The midseason shows are debuting, and the reality shows seem to have taken center stage as the prima donna of television.
After the success of the “Survivor” series, all the networks have taken the hint and created their own versions of reality shows that they think will top the charts this season.
The Mole (Jan. 9)
This ABC show is a spin-off of “Road Rules.” Five men and five women work together to complete challenges like diving from a plane at 10,000 feet and figuring out clues in order to withdraw money from an ATM.
There’s only one problem. One of the players is a “mole” and secretly sabotages all of the group’s missions.
All the players take a quiz every few days that asks questions about the Mole – such as “is the mole a man or a woman” or “did the mole eat cereal for breakfast today.”
The player who gets the most questions wrong gets escorted from the game immediately until eventually only the Mole and one player is left.
The show kind of plays out like a “whodunnit” mystery, with all of the players suspicious of one another and watching every move that each other makes. If played right, the show could gain some die-hard followers.
Temptation Island (Jan. 10)
As the most talked about “Survivor” wanna-be, this Fox show features four committed – but unmarried – couple who spend two weeks mingling with 24 models.
The point of the show is to see if the couples can withstand temptation and remain faithful.
Even before its premiere, “Temptation Island” drew a lot of media attention with objections about a show that seeks to break up committed relationships for fun.
But perhaps the real question should be why would committed couples want to place themselves in the middle of temptation.
Newsweek calls the show “the raunchiest reality show yet,” but who do you blame – the producers or the participants?
The show has also drawn further criticism when it was revealed that one of the couples on the show has a child together, contrary to the rules that bans parents as participants.
Survivor 2 (Jan. 28)
CBS hopes to have another smash hit with “Survivor 2,” but critics are wondering if the show will hold the same fascination for audiences this time around.
The new show is in the Australian Outback, and the 16 participants must build shelter, catch food and establish a new society.
The show will feature the infamous tribal councils, immunity challenges and basically, all the old stuff that viewers loved last season.
The only new things about the show seems to be in the tribal names – Kucha and Ogakor- and the setting.
Oh. And also, no Richard.