And this coming from someone who’s never yet met a reality show he liked.
TBS is currently casting for a reality version of Gilligan’s Island. They’re looking for seven participants who are the real-life equivalents of the show’s archetypes: A genuine skipper and first mate, a millionaire couple, a movie star, a professor, and a farm girl. Rather than competing against each other, as is typical in these shows, they’ll work as a team, and the object of the game will be to get off the island (as opposed to getting off the island for losing). I found out about this from a casting call for the Professor posted in the office (unfortunately, I’m still a student, and expect to remain so for the immediate future), but you can also read about it on the web.
If you ask me, this sounds like a really cool idea, even if I personally won’t get to hook up with Mary Ann.
Even better, I think would be a reality-show version of Mission Impossible where a team of ordinary joes are instructed to topple a dictatorship in some banana republic, with the kicker being that any of the team is caught or killed, the producers wil disavow any knowledge of their actions.
I wonder how they’re going to get a millionaire couple and a movie star to participate. (Presumably anyone worth what the Howells were wouldn’t need the prize money and a real movie star would have better things to do, like actually act in a movie.)
In that case, you should check out The Amazing Race, which premieres on Tuesday, July 6th at 9:30pm. I hate reality shows too, but this one’s the exception that proves the rule, as they say. (No, I don’t work for TAR or CBS, I’m just really excited and can’t stop talking about it. )
The Gilligan’s Island concept does sound cool, if they do it right. But how are they going to keep them from getting off the island? That would end the show right quick, if they escaped on the very first episode.
So there won’t be any trees on the island? Really, if the Professor is a genuine scoutmaster (like Dr. Hinkley was), and if Gilligan isn’t a plant by the network to sabotage them (a possibility not to be ruled out, I think), then that’s all the parts you need.
They do say that the episodes will mirror situations from the original show, which to me sounds like there’ll be a genuine opportunity to escape every time. My guess is that they’re just counting on them not escaping for the first day or three, and if need be, they’ll just show a larger portion of the 24 hours a day of footage they’ll be taking. We’ll probably hear more once the promotions for the show start.
Also, they’re sticking to gender for the roles (at least for the professor, and I assume for the others), so Coolio probably won’t be Ginger. But they almost certainly will go with someone washed-up. The industry being what it is, I doubt that they’ll have a hard time finding an actress hungry enough to jump at the chance. Easy money, and possibly a career revival.
And KGS, I would check out Race, except that I don’t have a TV. Sometimes I think it’s a blessing in disguise… I’ve only checked out Survivor and the ilk while visiting friends or relatives.
I’ve heard about a new reality show coming this fall. I don’t know the title but it centers on the casting for a new Partridge Family TV show. There will be open casting calls in four major US cities, the best 8 for each role (in terms of appearance and talent) will go into what producer Jon Macks calls a Partridge Family boot camp to learn their respective roles, then fans will vote for who they want on the new series.
