The indefatigable William Shatner is about to embark on a Red Planet mission, or at least a simulated one.
Fox is heating up summertime television by approving a full season of the sci-fi reality series, “Stars on Mars,” a celebrity-fueled unscripted show spotlighting “Star Trek” luminary William Shatner in a host-style role, according to Variety (opens in new tab). This extra-planetary series will premiere in June and is centered around Earthly entertainment stars as they slip on spacesuits to reside inside a colony habitat designed to simulate environments that a Mars astronaut might encounter on a future mission.
“Stars on Mars” will launch on Monday, June 5, at 8 p.m. exclusively on Fox. This intriguing show arrives from the creative folks at Fremantle’s Eureka Productions and follows this crew of celebrity contestants competing in the Mars-ish setting with Shatner handing out certain tasks and commands to the stars from a simulated Mission Control until only one “celebronaut” remains standing.
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“The moment I heard the pitch for ‘Stars on Mars,’ I knew a show this bold, this big and this outlandish simply belonged on Fox,” said Fox unscripted programming president Allison Wallach in a press statement, Variety reported. “Watching celebrities take giant leaps out of their comfort zone and step into the unexpected will no doubt be truly transformational and comical. Throughout, we will learn a lot about these stars, and when you factor in William Shatner leading the charge from Mission Control, we have the makings of a show that’s ready for blast off.”
Here’s the official description of this far-out Martian free-for-all:
The show will open with the celebrities living together as they live, eat, sleep, strategize, and bond with each other in the same space station. During their stay, they will be faced with authentic conditions that simulate life on Mars, and they must use their brains and brawn – or maybe just their stellar social skills – to outlast the competition and claim the title of brightest star in the galaxy. The celebrities will compete in missions and will vote to eliminate one of their crewmates each week, sending them back to Earth.
Cue the intergalactic alliances and rivalries. “Stars on Mars” will send these famous rookie space travelers where no one has gone before and reveal who has what it takes to survive life on Mars.
Eureka Productions’ Chris Culvenor conceived this clever “Stars on Mars” concept and will act as executive producer alongside Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and Eden Gaha. Charles Wachter is aboard the project as executive producer and showrunner.
“Stars on Mars” will premiere on Fox on June 5, 2023.
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