Fox's horrible new reality series is destined for cancellation, mark my words. I'm giving it two weeks. The premise is this: nine annoying reality show archetypes are gathered in an underground living space (which is kind of like a casino in that there are no windows or clocks) where they have to unanimously decide to award a $1,500,000 cash prize to another player.
Yawn.
Oh, and if someone freaks out and leaves the underground bunker, the cash pot is cut in half. And if the vote isn't unanimous, the cash amount goes down.
I'm assuming we'll see lots of freaking out. So far, we're getting arguments from a lady preacher and a homosexual man (gasp!) and a guy lying that he has testicular cancer.
Every so often some phony futuristic announcement echos out through the space for the contestants to gather at their magic gathering table, presided over via video by a guy who looks a little like Eric Stoltz, where they have to vote for who they want the money to go to using an orb that looks like a Magic Eight-Ball. In the debut episode the contestants couldn't decide on a unanimous contestant, so they had to decide to kick someone off of the show by reading (I'm not making this up) cards that reveal, anonymously, deep-dark secrets of the other contestants, like the fact that someone was in a mental ward or that another contestant had (gasp!) filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy! NOOOOOO!
A half-hour reality show just doesn't work. There's not enough time to meet the contestants or establish the tension and backbitting necessary for a successful reality show.
I have reached a unanimous decision on this show: don't bother watching.
Zero stars.
Article comments
1 - Matt Paprocki
I loved this one, aside from the presentation. The whole futuristic thing is a bit much.
However, there will be some tension here. It is forced, but so is every other reality show. When the money counter starts ticking down, things will pick up. The whole concept is that everyone needs to play for themselves, like the guy who tried to convince people he wasn't a mental patient since it was his secret. There's a lot of strategy here, and every move is crucial.
I'm looking forwared to next week.
2 - Scott C. Smith
Matt, you're an optimist. Frankly, I don't see the show lasting beyond the first couple of weeks. I'll bet the ratings from last night were horrible.
3 - NR Davis
I actually watched this show and hated it. The Stoltz doppelganger is JD Roth, the creator/producer of the show. He's an actor who got his start appearing on shows like Charles in Charge and hosting and producing kids' TV game shows. He moved into reality-show production (he's involved with NBC's The Biggest Loser and Endurance (a kids' version of Survivor; my 9-year-old watched it every Saturday until he started little league sports).
Any show that thinks pitting a morally challenged 'phobe (she's the one who filed for bankruptcy though she had tons of cash at her disposal) against a homo is entertainment is clueless and disgusting. And categorizing mental illness as something that should be considered a dirty secret - props to the contestant who insisted that being mentally ill is being ILL - is unforgivable. I won't watch it again. If it weren't on FOX, I would expect immediate cancellation.