We’ve been keeping our eyes finely attuned to Fox’s upcoming/absolutely insane-sounding reality project, Utopia, for awhile now. Ever since the series was first picked up by the network, it’s piqued our interest in an “oh, this sounds like an epic humanity disaster waiting to happen” sort of way. Maybe we just have a little bit less hope for our fellow humans than the series’ intrepid audition to be a pioneer, though. Because this all looks mental.
From the reality-focused mind of John de Mol — producer of The Voice, Big Brother, and a slew of other series akin to those — Utopia is not a new concept or idea. At all. The show was originally crafted for the Netherlands, where over 5,500 people tried out to start their own brave new world. Call us cynical if you must, but something tells us those kooky Dutch folk are likely to be way more successful at this than us run-of-the-mill American types. Especially when those 15 everyday Americans are forced into an isolated, undeveloped location — kept away from family and friends, and a regular source of food, according to the trailer — for an entire year. All of that sounds like a recipe for disaster of USA!USA!USA! proportions rather than some sort of elevated, perfect society. But I suppose that’s the fun of reality TV, innit?
Should we all start taking bets on who’s going to go all Lord of the Flies first? Which person’s going to be the series’ initial quitter? Maybe even a scorecard for sexual dalliances (because, I mean, c’mon, right)? Let us know in the comments.
Utopia premieres this fall on Fox.
Check this out about Utopia: http://www.utopiamadness.com/2014/05/utopia-fox-US-real-or-fake.html
“totally overwhelming”? A bit hyperbolic, don’t you think?
It’s a gorram reality TV show.
3 whole acres? Assuming they’re square, that’s a whopping 361 feet across!
THUNDERDOME
Nerdist website! I love you (and the new layout), but please please please don’t write “clickbait” headlines like this! I know it means more pageviews, but I die a little bit inside whenever I read a this kind of headline, and it hurts even more when it’s from a site I like and respect.
Thank you. Nerdist is going to sh!t with these barely veiled ads for the networks.
Wait…3 acres? The park I take my dog to is 5.
Screw this ‘Utopia’ – when is my Season 2 of the BBC show coming?!?!?!
Screw this (very expensive looking) Fox reality show – where’s the rest of Firefly Season 1? (still hurting, 11 years on.)
It’s a Channel 4 not a BBC show.
The world has jumped the shark.
Hang on, if the show doesn’t start until fall, where did all that footage in the trailer come from?
Appart from the American cast talking (and a few shots of them) all of it is from the Dutch version of the show.
It’s an interesting concept, but yes, everyone’s just gonna be watching in wait for when th s&*t hits the fan.
I hope Fox get’s it right and produces something like they advertise.The original Dutch version is (still) a joke. The first 3 days were funny, from there onward it was just Big Brother without silly games. They have ALL the modern conveniences of home (including plumbing, heating, pizza deliveries and computers with an internet connection…The “15 people who have nothing and will have no contact with the outside world” tagline.. total BS for the original version 😛
Go Fox, be true and deliver what you promise! 🙂