Producer Mark Burnett created the "Eco-Challenge" way back in 1992, running the first such race/TV show in southern Utah before taking it to countries across the globe for both staging and screening. All this with relatively little notice in the United States until this year.
What happened? Well, maybe it has something to do with that other show Burnett created and produces — a little something called "Survivor."
This year, "Eco-Challenge" will look more like "Survivor" as it moves from one cable channel to another — from Discovery to USA.
(Parts 1-4 air Sunday-Wednesday at 6 p.m. on USA; Part 5 airs Wednesday at 7 p.m.)
"Moving 'Eco-Challenge' to USA has given me the opportunity to cut (it) more as a drama versus a documentary, which it was on Discovery," Burnett said. "And this is every bit as good as my other reality series."
There are similarities between the two — "regular" people in exotic locales facing various challenges. The two shows employed the same crews, the same producers, the same editors, the same style.
"We shot it and cut it in the same way — like a drama," Burnett said. "It's not about the race, it's about the people's experience during the race. And the race is a backdrop."
But there are differences as well. "One's a contrived TV show and one is pure reality, because nothing is contrived about 'Eco-Challenge,' " Burnett said.
And there's not plotting or back-stabbing on "Eco-Challenge."
"Success or failure depends mainly on the interpersonal team dynamics of being good or bad much more than it depends upon physicality or technicality," he said. "And that, of course, creates great human drama, which in turn creates great television."
"Eco-Challenge" is an "expedition race" in which 77 four-man (or four-woman or some combination thereof) teams race nonstop, 24 hours a day over a 300-mile course in rugged Borneo — jungle trekking, white-water kayaking, caving, sea kayaking, scuba diving, mountaineering and mountain biking. In addition to the terrain, they face weather extremes and even leeches.
"The show is really about ordinary people going beyond their limits and doing extraordinary things," Burnett said. "The race is the race. The race would be exactly the same with or without the TV."
Burnett said he has been eager to move the show to USA for years — his first discussions with the cable network were in 1995. "I got out of my Discovery contract and moved it immediately," he said.
And the show will definitely be different on USA.
"It's a matter of opinion. For me, it's much better television," Burnett said. "I like dramatic storytelling. That's what I'm interested in. Somebody watching Discovery likes to be educated. And so you're not going to find out in this show how tall the trees are and how long they took to grow and the oxygen created by the rainforest and the balance on the Earth, which is interesting stuff to some people. It's not really what I wanted to do.
"This is a human story, so, for my taste, it's better television."
The TV show concentrates on the travels and travails of six or eight teams, featuring contestants who range from a middle-aged cancer survivor to a team that features three women who posed for Playboy centerfolds.
Burnett said it was his idea to include the centerfold team because he didn't like that previous "Eco-Challenges" were "always about testosterone and tough guys. And I've learned through seven Eco-Challenges that women are far, far tougher than men."
And the race can indeed prove to be dangerous — one contestant in Borneo impaled himself on a tree branch, punctured a lung and had to be airlifted out for medical treatment. "That's the worst accident ever," Burnett said. "That was that guy's fault, by the way. There was a sign saying, 'Get off and walk your bike,' and he chose to go and ride anyway."
Burnett said the budget for "Eco-Challenge" is "so much bigger" than the budget for "Survivor," adding that they "spend every penny making sure it's as safe as possible." Expenses include staffing doctors and nurses and paramedics and emergency helicopters and planes to carry out any contestant who's injured.
"But I don't want to sanitize this thing. Then it's not real anymore and it's a waste of time. . . . If somebody died, it's still worth it to me because 'Eco-Challenge' is pure expedition. It's not done for TV at all," said Burnett, who did allow that, in the event a contestant actually was killed, he would suspend the race and re-evaluate his safety and emergency procedures.
And the guru of reality TV thinks he'll be producing "Eco-Challenge" long after the "Survivor" phenomenon burns itself out.
"In the year 2020, I'll still be doing Eco-Challenge," he said. "I don't think I'll be doing 'Survivor' at that time. 'Survivor' is a great TV show . . . but 'Eco's' my love. It means a lot to me. It will never have the ratings, obviously, of 'Survivor.' It's a different kind of thing. It's totally different. And I love them both. But 'Eco's' my passion project."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com