‘Survivor’-style contest
MTV has upped the ante on reality competition shows. “Stranded With a Million Dollars” dumps 10 millennials onto a deserted island in the South Pacific for 40 harrowing days with nothing to protect them from the cruel world around them – except an enormous wad of cash.
Think “The Real World” meets “The Hunger Games” with a dash of “Brewster’s Millions” thrown into the unholy bargain!
“I was excited to see how pampered 20-somethings would react in a survival challenge,” said executive producer Kevin Lee, a TV production veteran from shows like “The Real World” “Road Rules” and “Extreme Makeover.
The show’s premise: Ten people are put on the beach of a speck of land far off the coast of Fiji with nothing but their clothes and their dough – which they can use to buy supplies at markups that even surpass Manhattan gourmet markets.
Act now and you can buy a tent for $20,000! The point is to pose the question – “How much would YOU pony up to stay alive?” “It came from a camping trip I went on and through to myself, ‘What I wouldn't pay for a can of beer right now,’ ” Long explained. “I just raised the stakes a bit.” The only hitch is that the purchases have to be made with a group consensus – which leads to battles and drama that makes this real world feel more like “Lord of the Flies.” And while a nation of TV viewers may want to applaud placing annoying millennials in lifethreatening situations, Kevin is quick to point out that these kids were closer to Bear Grylls than the cast of “The Jersey Shore.” “I won’t go into specifics, but these guys were able to muster up some behaviors that took the concept of cutthroat to a higher extreme than I’ve ever seen,” he said. The other wrinkle is that the show was shot with drones and robo-cams – meaning no cameramen and leaving the kids completely on their own to fend for themselves. Lee has had his share of experience with this preening segment of the reality TV landscape, serving as producer on multiple installments of "The Real World" and "Road Rules."