There is a great row in the halls of Fox over "Utopia," the upcoming new reality series based on a Dutch format built on a group of people attempting a rebooted society. First of all, there's the potential cost of $50M for 20 episodes (and you thought reality shows were supposed to be cheap). In addition, there is concern, especially from former Fox Sports chief David Hill (now the net's point man on "Idol") that the original Dutch version's ratings dropped after its premiere in January (although they were still higher-than-normal for SBS6, the cable/satellite channel that aired the series. In addition, there's concern that CBS may consider the show too close to "Survivor" and "Big Brother" for its tastes and may attempt a lawsuit (ironically, both "BB" and "Utopia" are the creation, of John DeMol, the former Endemol co-founder that now runs Talpa Media, best known as the company behind "The Voice"). And it just happens that Simon Andreae, the man who replaced Mike Darnell as Fox's unscripted chief, is having his own squabbles with DeMol over the series (they plan to shoot on a closed set in Las Claritas instead of a cutaway from an actual forest, as in the original, for security reasons--the set for the Dutch version allowed for outsiders to visit--and Andreae also wants guaranteed good weather, the better to have hot babe contestants in bikinis). Not to mention that Andreae's programming greenlights so far, including an Israeli game show format built around contestants dismantling a bomb and called "Boom!" and a pilot called "Couples Retreat" where married couples will be encouraged to cheat on each other, seem to make Darnell a paragon of good taste:
http://www.thewrap.com/fox-utopia-simon-andreae-david-hill-john-de-mol-clash?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=contactology And need we mention Andreae's second series that will premiere under his watch (after "Riot," the improv show from the French guy who ripped off SCG), "I Wanna Marry 'Harry.'" where contestants think they're competing for a chance to date Prince Harry when they're really going to date a lookalike? And you may've thought that Fox would never go back to the days of "Joe Millionaire" and "Temptation Island." -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
