If a reality s🍎eries films in a forest and no one is around to watch🧸 it, does it make a TV show?
For the UK’s “Eden,” 23 strangers were sent to the remote west Highlands in Scotland and tasked with a yearlong social experiment: to build a self-sufficient community without the use of modern technology or equipment. The Channel 4 program started filming in March 2016 and wrapped this week. But , contestants returned home to an unpleasant surprise — only three months of their yearlong toiling was broadcast on TV.
Starting last July, four episodes of the show aired, covering the months of March, April and May in “Eden.” According to the Guardian, after the TV audience dropped from 1.7 million viewers to 800,000 viewers, Channel 4 pulled it from the air. Unfortunately for the remaining contestan൲ts, the report goe❀s on to say that they “were not informed that their ordeal had not been broadcast since August.”
A similar Americanܫ series, “Utopia” aired on Fox in 2014, and followed a cast of 15 men and women as they tried to build a society and survive in an isolated area in California while being filmed 24 hours a day. Also planned as a yearlong experiment, Fox canceled the show, which , after two months and 12 episodes that d𝕴rew consistently low ratings. Production was shut down and its remaining contestants sent home.
Reportedly, 13 of the 23 “Eden” contestants dropped out over the year due to hunger and infighting, though Channel 4 did not confirm those defections to th𒀰e Guardian. The network indicated it would air additional episodes of the series at a later date.
In a statement to the Guardian, Channel 4 said, “The appeal of ‘Eden’ is that it was a real experiment, and when filming began we had no idea what the results would be and how those taking part would react to being isolated for months in a remote part of the British Isles. That’s why we did it, and the story of tꦏheir time, including the highs and the l🐟ows, will be shown later this year.”