New Alternate-Reality Series ...

[Dave Monroe]

NEW ALTERNATE-REALITY SERIES PUTS 12 STRANGERS ON
ISLAND WHERE SOUTH WON CIVIL WAR

The Onion, Vol. 39, Issue 34, 3 December 2003

LOS ANGELES—CBS executives announced Monday that they
have begun filming Antebellum Island, a new "alternate
reality" series in which 12 strangers compete for $1
million while isolated on an island still under
Confederate rule.

"Set to air in the spring of 2004, Antebellum Island
gives us the unique opportunity to play with both
social dynamics and recorded history," CBS Chairman
Leslie Moonves said. "The contestants on Antebellum
Island will spend 60 days braving the elements, each
other, and the unfamiliar customs and practices of a
21st-century Confederate States of America—all for a
chance to win a cool million."

Added Moonves: "That's one million in Union dollars,
of course!"

Moonves said contestants will be isolated on a
sun-drenched tropical island, where they will
participate in competitions designed to emphasize
teamwork and interpersonal friction in the rigidly
stratified alternate-universe society.

[...]

"When we were brainstorming this show, we knew we
wanted an eclectic cast and an exotic locale," said
Matt Davies, executive producer of Antebellum Island.
"But none of the ideas were clicking as 'reality plus
totally new'—until someone said, 'Hey, no one's done a
show set in an America where the Union army lost, and
Jefferson Davis replaced Lincoln as president.' We
knew we had a winner."

Davies said CBS also seriously considered another
alternate-reality series called The Man In The High
Castle In The Outback, in which 12 women would compete
for the love of a Jewish man hiding in Australia under
an assumed name because the Allies lost WWII to Nazi
Germany. Ultimately, executives deemed the scenario
less likely to engage the average American viewer than
the post-Civil-War alternate reality. 

[...]

Contestant auditions for Antebellum Island were held
in Washington, DC, and Richmond, VA. Interviewees were
asked such questions as: "Do you consider yourself
fun-loving and up for new challenges?" "Do you believe
women should be given the vote?" and "Do you reckon
Dred Scott shoulda been hung from the highest tree?"

"We have a good mix of people for our first cast—all
colors and creeds," Davies said. "On this show, as you
might imagine, diversity is especially crucial. We
plan to break the participants into two 'families,'
the Masons and the Dixons." ...

http://theonion.com/3947/news1.html

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