Think you’ve had enough of the dating shows and competition series?
NBC doesn’t think so, with their latest unscripted effort, Love in the Wild, mixing love and survival all in one. The hourlong, which premieres June 1, centers on 10 single men and 10 single women who attempt to find love deep in a Costa Rican jungle. Really.
The panelists didn’t hold back when discussing its predecessors, like the long-running The Bachelor and Survivor.
“My understanding of The Bachelor is that it takes a very romantic, fluffy [version] of relationships” and it isn’t real, host Darren McMullen told reporters at NBCU’s summer press day in Pasadena on Friday. “This show is putting people in real-life situations and seeing if they can work together as teams.”
And unlike Survivor, which eliminates a member of a tribe (sometimes more) at the end of each episode based on a vote, or The Amazing Race, which axes the last team who arrives at a destination, the eliminated contestants aren’t based on where they finish, McMullen says.
“It’s not about starving or depriving people,” chairman of Endemol North America David Goldberg told reporters about the show’s concept.
Goldberg, along with McMullen and executive producer Tom Shelly, noted the legitimacy of the relationships formed on Love in the Wild. “We think three or four of these couples are legitimate couples,” Goldberg told reporters, when asked about the low success rates for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
“If you’re really looking for love, this is the show to be on,” he said.
Email: philiana.ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
