Is Discovery Channel reinventing the reality series with The Colony?
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
