Whoever came up with the concept for BBCAmerica’s first reality-competition series (at least, I don’t remember any such shows on the network previously), Shipwrecked must’ve been listening to complaints about the similarly-themed Survivor.

Shipwrecked is, essentially, Survivor turned upside-down. It starts with ten people divided into two “tribes” living on nearby islands attempting to rough it without (many) modern luxuries. However, the game doesn’t focus on eliminations but instead adds to the cast every week. Both tribes have a week to convince the new arrival to join their side and the winning team is the one who has the most members.

So unlike Survivor being able to find food and build shelter is a good thing that doesn’t make your “teammates” want to eliminate you for being too threatening. It’s an interesting concept and an interesting challenge for the show’s writers, as this type of show usually tightens it’s story as the cast gets smaller.

At the show opening, the class differences between the tribes are emphasized. The inhabitants of Tiger Island are working class, haven’t been to university and have left behind “trade” labor jobs like plumbing and construction. On Shark Island, the tribe members are all university educated. When they first arrive at their island, Tiger quickly gets to work at putting together shelter while the Shark tribe discusses construction of their shelter, trying to agree on how they’ll divide the tasks before they begin work. They never get far in the project, as they quickly get into a routine of giving up when it gets too hot and sunbathing for the rest of the day. At this point, it could feel like Survivor but the first new arrival finds the good things about the Sharks’ lifestyle (they don’t really have to worry about food or grooming, it seems, since we see them with tinned foods and disposable razors).

The game’s rules give the show a different dynamic, without eliminations there isn’t much need for backstabbing (though one player with ADD sabotages his team, seemingly just for the fun of it) and the tribes try their best to put on a happy face during their chance to entertain the new arrival, which limits the usual realty TV drama (though everyone starts bitching at each other after the guest is gone). Right now, Shipwrecked is just different enough to look interesting.

Supplemental tags: Shipwrecked