NBC is one of the big three broadcast networks without a massive reality series with contestants living in the game, compared to ABC with the sometimes troublesome Bachelor Nation and CBS with Survivor and large Brother.
That seemed to vary back in March when news broke that the network was performing on a show called Million Dollar Island, which might center on contestants building alliances while living on a desert island to win a cash prize.
However, it seems that Million Dollar Island is no Survivor, as NBC has given it the axe.
Deadline
NBC had given Million Dollar Island an early ax, as Deadline reports it was still in the casting stage when it was canceled.
No official reason for the cancellation before production has been announced at the time of writing, but the outlet further reports that the series budget likely factored into the choice.
It was expected to premiere in midseason or summer of next year.
While the budget contributing to the cancellation hasn’t been confirmed, it’s not hard to believe that Million Dollar Island would have a high price tag.
The show would feature 100 contestants who had to plot to remain on a remote desert island for 50 days and was described by the network as “a high-stakes social experiment.”
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1 Million Dollar Prize
While the island setting draws comparisons to CBS Survivor, this show wouldn’t have given one winner the full grand prize. The contestants would compete to win their share of a $1 million prize.
They might start the game with a bracelet worth $10,000, and their total would increase and reduce depending on bracelets gained and lost. Whenever somebody left the island, they might give their portion of the $1 million to somebody still in the running.
In a way, Million Dollar Island almost seems like Big Brother set on a Survivor island, with its twist on the prize.
Between the sheer number of contestants, the $1 million prize, and the likely challenges of filming a show on a desert island, this seems like it would have been a very expensive show to produce when it wasn’t guaranteed ratings win for the network.
Million Dollar Island supported a Dutch format, and NBC’s initial announcement about its development came just weeks before the premiere of the yank Song Contest as a U.S.-based version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Although the new music competition series received plenty of buzzes and had some very big names on board with Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg as competitive co-hosts, it wasn’t a runaway hit within the ratings and hasn’t been renewed or canceled yet, quite two months after the grand final in early May.
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With the top of Million Dollar Island, before it began, NBC still won’t have reality series like Survivor, Big Brother, or the varied entries in Bachelor Nation with contestants living in the game. That’s not to say that the network has no success stories in reality television.
However, because the Voice continues to be a huge hit with each new season, America’s Got Talent, with its golden buzzers, may be a staple of summer primetime.
Now that Million Dollar Island isn’t moving forward at NBC, the time is true to look ahead to the shows that already have their spots in primetime (including the network’s six of TV’s nine Dick Wolf dramas) in the coming months. take a look at our 2022 TV premiere schedule to start planning.
