S01.E01: Series Premiere (1)

[photo fox]

Part 1 of the three-part premiere of a one-year social experiment involving 15 people who try to create their own civilization from scratch by deciding on a system of government, what food they'll eat and how they'll interact with the outside world.

[kikismom]

Chicken tractor.

 

That's all I have to say.

Chicken tractor.

[nottopbravo]

What was the casting call for this show:  Nuts wanted ?

[ElleryAnne]

The best thing about this show is that during the filming of it, 15 fewer crazy people were running the streets unattended.

[Dust Bunny]

Disappointing. A reminder that everything comes down to casting.

[HoosierJen]

Very disappointed. I wanted this show to feature intelligent people who truly would work together to create a society. Instead, it was just Big Brother: Camping Edition. There's enough drama in real people working together to get things done -- why did the creators feel they had to cast the crazies?

[dbell1]

I really wanted to like this show. Then I realized they brought in Survivor rejects. Was the requirement to curse fluently and be a drunk? Or strip?

How are these people living? Where is the food coming from? What was in the box? (Besides Gwyneth Paltrow's head)

Figures FOX went to reality ho central for casting.

[PreBabylonia]

Obviously, there is something wrong with almost all the males cast on this show. (Josh, Rob, Red, good-looking black guy, etc.) I propose the women stage a coup, and boot out all the men with the exception of the lawyer. Since he's useful at setting up a judicial and governing system, is nice to look at, and could provide the sexy times. Yeesh. At this point, with all the idiocy I won't make it to the second episode. At least the Big Brother houseguests have the excuse of youth and immaturity. The older ones in here are even worse.

[Whimsy]

I agree, I had higher hopes for this. I don't watch Big Brother. Never had, never intended to. Guess I am now, from the sounds of it. To me, it seemed like a lot of people went into this ready to explode over pretty much anything.

I didn't like Josh at first. He seems to really take to heart what happened and is learning from it. I guess time will tell. I'm still apprehensive if he resorts to violence against women when he drinks, though.

I liked Aaron until he got in Red's face and let his anger build and resorted to screaming at him. I admit, I FF'd a few minutes of that. It made me uncomfortable. As did Dave's freak-out when loading the box. What he said didn't even make sense. First, he stayed back and apparently (from the edit we saw) didn't make any moves to put anything of his in. Then he somehow worked it up in his mind that he was being disrespected because none of his stuff was going in. Then his argument was that he didn't care because he could live on nothing, but he was still agitated and trying to shove his entire box in. I didn't get it.

Bella is just plain weird. I hate when people continually repeat "let me speak" without actually SAYING anything. I can't even get into the human waste compost and the chicken tractor.

Hex- way to almost die from alcohol poisoning your first day. The editing during her archery session was weird. From the way it was edited it almost made it look like she was about 3 feet away from the target when she went to get her arrow.

Red is the type of ignorant person that I literally can't deal with. He is so pig-headed and all he does is rant and rave and never listen to anyone. He will forever be dead to me just for wasting water just because he wanted to have a temper tantrum.

The rest still haven't made a huge impact on me yet.

I just wish they had constructed a show with intelligent people who really wanted to make a go of this. It seems like there are SOME like that, but also too many wild cards.

[GaT]

Well, thanks folks. I was all set to invest time into this show, & just these comments have convinced me not to bother. Thank you for giving me back the many hours I would have wasted. :-)

[ramble]

Was the requirement to curse fluently and be a drunk? Or strip?

Seriously *this* is supposed to be utopia? (And could they have used the word more?) People were aggressively rude & hateful or alternately determined to talk about love & rainbows. Where is the middle ground? Although I did like quiet, digging the ditch guy calmly going about his business as a few guys argued & talked around him.

I thought the stripping was ridiculous. It felt very driven by camera awareness. In a real society I picture people being more worried about preparation & survival rather than skinny dipping & peace circles. If I wanted to watch drunken idiots I'd head down to bar row in my town. Sigh. I was hoping for more.

That's all I have to say. Chicken tractor.

My kids actually knew exactly what that is & explained it much more coherently than the gal that runs emotionally hot & cold.

My kids watched & laughed a lot. They have come up with names for most of the folks & are enjoying creating inside jokes so we'll probably be in for awhile at least. (Solo I'd more than likely be out.)

[RedheadZombie]

Good lord this is a mess.  I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with it.  I didn't do any research, so I'm trying to catch up on who's who.  A few things that caught my attention:

 

The narrator - what character is he playing?  He looked like he was in disguise (I wouldn't blame him).  Harry Potter glasses, glued on moustache, top hat, wearing a suit (without the tie and jacket) - wandering about in the middle of nowhere.

 

Red - "In my utopia, we'd have hot flesh wounds taller than a corn field".  Logically I now he couldn't have said that, but I re-listened many times.

 

Why oh why do reality shows continue to cast for the stereotype of the angry black man?  Was it really too hard to cast more than one black man without resorting to a violent homeless ex-felon?

 

Jonathan the pastor - leaving his family behind for an entire year.  "There's only one reason I'd ever leave you guys, it's for the gospel's sake".  Oh please..........  You're abandoning your family as well as your entire congregation to minister to a handful of people - unsolicited.  People, by the way, that include atheists and those with lifestyles you would not and could not accept - polyamory, and perhaps homosexuality. 

[Wandering Snark]

Well, I think I'm in against my better judgement. And yeah were this to be on a reputable network not FOX (who ruin everything) it would have been much more interesting, and yes the casting would have been completely in a different direction... but this is FOX and this is what we've got. So...

 

I can't believe some things:

 

people already hooking up

there already being a med vac

trying to run everything by 'voulunteering'

all the women being all 'yay nudity!!!'

no time taken to put together a schedule/plan for their first day(s), assign jobs etc

 

and more...

 

ETA: How could I have forgotten about the narrator?? What was the deal with that?

Edited September 8, 2014 by Wandering Snark

[ElleryAnne]

Red - "In my utopia, we'd have hot flesh wounds taller than a corn field".  Logically I now he couldn't have said that, but I re-listened many times.

 

 

Why couldn't he have said that?  It makes about as much sense as at least half of the other stuff any of them said.

[Rick Kitchen]

I seriously considered trying out for this show.  I am so glad I didn't.

[Wandering Snark]

Oh and if you're a preacher that a little nudity is causing a crisis of faith due it's overwhelming siren's song of flesh you may have larger problems than proselytizing to a bunch of heathens. A 'man of the cloth' shouldn't be going all Professor Frink about all [Frink] the covorting and the drinking and the nakedddddnessss[/Frink] at every turn.

[wanderwoman]

I wanted to like this show. But, it sucks. The producers went out of their way to cast the most negative caricatures of every stereotype in the United States. It's so over the top.

[Wandering Snark]

I wanted to like this show. But, it sucks. The producers went out of their way to cast the most negative caricatures of every stereotype in the United States. It's so over the top.

 

Welcome to FOX.

[kaygeeret]

Sigh, kudos to those above who have said it so well.

 

The women are just......(as a woman I fell ok saying this) sooooooooo STUPID.  Where is someone smart, how much time are we going to waste on  yoga circles?  Is any of the info the lady from GA giving about "chicken tractors" even true?  Because I am pretty sure no one among my farming forebears ever used chicken as tractors.

 

Granted they didn't have the advantage of our "new knowledge".  She strikes me as a looney tune, of course I could be wrong.

 

I actually thought at first it was wrong to cast a guy with the terrible background Dave has in this show.  He has never had structure outside of prison and his background would indicate he hasn't had much  contact with the types of people he has been thrown in with.  I truly respect his drive to try something outside of his dismal "normal".  But a reality show on FOX?   WOW

 

Also, question his breakdown in the beginning and his redemption as the peacemaker at the end.  What in heaven's name haven't we seen?

 

I admire him more than anyone there - I think - not sure about producer manipulation.

 

I don't get the preacher at all.  Just sayin'.

[Rick Kitchen]

The host is cartoonist Dan Pirarro, who draws the "Bizarro" comic strip - https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics

 

Apparently that look is just him.

 

[kaygeeret]

Oh good lord, I just dipped into the Live feed forum and all my illusions were blown.

 

This is Big Brother casting with lots of manipulation and some desperation.

 

Don't want to watch this --- at all.

[Auntie Anxiety]

I agree that they had a casting call for the most irritating people on the planet.  I have more important things to watch than this show.  If I want to listen to morons trying to make a plan, I can always tune into Big Brother.  

 

That NY lawyer will be hitting his head against the wall in no time.  The preacher?  I'm of the Jewish persuasion and I just can't listen to that stuff.  Not everyone in the world (or the US) is Christian, dude.  

 

Yeah, it's probably one and done for me.

[Hava]

An interesting premise with tons of potential, but, as said by others, executed poorly. What a waste. The casting is atrocious. I wanted to see them make a plan and watch them execute that plan step by step. But, no, they had to focus on all the scandal.

 

How annoying was all the yoga that woman was trying to impose on everyone else? If you want to do yoga, invite people to join you--don't just have an impromptu session whenever you feel like it. 

 

And I also did not understand the whole chicken issue. If that guy wanted to eat the chicken, why couldn't he? The others didn't have to.

[LakeGal]

Well it didn't take them long to blow up at each other.  I will stick with it because I am curious who will last and who won't..  How many will just up and quit.  A year is a long time to be gone.  That is probably the reason for a lot of the strange pioneers.  Most normal people can't just take a year off of their lives. 

[backformore]

Red - "In my utopia, we'd have hot flesh wounds taller than a corn field".  Logically I now he couldn't have said that, but I re-listened many times.

 

I THINK he said "pot plants".   But I don't know. 

 

So, a group of clothing-optional women, a couple of religious fanatics, some guys who like to yell, some people who can't handle their liquor, and a preacher who thinks he's the moral conscience for the group, weeping at the decadence around him. 

 

In other words, a bunch of people I would avoid in real life.   Do i want to watch them on TV?

Edited September 8, 2014 by backformore

[backformore]

OK - one more thing.   A new society, one with no established rules, no laws, no police.  There's alcohol available, guys are drinking.   Guys you've never met, you know nothing about, are drinking.  

 

Is that really the environment for women to be naked or in their underwear?   

[KHenry14]

WTH? I MEAN WTH??? What kind of hot mess of a show is this? So there is no competition. No prize at the end. Just 15 people living together, and they expect us to spend a year watching them? Are they crazy? Am I missing something here?

My toleration for Josh, Red, Hex etc. will be about a week. And I suspect the public will feel the same. I mean, what's going to happen when they cancel this show by November? I am astounded that this show got past the pitch meeting.

Edited September 8, 2014 by KHenry14

[Mysteris]

So this show happened. Huh.

It feels like someone wanted to have a high-minded "social experiment" concept, and then the suits told them to make it a typical reality show or else. So we get this weird hybrid of both.

Josh, Red, Dave, all kind of seem like alpha-male assholes. Especially when booze and immature pride is on the line. Kind of a toss-up as to who was douchiest, though Dave seemed to come around by the end.

I'm sorry, but that narrator looks like a discount Adam Savage from Mythbusters.

I did like that the preacher was willing to listen to the yoga woman and give her equal time to present her views.

Somehow, I don't expect FOX to have the patience to stick with this for the full year. Leaving aside FOX's horrible track record in general, I just don't see this lasting.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Mysteris

[Kris117]

I suspect that a lot of what Bella says regarding proper farming practices is based on a grain of truth, on which she has built an entire fantasy castle. I've worked at a garden center for years, and when you first put in a garden, you till 6-7" down so that your soil is easier to work and add amendments to, and easy for plants to grow in. Once you're done that, at the start of the season you turn the top couple of inches of soil over, but that's it. I suppose a chicken could scratch down the inch or two needed to start the season with an established garden, but they couldn't accomplish the 6" these doofuses will need for their presumably new garden.
 
There are actual movable chicken coops or chicken tractors, and some of them are pretty cute. Most of the sellers emphasize the advantage of being able to keep them outdoors and free-ranging without being in danger from predators, and because you can move them around to different sections of your lawn.

 

Bella reminds me of Laura Dern's character on Enlightened. She looks a bit like her, and the voice and the speech patterns are similar. Her idea of "listening to her" appears to mean, "Stand there for five minutes while I go on and on, and then maybe I'll pause and give you the chance to agree with me. If you don't agree, you're being disrespectful, and I'm going to start over." 
 

ETA: How could I have forgotten about the narrator?? What was the deal with that?

I wish I had written down some of the intro he delivered, because it was priceless.

I have watched every single episode of every single season of Big Brother and Survivor, and most of these people would not even have made it past the admission process in the worst casting years. Half the men would have been gone in the first episode.

And why are they calling it a three-part premiere? Can't you just call it Episode One, Two, and Three? The 'part" concept only works in a scripted show.

While I feel for Jon, I have the feeling that he has spent many years with people who believe in God the exact same way he does, and had envisioned himself in a quasi-hero role, leading them all comfortably to Christ. He was not prepared to interact with people from the other 99% of humanity. You'd think that reading the epistles of Paul or other early church evangelists would have tipped him off. 

[ketchuplover]

It's about time. It's about space. It's about time to slap their faces.  I think this show was created to make Hell's Kitchen look palatable by comparison.  

[riverheightsnancy]

I had been reading the blogs for the live feeds, so while I knew what would happen, I envisioned it somewhat differently. The actual people were worse than my imagination! Recollecting about the live feed, I think that they left out critical things about people which means some people are worse than shown. I feel like they left a lot of detail about the attempted sexual assault out of the TV showing. 

 

I cannot remember the name of the show, but there was this reality show on a cable channel (maybe Scifi) about a group of people (in their own small compound, as if a war had occurred) being attacked by outside forces. They had to create a "pseudo world" to protect themselves from attack. They needed to get water, forage for food, find ways to make machines and siphon gas from abandoned cars, etc...While it was a live interpretation of a video game (it was NOT the show Siberia), the people on that show, took the entire concept of trying to create a world and protecting themselves from invading forces much more seriously. I agree with everyone who said that they had high hopes and it really was bad. The live feed blogs are pretty interesting though. 

[ProfCrash]

Let's face it, tossing 14 type A personalities into an environment with no rules (which is BS and we all know it) and all hell is going to break loss. Hell, the same thing happened with Kid Nation. In a few weeks, things will settle down as people find their roles and adjust to the environment. Homesick people, new show that they don't know how it works, new environment with little provided to them, booze, and people who fit every stereotype = craziness.

 

OK, Contractor dude was 9,000 Times better after he was put on probation. He was an obnoxious jack ass before the booze on day one and really freaking scary when he had been drinking. I don't think that his change in behavior was due to anything that happened in the "trial" and more to do with the Producers telling him that he almost became the perfect example of date rape and he will not do that again. He was actually reasonable on day two and three.

 

Red is fine. I don't understand why the others were upset that he wanted to eat the chicken. If he wanted to risk it, then let him risk it. He was going to be fine. There was no need for that confrontation. Lt Cook (I can't remember most of their names) was fine in saying he wouldn't cook it for everyone. He should have let Red cook it on his own and I think he was going to but then Red flipped out with the water and all of his screaming and hollering. I understood what Lt Cook was trying to say. He listened to Red and did what Red asked him to do with the trench and maintance stuff without questioning him. Red was challenging Lt Cook in an area he knew well and he felt disrespected. Red was in no mood to listen to it and was in the mood to be confrontational and got in Lt Cooks grill pretty seriously. Lt Cook over responded but I don't think Red was in any danger.

 

We looked up the chicken tractor, it is a real thing and strikes me like a good idea. Bella is a bit nutty but I have a feeling that she knows what she is talking about when it comes to farming. I think Bella knows she is a bit nutty with how she responded when Contractor dude didn't dismiss her idea and simply took notes. Bella is a hippie survivalist which could be fun to watch. Hopefully she learns that she will get more respect as people see that she knows what she is talking about and stops talking just to talk.

 

Homeless Felon is the voice of reason except when he is flipping out. Dude actually had some good things to say and was reasonably together once he got over the shock of "You can't bring everything with you". Let's face it, if you spent a good amount of time in jail and then were homeless, you would be pretty attached to your stuff and being told that you were going to lose most of it would probably cause the exact reaction that it did.

 

Hax, female farmer who seems to be a borderline alcoholic based on her confession, seems to be pretty level headed. I thought she handled drunk contractor well and was pretty cool about things the next day. I also think that Production told her that if he touched her again he was gone.

 

And let me say that I think that it is hilarious that the solution to the problem is to call 911 if it happens again. Yeah, we are building a new society with our own rules and ideals but we will call 911 if needed. And an ambulance. I get it, FOX can't toss them out there totally on their own but lets not pretend that they are creating their own rules. Everyone of them is an American so this is going to be a democracy of some sort. And people are not going to be getting into a ton of fights because they are not allowed to. All this show is an unorganized farm camp with Type A personalities filling specific stereotypes who will bicker but figure it out. There is no society building, that would require people who have different cultural understandings of what government and society are. And Atheist vs Pentecostal vs Baptist is not a different cultural background because they are all American and raised to understand that people can believe what they want. Which is why the Hax with Precher John conversation went just fine, she is a level headed Atheist and he seems to be a level headed Pentecostal. He walked away from the naked swimming and explained his view just fine. She respectfully listened and explained that she couldn't help that she had boobs. No drama because they are both American.

 

Want to make this interesting? Bring in language differences so communication is difficult. Bring in people from different governments who have a different idea about how government works. There is a reason building democracy is hard, you have to understand what the institutions are going to do and have people who are educated enough to participate. Toss in a certain level of economic development and you have a challenging combo to attain and then maintain. Toss in some people who have never lived in a democracy and see how well that goes.

 

So I will treat this show as a fun filled romp across different American stereotypes that will end up with more finding of common ground then people think.

[kikismom]

My kids actually knew exactly what that is & explained it much more coherently than the gal that runs emotionally hot & cold.

 

Well, yeah, there is such a thing as a chicken tractor...but it is for the chickens sake mostly; they are not on straw or sawdust they are on grass and can eat bugs and you move it daily so you don't have chicken doodle to clean out.

That girl explained it like it will plow and cultivate an acre of land for farming--what?! We go two feet down and turn it all up, it has to be loose crumbly soil. I don't care how many chickens she puts in there, they can't do it.

She also said something like "20 chickens can do the work of one man" which was just ridiculous. I think she's one of those "poser off-the-gridders" who reads a lot of magazines but hasn't actually tried the theories out.

[clod]

Why oh why do reality shows continue to cast for the stereotype of the angry black man?  Was it really too hard to cast more than one black man without resorting to a violent homeless ex-felon?

 

 

not just Dave.   Aaron contributed to the stereotype, too.  (don't touch me or else!)

 

I can't believe some things:

 

people already hooking up

ETA: How could I have forgotten about the narrator?? What was the deal with that?

 

ha.  the early hookups reminds me MTV's Real World.

 

 

I missed the first few minutes of the show.     when the narrator showed up later,  my first impression was "that's odd."    

 

 

 

 

 

There are actual movable chicken coops or chicken tractors, and some of them are pretty cute. Most of the sellers emphasize the advantage of being able to keep them outdoors and free-ranging without being in danger from predators, and because you can move them around to different sections of your lawn.

 

.

While I feel for Jon, I have the feeling that he has spent many years with people who believe in God the exact same way he does, and had envisioned himself in a quasi-hero role, .......

 

 

I thought the benefit of those movable chicken coops was the availability of new bugs for the chickens to eat.     they clean out the bugs in one spot, then you slide it over some fresh grass and let them eat more bugs.     free natural healthy food for the chickens,  fewer bugs.  

 

Jon might have been expecting them to *need* him.    but he found that half the group didn't even care.  

[Whimsy]

I cannot remember the name of the show, but there was this reality show on a cable channel (maybe Scifi) about a group of people (in their own small compound, as if a war had occurred) being attacked by outside forces. They had to create a "pseudo world" to protect themselves from attack. They needed to get water, forage for food, find ways to make machines and siphon gas from abandoned cars, etc...While it was a live interpretation of a video game (it was NOT the show Siberia), the people on that show, took the entire concept of trying to create a world and protecting themselves from invading forces much more seriously. I agree with everyone who said that they had high hopes and it really was bad. The live feed blogs are pretty interesting though. 

I saw that.  I don't think I finished the season, but it was waaaay more interesting than this. 

[Jersey Guy 87]

That was awful.  I can't see watching again, even out of morbid curiosity.  The cast of Kid Nation were more mature than most of these people.

[molshoop]

The show was called The Colony and was on for 2 seasons. It was about surviving after an Apocalypse , not building a Utopian society.

[riverheightsnancy]

The show was called The Colony and was on for 2 seasons. It was about surviving after an Apocalypse , not building a Utopian society.

 Yes, that's the name. I liked that show a lot.  

[quickjessie]

I seriously considered trying out for this show.  I am so glad I didn't.

No worries.  You appear to be sane so you wouldn't have been cast anyway.

 

Seriously disappointed with this.  I was prepared to be a dedicated viewer but the casting has ensured this is a one-and-done for me.

[Ms Lark]

Had this been cast or set up more high-mindedly I might have continued to watch. As it stands, I agree with just about everything negative already posted. The only real reason left to watch (which I won't be doing) is "the fascination of the abomination." I'm out!

[ccphilly]

What's the name of the female pregnant contestant?  I can't remember.  Because she is NUTS to be pregnant in that environment.  With all those crazies running around, I'd be concerned for my unborn child's safety.  I can' wait till she goes into labor and Red gets in there to be the mid-wife.  

[DeLurker]

 

An interesting premise with tons of potential

Fox seriously overestimated the appeal of these folk, because you get more coherent thought, cooperation, problem solving skills and mature behavior at any elementary school playground.  Scares me that these people would be allowed to vote - hopefully, they are part of the population that is either unregistered or doesn't bother to do it.  But it could have been an interesting show.

 

The alcohol raises an interesting question about Bri - she's 20 I believe.  Legal drinking age is 21 - did they show her partaking?

 

I can't get back the 2 hours I watched last night.  Damn.

[ProfCrash]

Amanda (just read the daily recaps). She is crazy. Why the hell would you go out and try out for a show like this when you are pregnant? You need to be careful with nutrition, hydration and not over doing anything. Then there is the giving birth element. And the after birth. Just no

 

Don't tell me that they are building their own world and then give them money to buy stuff, a phone to call people on and medical staff who are on hand to handle all problems. This is adult camp with a small survival element to it.

[PityFree]

I watched out of morbid curiosity. I am sad that I did so.

 

Anyhoo, remember the Biosphere? It wasn't a show, but a demonstration project for science. People (actual scientists) were supposed to live in a self-contained environment and grow their own food, recycle their waste, etc. while they were observed from outside. It was to learn how a colony at a space station or on Mars might work. It failed - the people were half-starved and the people running the experiment had to bring in outside food, etc. This reminds me of a budget version of that.

Edited September 8, 2014 by PityFree

[piewarmer]

A chicken tractor is a thing, and certainly can work for clearing, fertilizing and tilling soil (my chickens can easily dig six inches down in my very heavy clay soil if they want to set up a dust bath area) but it takes some time.

 

I was trying to understand why everyone is so angry. They have shelter and food (maybe not as much as they'd like) and water.

 

Dan Piraro is a fine cartooninst and he has a great voice but his is a very distracting look for a reality TV host. At one point we were arguing about whether his soil patch was shaped like pi rather than listening to what he was saying.

[Palomar]

Like others have said.....horrible casting! There are only a handful of people that I can tolerate and that is a long way from anyone being interesting enough to care about. I could barely get through this episode let alone watching for a year (is it really a year?) Too much rudeness and yelling and people on edge....doesn't bode well for building a society, let alone Utopia.  

[Primetimer]

Is Utopia a bold social experiment, or Kid Nation for grown-ups? Here's a hint: there aren't many grown-ups.

Read the story

[ProfCrash]

I would say about 2/3 of the people are reasonable the problem is the 1/3 who are not because they are going to drive everything that happens. Red and Dave seem to be the main hot heads, Contractor when he has booze and Aaron when he is really pissed off. Bella is going to be a know it all pain in the ass. The rest seem to be fine on their own it is more when they have to respond to the three pains in the ass that there are issues.

 

I can understand why the Pastor (Jon?) is uncomfortable, there are women and men running around doing things he finds sinful. I liked his explanation to Hex, he did much of that himself when he was younger so he understands the drive to drink and run naked and hook up and all of that. It is part of why he is uncomfortable, he might be worried that being surrounded by such behavior will make it easier for him to relapse. Toss in that he now feels he has been saved and he wants to spread the word of God and save others and he is hella uncomfortable. How do you convince a bunch of 20 somethings to not act like they are not at a college party?

 

To be fair, most of the younger crowd seems to be working and interested in contributing. They seem to be thoughtful in their conversation. But we are not going to see much outside of the drinking, hooking up and response to the few nut jobs because that is what is dramatic. Hex had a good conversation with Jon that they aired, I find that far more interesting then Red and his tantrum over, really, nothing.

 

So, we are going to see the people who are attention whores being attention whores and the people who are legitimately interested in trying to make things work are going to be ignored except when they blow up at the attention whores. Which sucks because it would be more interesting to see how this works without the attention whores. Then again, I loved the PBS reality shows were people lived like the Pilgrims, end of the Victorian Era and the like. Those were awesome.

[Ceeg]

This show was a hot damn mess. And I went in knowing that it would be a hot damn mess (bc FOX), so I'm not like disappointed or annoyed or anything like that. There was more drama in those 2 hours than Big Brother has in an entire season. Fist fight, date rapeyness, multiple screaming matches, emotional breakdowns, alcohol poisoning, threats to leave, a hookup, a trial to banish a cast member. All in the first episode. I'm not above watching trashy tv, so I'll probably watch until it's cancelled, with popcorn in hand.

[Etta Place]

Well, the mix of questionably-motivated people to build a new society has been done before, and it failed in large part because of that (Robert Owen in the early 1800s). From Wikipedia: "Neither project was a proper experiment; their members were very motley, mixing many worthy people of the highest aims with vagrants, adventurers, and crotchety, wrongheaded enthusiasts, or in the words of Owen's son "a heterogeneous collection of radicals, enthusiastic devotees to principle, honest latitudinarians, and lazy theorists, with a sprinkling of unprincipled sharpers thrown in.""

 

So it sounds like this was the model Fox followed for casting.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Etta Place