As if Louisiana doesn't have enough to deal with when it comes to its image, here comes the CW network with a reality TV show set in the Louisiana bayous which premieres tonight. In 13 - Fear is Real, the excruciatingly beautiful contestants are all vying for $66,666, a supposedly demonic figure, and the contenders on the show are eliminated in an "execution ceremony." (Hey Network TV Geniuses: brush up on your Bible. The Number of the Beast is 666. Now that would have be a show worth watching, people acting scared for the chance at $666.)
But before the show even airs, it looks as if it's already tanking, with less than stellar reviews from The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and USA Today. The Hollywood Reporter writes:
In Wednesday's opening installment of this unintentionally hilarious rope-a-dope, we learn that the real people present are terrible actors, world-class vapid or both. They're said to be pitted against one another in situations culled from bad horror-movie scripts while a mock-scary voice chides them for being lame and cowardly.
We're supposed to feel their fear when they're left dangling in the dark by themselves, save for the fact we know there is least one cameraman and a sound guy -- and certainly a producer and probably a craft-services caterer or two -- hanging nearby.