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NBC has teamed
with "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett to announce
"Destination Mir," a reality adventure drama series for
the 2001-02 season. The network, owned by GE, has agreed to pay
nearly US$40 million for the series rights. The US$35
million-to-US$40 million price tag includes the nearly US$20 million
which will include the launch and time-on orbit visiting the Russian
space station, Mir. NBC hasn't actually scheduled the series yet,
although it is expected that NBC is aiming for a fall 2001 premiere,
with the actual launch into space taking place by early 2002,
probably during a sweeps month.
The 13 to 15
episodes will follow several American civilians who will undergo
Russian cosmonaut training. The "Ultimate Prize" is for
the winner to launch into space for a visit to Mir. The series deal
was brokered by Burnett's manager, Conrad Riggs and Lois Scali of
the law firm Irell & Manella. Production of the series will be
coordinated with MirCorp. Burnett had originally pitched the idea of
partnering on this show with NASA. NASA decided that a partnership
in a game show might not be the best use of taxpayer dollars and
took a pass.
The
"Destination Mir" series will open with a two-hour
premiere introducing viewers to a diverse cast of at least a dozen
American civilians who will assemble to train for the mission at
Star City, a cosmonaut training facility located near Moscow. Each
week, one participant will be eliminated from training and will be
sent home by Russian space officials. In the live two-hour
conclusion, the finalists will be assembled on the launch platform.
The winner will board a Soyuz spacecraft that will launch for a trip
to the Mir space station. The winner will enter the Soyuz vehicle
and viewers will watch as he or she travels into space. Following
the launch, NBC will continue coverage on the winner and will follow
their journey, the visit onboard Mir and the eventual return to
Earth. As part of its package with Burnett, NBC will also broadcast
an hour-long documentary on businessman Dennis Tito, the first
tourist who will fly to Mir, who
has started training for his commercial spaceflight to Mir next
year.
All four major
television networks in the U.S., ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, had
expressed interest in the show, but only NBC ended up willing to
both pay for the rights to the show and agree to a profit-sharing
deal with Burnett for advertising that will air during the show.
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