Scripted ‘reality’ show passes our critic’s muster

Independence Day is upon us and TV, like most of America, is off doing something else.

Many regular series have checked out for the long weekend; rerun marathons take up some of the time, and the “Gone Fishing” sign has been hung out.

Let’s use the time to catch up with a nifty new drama that debuted Monday on NBC and slipped in under my radar because I initially dismissed it as just another cheesy summer reality show. I was asleep at the wheel. My bad.

Episode 2 of Siberia airs at 9 p.m. Monday. The series begins as another formulaic reality show. But it’s a faux reality show. Siberia turns out to be a scripted drama - a horror series - disguised as a reality show.

Here’s the scoop. There are 16 international contestants who run the gamut of typical characters cast for their drama and diversity. As with any number of extreme reality shows, they are dropped off (along with a camera crew) in a remote corner of the world with just the clothes on their backs.

We have all the cliched reality dialogue with which we are overly familiar. Statements such as “I didn’t come here to make friends” and “Being nice is OK, but it isn’t going to get you the prize” accompany bickering over who gets which bed and who isn’t helping make a fire.

In this case, the location is the remote Siberian territory of Tunguska. All you astronomy and history geeks will know that is where the largest meteor strike in recorded history occurred in 1908. The event leveled 830 square miles of the Krasnoyarsk forest. That makes the location extra spooky.

The contest has “no games; no rules” and the only way out is to forfeit and go home. The goal on the fake reality show is to survive the coming harsh Arctic winter at an abandoned fur-trappers camp. Those who make it to the end will split $500,000.

All appears to be going along as expected until we learn “what happens when a reality show goes terribly wrong.” Terribly, terribly wrong.

The first inkling that this is not a typical survival show is when one of the cameramen stumbles into camp bleeding badly and one of the contestants dies “accidentally” in the woods.

Viewers get to see the raw footage. It was not an accident.

Uh, oh.

Slowly the contestants realize that the strange stuff happening to them is not part of the show.

There are horrifying growls in the woods at night and not all the contestants may be what they seem to be.

Want to forfeit? The red emergency call button at the helicopter landing site turns out to be just for show.

A drama disguised as a reality show. What a concept. Think of it as Lost meets Survivor.

Siberia’s premise is clever, the action compelling and the characters (played by actors you probably won’t recognize) interesting.

If you missed the first episode, you can catch up by watching it at NBC.com. I plan to add the show to my summer DVR list.

Siberia is rated TV-14 for language and violence.

Fireworks. A reminder about A Capitol Fourth. The music and fireworks begin at 7 p.m. today on AETN.

If you want even more, record Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, 7-9 p.m. today on NBC. Musical guests include Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw.

Or you can see the fireworks live at Pops on the River in Little Rock’s Riverfront Park. The music starts at 6:30 p.m., with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra taking over at 8:30. A full half hour of “Made in the USA” fireworks (in honor of Pops’ 30th anniversary) will burst over the river around 9:30.

TV marathons. Regular programming is on hold on USA while crime busters take over in a “Stars, Stripes and Badges” marathon.

From 5 a.m. today until 3 a.m. Friday, NCIS will roll. Episode after episode after episode.

At 5 a.m. Friday, Law & Order: SVU takes over and runs until midnight. The series returns at 8 a.m. Saturday and goes to 1 a.m. Sunday.

Burn Notice and Graceland will return with new episodes July 11.

Burn offs. For those few who were watching the programs, ABC continues to burn off the unseen episodes of Zero Hour and 666 Park Avenue at 7 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

Both shows began with great promise last season. Zero Hour, starring Anthony Edwards, imploded and was canned after three episodes. The premiere was the lowest rated for a scripted series in the history of ABC.

666 Park Avenue, featuring Vanessa Williams and Terry O’Quinn, lasted a few more episodes before falling to low ratings.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: [email protected]