SURVEY SAYS: CHANGE THE CHANNEL ON NEW REALITY SHOW.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE TV Critic IT'S CALLED ``Under One Roof,'' but you'll be thinking ``Survivor'' all the way through - even the music and opening title sequence have been airlifted directly from Marquesas. The prize is exotic but not terribly practical and probably not all that pricey - a ``Polynesian dream home.'' Five families vie for the prize by, basically, living together tediously a la ``Big Brother'' and engaging in the usual obstacle-course challenges. Mark Burnett, if nothing else, is a showman, and ``Survivor'' at least earns its drama, as hokey hok·ey adj. hok·i·er, hok·i·est Slang 1. Mawkishly sentimental; corny. 2. Noticeably contrived; artificial. hok as it can be. ``Under One Roof'' seems to think viewers will care what's happening purely due to it being of the reality genre. We're at the island of Koro, Fiji; host Rob Nelson (who looks like he was cast out from his gig as an MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. VJ, ``Logan's Run''-like, when he turned 21) introduces the families, who, for the record, are the Paganis, McRaes, Skofields, Distels and Hatmakers. In their brief introductions, we hear that one patriarch has a ``confidence that borders on arrogance''; another doesn't ``believe in failure''; a mom declares, ``I'm extremely competitive.'' You know: standard reality-series boilerplate A phrase or body of text used verbatim in different documents such as a signature at the end of a letter. Boilerplate is widely used in the legal profession as many paragraphs are used over and over in agreements with little modification or no modification. . One family has decreed appearing on ``Under One Roof'' ``forced family fun'' (well, for them, maybe; not for us) - you get the idea there's not a lot of jollity jol·li·ty n. pl. jol·li·ties Convivial merriment or celebration. jollity Noun the condition of being jolly Noun 1. in that household if the kids are being ordered when to enjoy themselves. The Hatmakers are noteworthy because Pop is deceased, replaced by a burly guy who can't seem to walk along a beach for a kilometer without breaking out into the cold sweats. This development is played for high drama. It's not that dramatic. Once the families reach the house where they will spend 21 days getting into each other's faces, the adults immediately start bickering bick·er intr.v. bick·ered, bick·er·ing, bick·ers 1. To engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrel; squabble. See Synonyms at argue. 2. over territory - seems there are only four bedrooms for five families. It's obviously very petty and immature, and later, the kids get together and start yakking about their contentious parents. ``I think there's gonna be a lot of conflicts,'' observes one genius, apparently just now absorbing the precepts of reality television. UNDER ONE ROOF - One and one half stars What: Reality contest pitting families against one another to win a ``Polynesian dream home.'' Where: UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation (Channel 13). When: 8 tonight. |
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