When the casting process was announced for the Fox reality series "Utopia," more than 5,000 people applied, hoping to be sequestered for a year of their lives in service to a TV show.
The fact that 5,000 Americans have nothing better to do for a year than co-exist in the wild with 14 other colorful, highly opinionated and maybe slightly exhibitionistic contenders, expressing their innermost thoughts to cameras 24/7, says something about our culture.
"Utopia" premieres Sunday, 7-9 p.m. on KDVR. The series will air two nights a week, 7-8 p.m. Tuesday and Friday on KDVR, for the first five weeks.
It's also available in round-the-clock live streaming at Utopia-TV.com, but the maximum free viewing time is five minutes. (The charge is $4.99 a month for full access. As if.)
You may have heard the pitch: no rules, no leaders, no plumbing. The series is adapted from a Dutch TV show by John de Mol, creator of "Big Brother," and features similar video voyeurism — multiplied by a year and minus the expensive loft.
So far, one woman (the raw vegan chef) has been kicked out for sneaking in a smartphone and conducting research on the other players; another (the hunter from Detroit) was taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration. The debate over spending money on a stove has been heated, and it took five days to figure out how to turn on the power in the barn.
The goal isn't survival; it's social organization of some sort. The "pioneers" are given some form of shelter, a set sum of money and, although they can't leave the compound, they have the ability to invite people onto the compound for transactions once they get some sort of trade up and running. They can do business with the outside world.
The Utopians are in Southern California with a lake, a barn, two cows and 12 chickens. They have been encouraged to set up some sort of society, but there's vast disagreement on what that means. Government? At least one of the players is a declared anti-government libertarian survivalist. Trade with the outside world? Will selling eggs be enough?
The concept is ambitious, the cost is reportedly $50 million for 20 episodes, and the network hopes "Utopia" will be the next big reality hit to take over for the declining "American Idol." It's an expensive gamble.
Fox did not make the first episode available for preview.
Simon Andreae, Fox's executive in charge of alternative programming, thinks the name alone is a selling point: "It's a super-aspirational title. It's a very grand idea. It's about all the fundamental pieces of a society: law, sexuality, religion, politics and so on."
It's not a game show, there is no prize. Executive producer Conrad Green explained he hopes to see "people from very different backgrounds across America coming together, working out their differences, working out new ways of structuring a society."
Specifically, he said, "it's kind of like an ant farm where we cast a number of really interesting people."
Almost every applicant said they don't like the way America is going at the moment. "That's a very common theme," Green said.
Here they'll have a chance to demonstrate what they'd do differently. Will communal living win over strident individualism? We'll see.
The producers take heart from the fact that the Dutch original is still going strong, airing five nights a week since January.
As always in reality TV, the juice is in the casting. You know, a pastor versus a polyamorous nude dancer versus an expectant mom. A Manhattan attorney, a convicted felon, a moonshiner. Can't we all just get along?
When the producers are in spin mode, they proclaim "Utopia" the next step in what is possible for reality TV. Not just TV, but a bold social experiment.
When they acknowledge this is a potential money-making, ratings-driving scheme in the cutthroat TV business, they liken it to "Gilligan's Island."
It's not on the Coast and there's no Thurston Howell III. Gilligan was never evacuated to a nearby hospital by the crew, and the production schedule didn't require the "Gilligan" cast to stay on the set for a year at a time.
Otherwise, sure, "Utopia" and "Gilligan's Island" have everything in common.
"We're putting people in a huge sandbox and standing back," Green said.
Fall is typically a less- welcoming time of year for reality TV as viewers sample the latest scripted offerings. Fox is the only network daring to try out an expensive reality show in September.
What if they threw a year-long reality TV party and nobody came? We'll soon see just how effective an aspirational title can be.
发表于 8-9-2014 12:55 AM
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