By Ray Richmond
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox's "Forever Eden" is for those who find "The Real World" a bit too intellectually challenging.
It's "Real World" if you remove any pretense whatsoever of natural human interaction and replace it with stilted, ultra-superficial yammering among a group of twentysomethings who probably haven't opened a book since, oh, the first grade. The network bills it as a "groundbreaking" event, TV's "first open-ended unscripted soap opera," because we all know how long we've been clamoring for one of those. It's actually more of a "dope opera," but perhaps that's quibbling over semantics.
We learn at the outset from our sultry and British-accented host, Ruth England, that this is "a reality show . . . without an end." As if that alone weren't sufficient to send us scurrying for an antidepressant, we see the group of 11 contestants living and cavorting together in this prefab, quasi-"Survivor" tropical paradise simply aren't very interesting. Not that they were hired for their brains and conversational skills, of course. The six women and five men (ranging in age from 21-28) spend an inordinate amount of time strutting and preening in this very mock Garden of Eden.
The idea here is that they'll live together without material possessions, having no contact with the outside world, and armed only with their, uh, smarts. They could theoretically be there for weeks, months, even years, though one imagines Fox might quit supporting them once the show gets yanked. Whenever one attractive hardbody is eliminated, another takes his or her place. They work to accrue as many gold coins as possible while swimming, sunning, sexing, socializing and sniping. Apples materialize, embodying either good or evil. And serpent imagery abounds. It's all very ridiculous, particularly in tandem with the ever-inane suspense music.
In the first hour of this week's two-night premiere, we "overhear" all manner of chatter and interplay, most of which is uncommonly brainless. Mary, described as a "former" sports club manager (apparently it was just too tough), remarks that she's never really spoken to a black person before. (Ooh, racism alert!) That pretty much casts her on the outs with everybody from the get-go, though her abundant chest proves something of a mitigating factor.
"Forever Eden" feels very much like a reality show parody, one in which the greatest sin is a disinterest in partying. The players include a country singer, a radio DJ, a pro cheerleader, a fitness model, a student and a waiter, but being in Eden seems to have the curious effect of reducing everyone's ability to think independently. There is a "banishment temple" and snakes slithering on pool tables because, well, that's how it must have been for Adam and Eve, you know?
How these people can hang together without guffawing at the absurdity of it all proves the show's most curious aspect. Maybe they actually do question its seriousness. But with 21 (count 'em, 21) editors listed in the credits, any genuine action or emotion in "Forever Eden" is no doubt quickly homogenized into oblivion.
Executive producers: Tom Gutteridge, Arthur Smith, Charles Thompson, Bruce Toms, Kent Weed; Senior producers: Heidi Dahmen, Jacquie Dincauze, Cynthia Hubach, Omid Kahangi, Jack Poorman; Producers: Dave Pullano, Paulina Williams, Matt Odgers, Jordan Beck, Shannon Vandermark, Cherie Marquez, Marci Klein, Dawn Ostlund, Pam Berger, Jon Crowley; Based on an original idea by: Howard Davidson, Phil Roberts; Consulting producers: Bob Kirsh, Glenn Taylor; Segment producers: Billy Cooper, Sarah Kane, Andrew Davis; Set designer: Bruce Hollister; Art director: Kimberly A. Richey; Editors: Kabir Akhtar, Jordan Browne, A.J. Dickerson, Barry L. Gold, Shawn Gutierrez, Wilfredo Hernandez, Finian Johnson, Michael Klein, Andy Kozar, Spiro Lampros, Marc Markley, Brian Philips, Jennifer Read, Brad Shreiber, Jason Thompson, Marshall Wolf, Cody Chavez, Daniel Esparza, Ione Soyangco, Debra Weinfeld, Josh Young; Music: David Vanacore; Casting: Sheila Conlin, Katy Wallin. Host: Ruth England.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter |
