Stone Stanley Entertainment, little known outside the industry, gets to take a bite out of reality programming this week. The production company, which primarily makes game, variety and reality-driven shows, premieres two shows, “The Mole” on ABC and “Popstars” on the WB.
It’s all part of the jostling for position within one of television’s hottest programming niches — pioneered by CBS’ “Survivor” last year — as the industry anticipates the debut of CBS’ “Survivor: The Australian Outback” at the end of the month.
Also catching the wave is “Temptation Island,” which premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on WFLD-Ch. 32. It offers the feel-good premise of several couples finding how strong their relationships are as scads of hard and soft bodies are thrown their way in an effort to make them stray.
“`Temptation Island’ has got sleaze, trash and huge hit written all over it,” says Robert J. Thompson of Syracuse University.
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“There’s something about what it’s promising which is so deliciously prurient, and at the same time, I suppose, relevant to modern America, this little tale of Faust or of Dante.”
Less salacious is “The Mole,” which offers 10 people (including Kathryn, a 28-year-old woman from Illinois; the show has not relased the contestants’ last names or hometowns) working to complete a series of tasks for a million-dollar prize while also trying to figure out which of them is undermining their efforts. The buzz is it, too, could be another “Survivor.”
Premiering at 7 p.m. Tuesday on WLS-Ch. 7, the program, which is set for nine episodes and is based on a Belgium game show, requires its contestants to work together to complete several physical and psychological challenges, a la “Survivor.” (Here, they’re called “tests,” and they’re performed at locations around the world.)
But those tests are secondary to the main mission: To figure out which of their number is out to undermine their efforts. At the end of each episode, the participants are given a quiz, and the one who knows the least information about the Mole is sent home.
“You’re not there to make friends. You’re there to win,” says Steven, one of the gamers, in a promo for the series.
“Popstars,” on the other hand, is far removed from the gaming aspect of “The Mole,” but the stakes are arguably much higher.
Premiering Friday with an hour-long episode at 8 p.m. on WGN-Ch. 9 (its regular time will be from 7:30 to 8 p.m.), the search is on for young women who could become the next Spice Girls or Destiny’s Child. The premise sounds a lot like ABC’s “Making the Band,” which tracks the development of a boy band.
Thompson, director for Syracuse’s Center for the Study of Popular Television, thinks “Popstars” may go over better than “Band” (ABC is producing another season for possible airing in the spring) because, “I think it’s easier to sell this myth with women than it is with a bunch of guys.”
During 13 “Popstars” episodes, thousands of participants from six cities — including Chicago — will be whittled down to just five, who will then work with voice and dance coaches, producers and others. The goal is to produce a CD, make an accompanying video, and perform in a concert.
Friday’s premiere, which goes to each city in search of Posh Spice wannabes, shows how people can be transformed into television characters, as certain girls are given mini-profiles designed to provide them with back stories and personalities:
Kerri Roberts, 19, is described as a vocal major at the University of Miami with an “angelic” voice that she has used to perform in church since she was 5.
Jean Perlman, 19, is a pre-med student at Columbia University in New York who could drop those plans in favor of stardom — much to the chagrin of her mother, who has worked hard to send her to school.
Karen Perez, 28, of Oak Forest, may have “the best voice in the whole group” of those who auditioned with her in Chicago, according to one judge, but another who thinks otherwise is incredulous at the notion of asking her to return for a callback performance.
“What we’re doing is actually going and finding people that are entertaining and interesting to watch, and are in interesting situations,” says David Stanley, who with partner Scott Stone formed Stone Stanley in 1990.
Those situations are, in many cases, not unlike a dramatic TV show such as “Fame.” But as “Survivor” has proven, it is more interesting to peep in on real people, knowing they’re not actors who are playing parts.
Of course, having the magnetism of a Richard Hatch helps.
“The only thing that’s significantly different about these shows in terms of what makes them work and what doesn’t make them work . . . is that these aren’t scripted. They still have to have great characters and great stories,” Stanley says.
Of the two Stone Stanley series, “The Mole” is expected to generate the most buzz because of its correlation to “Survivor” and being on ABC, which has a larger audience than the WB.
“You’re going to have these really classy, well-done, high-budget things like `The Mole’ and `Survivor,’ and these probably have always got the best bet of getting the best audience,” Thompson says.
ABC is hoping it generates as much interest as that CBS hit from last summer. ABC maximized the possibility by moving the Tuesday edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” — which had some of the highest ratings of its four nights on the air — to Friday so “The Mole” could have a choice spot.
The show should be enticing for no other reason than there are different elements going on besides several strangers completing a bunch of tasks.
“I think it’s a lot smarter than `Survivor,'” says Anderson Cooper, who is host for the show. “I think the game itself is far more compelling. It’s a game that is at times physical, at times psychological. But it’s a complex game.”
Unlike “Survivor,” however, “The Mole” can only go so far with the notion of alliances, notes Cooper, who quit his job as a correspondent for ABC News to front the show.
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“It’s a game where deception is everywhere. You really don’t know who to trust,” Cooper says. “And it has the extra layer that one of them is a saboteur. And so it really becomes the overriding focus of the game, trying to figure out who the saboteur is.”
“The Mole” and “Popstars” should increase the visibility of Stone Stanley Entertainment, which has created a stable of varied shows over the last 11 years. It also produces Comedy Central’s irreverent male-chauvinist fest “The Man Show” and “Loveline,” MTV’s recently canceled TV version of a radio relationship talk show.
Among the game shows the company has produced are “Shop ’til You Drop” for the Family Channel (which is now Fox Family Channel) and later for Pax-TV, Fox Family’s “I Can’t Believe You Said That!” and “Winning Lines,” CBS’ failed attempt to capitalize on the game show boom that was generated by “Millionaire.”