O-Town. The show was not expected to return, until thousands of adolescents turned out to buy O-Town’s first single, "Liquid Dreams," making the band a bigger hit than the program.
The sequel will follow the band on its first tour. Again, ABC has not announced a date for the second run, but sources suspect that it will pop up during the summer months.
Fox has not announced its plans for the summer, but it will follow "Temptation Island" with eight episodes of "Boot Camp," set to debut March 28.
The LMNO/Granada Entertainment production features 16 contestants competing to survive military boot camp, while Marine Corps drill instructors crack the whip. One contestant is voted off each episode, who then chooses an additional contestant to be dragged off the show as well.
The WB announced Tuesday that it will resurrect a pilot of "That’s Incredible," which mixes stunts and freak show shockers in "Ripley’s Believe It or Not" fashion. The show originally aired in 1980. Its successor will be produced by LMNO and Studios USA. The WB has not yet announced the pilot’s broadcast date.
UPN has several reality/game shows in production, including Endemol’s "Rebuild Your Life," which could air this summer or next season. "Chains of Love," the reality/dating series dropped by NBC last year, will begin its run on UPN in midseason.
-Gabriel Spitzer is a staff writer for Media Life.
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