Reality series seem to be all the rage these days, but they’re also all the same. Producers compile a cast of people who fit specific characters, throw them into a situation, and start eliminating them one by one. The only thing that changes is the venue and events that lead to elimination. Discovery Channel, however, seems to be breaking the formula with their show The Colony, which just premiered it’s second season last night.

“The Colony is a controlled experiment to see how far a group of strangers will push themselves to rebuild after a global catastrophe. Their home will be a ten acre compound on the gulf coast of Louisiana, a neighborhood laid waste by the floods following Hurricane Katrina. For fifty days they’l live with no power from the grid, no running water, and no communication with the outside world. All they have to work with is their skills, each other, and whatever they can scavenge from the wreck of their world. Environmental threats and hostel outsiders will challenge the colonists resources and security. The experiment has been designed using past disasters, models of future catastrophes, and research from the country’s top disaster experts.” (from the opening narration of the show)

As you can guess, this show isn’t your parents reality series. Think less Survivor and more Stanford Prison Experiment. A group of volunteers are just set free and forced to fend for themselves in a ten acre compound blocked off from the rest of the world. Unlike most survival reality shows, the cast isn’t just fighting against the elements. Their are two unique threats the volunteers have to deal with.

The first doesn’t present a actual “threat”, but instead requires the volunteers to “play along”. The creators of the experiment have dreamt up a “nuclear flu” which is infecting the world of the show. The idea is that the volunteers are living in a quarantine zone that is protecting them from the virus, witch can kill and infected in 48 to 72 hours. The volunteers must monitor each other for symptoms and constantly be on alert for those who may have been infected.

While the threat of a fake virus outbreak might not be that compelling, the second threat in the show is very real. While the volunteers are confined to their ten acre quarantine zone, there are “outsiders” (essentially “others”, if you were a fan of the show LOST) who can come and go as they please. These outsiders are living in the destroyed world too and food, water, and other supplies are very low. The volunteers must live out these 50 days under constant assault by people trying to take their supplies, often times by force. In the first episode alone the volunteers were smoke bombed, tear gassed, pepper sprayed, and generally roughed up buy these others.

The volunteers even have to sign a waver that states that “this is not a competition. I will receive no cash prize. I understand that participation may involve strenuous physical activities… shocking and frightening events… and emotionally difficult scenarios.”

Only one episode has aired from the new season, but it’s already made me a fan. The show runs Tuesday nights at 10pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel. Whether you’re a fan of reality series or you’ve been trying to steer yourself clear, everyone should at least give the show a shot.

my name is Christopher Schnese
and this is my reel perspective

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When I first heard about ABC’s new primetime drama FlashForward, I just had to laugh. I would have loved to have sat in on the meeting this thing was pitched at. “Ok, so here’s what we got! Everyone. On the entire planet, right? They like all pass out at the same time, got it? And then, here’s where it gets good. They all have a vision of six months into the future. Hu? Hu? You feel me? Did I just make your brain explode?” It’s the very definition of “high concept” with, in my opinion, no where to go. But I’m trying to give it a chance. I’m willing to forgive it’s terrible premise, however, I cannot forgive the egregious time paradox established in the pilot episode.

[Note: The following may be considered minor spoilers for the pilot episode of FlashForward, so if you've been warned]

About half way through this episode of the show, the FBI puts together a team to begin investigating the strange event that caused everyone to black out and have a vision of the future. At this point in the programming they literally have not a single lead to begin the investigation. So where do they to begin?

“Well I have a good idea”, I imagine one of the writers blurting out during a brain storming session. “What if in one of the character’s FlashForward, he was working on the investigation. Yeah. Then he could just tell the FBI what some of his leads in the future were and they could start investigating them now in the present.”

Am I the only one who has a HUGE problem with this? If you can’t see the problem, let me try to restate what they’re doing. Future-Mark-Benford is essentially giving Present-Mark-Benford information. Information that he is going to put on a board. A board that will be later read by Future-Mark-Benford. Who is going to, in turn, give to Present-Mark-Benford. Who is then going to write it on a board. Get it now? There is no point in time where this information ever actually comes into existence. Each side of the time loop relies on the other side for the information to exist. Paradox Much?

If you’re still not seeing the problem, let me put it this way. I do not currently own a Windows-based laptop. However, if I had one ten minutes into the future, I could travel back in time and give it to myself in the present. But how will I get the laptop in the next 10 minutes? Oh, it’s simple. When my future self hands me this laptop now, I’ll have it 10 minutes from now. Which means when I, as future me, decide to travel back in time, to Present-Me, He’ll have the laptop that was just given to present me right now.

My name is Christopher Schnese
and this has been my reel perspective

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