# Utopia - Season Premiere 9/7/2014 *spoilers*



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Interesting concept for a show. Could become very interesting. But so far the show seems to have relied too much on typical reality TV-type casting in order to create drama rather than actually trying to cast people who will build an interesting new society.

Josh made a really boneheaded move to get plastered on the first night, and he's a really bad drunk. But that seems to have humbled him and he was pretty level-headed the rest of the episode. Which is a good thing, because he was a cocky a**hole before that.

That NYC lawyer was on a major power trip when he was officiating the "trial" and handing down the sentence. Did he really pack a gavel in his personal effects? I would have been with the guys who said they wanted Josh to stay and then bailed outside. That whole thing was a complete farce.

The blonde survivalist lady is a complete kook. One minute she is trying to get Josh kicked off the show and a couple hours later she's flirting with him like crazy.

That whole fight between Red and Aaron was nonsensical. Aaron didn't feel comfortable cooking the dead chicken for the whole group. Red was willing to prep it and cook it for himself and take the risk. I don't understand what caused the problem.

I can understand if the Pastor doesn't want to go near the lake when the ladies are skinny dipping, but was he saying that he couldn't go there at all when the ladies are there? If they were wearing swimsuits, would he still not be able to go near the lake?

Overall, I'm interested, but I sure hope that after these initial couple of days getting to know each other, the guys put their tempers away and start to figure out how to solve problems without yelling and being aggressive.


----------



## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I watched out of curiosity and kinda got hooked and now I think I have to see if I can get UN interested. If this is going to be on a couple of times a week for a year - that's too much TV.

They definitely did cast some crazies.


----------



## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

I guess I am just impressed with how CBS can keep getting good contestants for things like Survivor and The Amazing Race when everyone else seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. This was just awful.


----------



## ratatatcat (Jun 5, 2013)

Yeah, my kids and I watched the first half of Utopia live to let Big Brother pad and couldn't believe how horrible it was. My daughter said, "can we get those 30 minutes of our life back?" LOL!


----------



## dthmj (Mar 12, 2002)

I watched, and will watch it again - but I'm kinda leary of the time commitment. 

And I'm a little worried about the pregnant lady - what was she thinking? No prenatal care for the last trimester? What if she develops gestational diabetes? And doesn't appear they have much food. I would not put my unborn baby at risk for a reality show.

I liked Josh for about 10 seconds, and then he became a jerk. But after the "trial" he seemed to tone it way down.


----------



## DLiquid (Sep 17, 2001)

This was terrible. Survivor or Big Brother might cast one crazy person to make things interesting. In Utopia, it seems like everyone is crazy. Two adults throwing actual temper tantrums? Several people doing things so bad within the first couple of days that they need to apologize. And hey, they found the real life version of Laura Dern's annoying character from Enlightenment! The only thing entertaining about the show was the arguing, but the fights were so idiotic that it just left me feeling like I was wasting my life watching stupid people do stupid things. I imagine that is the same feeling I would get if I watched Honey Boo Boo. The production values seem really low for a network show. It was just bad, bad, bad. :down:


----------



## Silverman (Jan 18, 2013)

Jersey Shore with Snoopy, that's what to compare it to. Do they have free alcohol? Maybe that caused all the trouble like it did in the other show.


----------



## Tracy (Mar 12, 2000)

I didn't enjoy this episode but I like the concept so I will stick with it for a while at least. They should run out of alcohol soon unless that hillbilly guy starts making moonshine. Things should settle down once this initial euphoria wears off.


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Silverman said:


> Jersey Shore with Snoopy, that's what to compare it to. Do they have free alcohol? Maybe that caused all the trouble like it did in the other show.


Two (at least) jugs of wine, and somebody brought in a bottle of whiskey, which almost certainly caused the problems on the first night.


----------



## gschrock (Dec 28, 2001)

I remember looking through a list of who they had casted for the show beforehand and just kinda laughed when I was reading the descriptions, because I knew right then it was set up to be a disaster. It was pretty obvious that people were picked because they knew it would cause conflicts.

I ended up watching it because it came on the tv, and my wife got interested. I'm just hoping she loses interest quickly, because I can't see myself watching this much longer. Personally, I figure they're going to have to hit absolute rock bottom before there's any real chance of them pulling together to work together. There's already way too much conflict, and there's also an obvious group of younger people that seem to only want to laze around all day letting other people do the work (which, in fairness, seems to be pretty representative of a large section of their generation these days). 

The problem fox has is that if it ever gets to the point where they settle down and things start working, who on earth is going to want to watch that?


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

gschrock said:


> The problem fox has is that if it ever gets to the point where they settle down and things start working, who on earth is going to want to watch that?


Isn't that one of the reasons why they vote someone off each month and (supposedly) the viewers vote someone new to take that person's place?

As for why there were only 14, apparently the planned 15th contestant was sent home before they were sent to the location; before they were sent to the location, they were put up in hotels in isolation so they couldn't find out anything about the other 14 (for example, from the FoxFlash website, which named the 15 contestants), and she brought a cellphone in order to try and find out information about the other 14.

Here are the details on the disqualified participant:
Andrea Cox
38, single
Habitat of Origin: San Diego
Occupation: Raw vegan chef; detox expert
Skillset: Juicing _everything_
"I'm a Christian who drops the f-bomb," announces this detox diva, who would resort to cannibalism before killing or eating an animal. Utopians beware: "When I snap, I can be a little b*tchy and manipulating to get my way," the self-proclaimed born-again virgin warns.


----------



## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

There's so much about this show that annoys me, but the host really bugs me. There's not much of him, at least.

I'll watch for a bit to see if it gets any better because the new stuff seems at least a week or so away, but I'll pull the plug quicker on this that what I usually do.


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

JLucPicard said:


> There's so much about this show that annoys me, but the host really bugs me. There's not much of him, at least.


I thought the name was just a coincidence, but it's not; the host is the same Dan Piraro that draws the "Bizarro" comic strip. (Sorry that it only goes back 30 days, but it's a King Features Syndicate strip, and KFS wants you to pay something like $15/year for access to its strips that are older that that.)


----------



## chrispitude (Apr 23, 2005)

My wife and I were hoping for something intellectual and thoughtful, reasonable people that really tried to figure out how to make things work. We barely made it halfway through this train wreck of an episode before deleting both the episode and the season pass.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

1) Wow, these people are worse than the WORST "Real World" contestants, by FAR. (Even Puck was at least amusing.)
2) Annoying drunk people or annoying religious people.. Wow, that's really a hard choice...

How far have they already recorded, if you can get free 24 hour streaming now???

Bizarro writer.. Wow, I dislike him way less! That comic is hilarious.


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

I don't know what kind of utopia they're trying to create, but I can tell you, it's not gonna happen.

It can't happen - if they manage to actually work towards a functioning society, the show's ratings will drop because it becomes incredibly boring. So they picked 15 of the worst people designed to clash on every level because the only thing that gets ratings (and ad dollars) is conflict and drama.

Reminds me of a Simpsons episode when the Simpsons have to use equipment and live like the 19th century. Works until they figure out how to live and then the TV execs try to raise the falling ratings.

I think what we should be talking about is how long do we think it'll last. I say 2 months tops before something critical happens - run out of food, run out of water, run out of other critical resource, or they end up as 15 separate little fiefdoms.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

JLucPicard said:


> There's so much about this show that annoys me, but the host really bugs me.


Every time he came on the screen I just had to laugh. He looks like a cartoon version of a hipster. Like a real person couldn't possibly be that much of a hipster cliche, so they made a cartoon version to incorporate even more hipsterness.


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Worf said:


> I think what we should be talking about is how long do we think it'll last. I say 2 months tops before something critical happens - run out of food, run out of water, run out of other critical resource, or they end up as 15 separate little fiefdoms.


If you're talking about how long the show will last, I think it makes it the entire year, for two reasons; one, as pointed out on Entertainment Weekly Radio, Fox has too much money invested up front in this, and two, Fox has nothing better to show on Friday nights. However, I do see the show eventually going to one night a week, and that night being Friday.

There's always the possibility, especially if Mulaney crashes and burns, that Fox moves Brooklyn Nine-Nine back to Tuesdays, and has Utopia's second hour be on Sunday from 9 to 10, but that would mean moving Family Guy from 9:00 to 8:30, and if Fox wanted to do that, they would have done it this fall (with B99 being on at 9). Then again, I would not be a bit surprised if the Friday schedule ends up being:
8:00 - Utopia
9:00 - The Mindy Project (this is its third season, so almost certainly it will get renewed according to "the 'Til Death rule" - the producers will offer it to Fox at bargain basement rates to reach the 88 episodes they feel will be enough for syndication ("88 is the new 100"))
9:30 - Mulaney


----------



## Martha (Oct 6, 2002)

Is there a chance that this show is loosely scripted with a bunch of actors nobody's ever heard of - kind of like that show Siberia that came on last year?

Some of the people's reactions to stuff was so ridiculous I just didn't find it believable. 

The guy who went nuts over the dead chicken - personally, I would not eat a chicken that I found dead without knowing what killed it (just as the chef said), but would I stop some stranger from eating it when they insisted they wanted to? Absolutely not! 

There's too many "characters" and not enough real people for me to believe any of this is for real.


----------



## chrispitude (Apr 23, 2005)

Martha said:


> Is there a chance that this show is loosely scripted with a bunch of actors nobody's ever heard of - kind of like that show Siberia that came on last year?
> 
> Some of the people's reactions to stuff was so ridiculous I just didn't find it believable.
> 
> ...


I wondered the same thing.


----------



## whitson77 (Nov 10, 2002)

chrispitude said:


> I wondered the same thing.


Of course it is.

http://starcasm.net/archives/287039


----------



## Martha (Oct 6, 2002)

Oh well....I was going to give it one more week, but I guess I'm done. Wonder what they do when/if it gets cancelled?


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

mwhip said:


> I guess I am just impressed with how CBS can keep getting good contestants for things like Survivor and The Amazing Race when everyone else seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. This was just awful.


Probably because:
(a) Survivor and TAR give away decent cash prizes;
(b) Survivor, and, to a lesser extent, TAR are also already proven launchpads to entertainment careers;
(c) I heard somebody say that a Survivor winner actually originally applied to be on TAR, but the producers said that the person would be a better fit on Survivor, so there's quite a bit of selectiveness going on with those two shows.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

I am only up to the drunk idiot scene so far. As a concept, I like the idea of the show. I'd be aligning myself with the hillbilly handyman, the huntress, the ex-military chef, the yoga lady, and the prepper lady so far. They are going to have the skills to make living possible. A few others might be okay. The drunk guy would get a beat-down in the dark!


----------



## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

That Don Guy said:


> Probably because:
> (c) I heard somebody say that a Survivor winner actually originally applied to be on TAR, but the producers said that the person would be a better fit on Survivor, so there's quite a bit of selectiveness going on with those two shows.


I believe that was


Spoiler



Parvati


.


----------



## rimler (Jun 30, 2002)

I've decided this is Joe Schmo III, and the audience is the Schmo. These 14 people are too far over the top. Think of who you got. The multi accented drunk working on redemption. The criminal. The hot headed chef. The slut. The hillbilly. The religious guy. Various naked girls. The right winger. The left wingers.

On second thought, it's 15. The narrator dude is just as much a caricature as the character that Ralph Garman played.

I'm saying it now.


----------



## tem (Oct 6, 2003)

Did the "Prepper" really say that the "chicken tractor" was like a yoke that you attach to chickens and they till the ground with it ?

This sounded ridiculous to me though my wife seemed to think it was really "a thing". And sure enough, it is that at all. It's just a movable chicken coop w/o a bottom.

Again, I may have misheard -- did she really say that ?


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

tem said:


> Did the "Prepper" really say that the "chicken tractor" was like a yoke that you attach to chickens and they till the ground with it ?
> 
> This sounded ridiculous to me though my wife seemed to think it was really "a thing". And sure enough, it is that at all. It's just a movable chicken coop w/o a bottom.
> 
> Again, I may have misheard -- did she really say that ?


I didn't hear her say anything about attaching a yoke to the chickens. But based on her description, I got the impression that it was a box/cage that you put over the chickens and it has little tines protruding into the earth and the natural movement of the chickens will drag the cage along the ground and till up the earth. I guess it's the fact that she called it a "tractor" that gave me that impression. In reality, it's just the chickens pecking at the ground that does the "tilling," and you move the cage to a different location each day to get a different patch of ground "tilled."


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

That Don Guy said:


> If you're talking about how long the show will last, I think it makes it the entire year, for two reasons; one, as pointed out on Entertainment Weekly Radio, Fox has too much money invested up front in this, and two, Fox has nothing better to show on Friday nights. However, I do see the show eventually going to one night a week, and that night being Friday.


Well, if it's going to last that long, there's going to have to be tons of interventions (off camera, of course) because it doesn't look like any of them would survive more than a couple of weeks with that resources they have.

Then again, if it's loosely scripted, I guess yeah, it's going to last that long just because.

Because as it is right now, I don't see the experiment lasting more than a couple of months naturally.


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> In reality, it's just the chickens pecking at the ground that does the "tilling," and you move the cage to a different location each day to get a different patch of ground "tilled."


That's all a chicken tractor is. I've never heard anyone claim that it would till the ground though - only fertilize it.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Man, I want to like this show. I think it's a cool concept. But grown-ass adults throwing temper tantrums is beyond ridiculous! Red was even jumping up and down like a cartoon character (maybe Yosemite Sam?)


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

Ya - I'd been waiting for this show all summer. Love the concept. I should have known better.


----------



## tem (Oct 6, 2003)

One would have thought the "prepper" would be a bit more resilient to living in adverse conditions. Isn't that what it's all about ?

Weeping after two days ...


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

This is a train wreck, not Utopia.
The criminal demands canned Tuna and wont eat fish from the lake, but says the others can grow their own radishes.
The Prepper is at least bi polar.
They keep showing a bunch of deer, I want to see the huntress take one down. It's filmed in New York CA and I don't know what the hunting laws are. Unless she isn't really a huntress and that's what a producer decided that's what her character is.

I really don't see myself staying with this once the fall season starts.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

robojerk said:


> This is a train wreck, not Utopia. The criminal demands canned Tuna and wont eat fish from the lake, but says the others can grow their own radishes. The Prepper is at least bi polar. They keep showing a bunch of deer, I want to see the huntress take one down. It's filmed in New York and I don't know what the hunting laws are. Unless she isn't really a huntress and that's what a producer decided that's what her character is.
> 
> I really don't see myself staying with this once the fall season starts.


It's filmed in California, somewhere north of LA.


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

DevdogAZ said:


> It's filmed in California, somewhere north of LA.


I thought so but I did a very quick Google search.. Google you failed me.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

'Utopia' ratings plummet




> Not good: Fox's Utopia ratings dropped through the floor last night.
> It was only the second episode of Fox's big reality gamble, yet ratings fell 55 percent to a mere 2.5 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. Granted, the series shifted from having a strong NFL lead-in for its Sunday debut to cold-opening Fox's Tuesday night at 8 p.m. But this is the show's regular time slot and it needs to perform competitively in this space. The ratings also declined slightly from the show's first half hour to its second, which is not an optimistic sign.


----------



## DLiquid (Sep 17, 2001)

markz said:


> 'Utopia' ratings plummet


I think "Utopia" was a bad name choice and concept for this show. Viewers interested in watching a show about people working to create a Utopian society are most likely not going to like this show. FOX should be going for the Jersey Shore audience, but that audience might not bother to watch a show they think is about people working to create a Utopian society.


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Dystopia


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

robojerk said:


> Distopia


...and Dystopia

I would say that both are appropriate.


----------



## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

markz said:


> 'Utopia' ratings plummet


Thanks for posting that. It made my mind up that I'm not going to waste any more time on this.

Hex rates high on my hotness scale, but even that's not enough to keep me especially if it's just going to get cancelled anyway (not that anybody has said that at this point).

I also agree that I would lose ALL interest in this once the new fall season gets humming anyway.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

markz said:


> 'Utopia' ratings plummet


Yeah, that's not good news at all considering that it wasn't even going up against real competition from the other networks. In a couple weeks when the fall season starts, that number is going to drop even further.

Having said that, I watched the Tuesday episode and it was more of the same. Ridiculous temper tantrums and immature idiots being unwilling to be rational. I'm convinced that the producers set it up this way on purpose, but I'm just not sure how they expected this to be something viewers would be interested in watching.


----------



## tcristy (Feb 11, 2005)

If you search for videos of Hex VanIsles you will find a Detroit podcast she was on in March. Turns out she is in PR and helps run an adult website (and its not her real name).


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

Not entirely surprised about the ratings drop. I mean, it was hard enough doing the 2 hour pilot episode. 

While drama and conflict make for good TV ratings, there's a point when it's just too much and over the top, and I think the pilot was that.

The fact that it's obvious that these 15 people aren't even working towards a common goal or trying to establish the basics just seals the deal. I think the people watching really wanted to see what systems of government and community they could create, and it just turns out that it's pure anarchy. (No, whatever they come up with can't be applied directly to a country of millions without a LOT of work making it scalable, so don't expect any country to adopt it). 

I think it would just be easier reading the threads for spoilers than suffering through an hour of that crap.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

By the 2nd episode, I'm already numb to all the fighting and temper tantrums. Obviously, they're not going to accomplish much of anything, and I'm not sure that I even understand the premise. They're not cutoff from society. They just can't leave their compound, but there is no incentive to live off the land either as they can earn money and buy groceries.


----------



## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I missed the premier, but TiVo'd the 2nd episode. Got about 10 minutes in and deleted. IMO the voice-over is the most annoying part. Eliminate that and it might have been more interesting.


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

"$20 for brown rice that's a waste of money! Pass the oreos and frozen beef patties!"


I was totally on board with the brown rice and quinoa idiocy until they brought out the junk food.


...and flaky prepper lady with no people skills. Just hand the dude one of the 12 packets of seeds and keep talking. Crisis averted.


----------



## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

robojerk said:


> This is a train wreck, not Utopia.
> The criminal demands canned Tuna and wont eat fish from the lake, but says the others can grow their own radishes.
> The Prepper is at least bi polar.
> They keep showing a bunch of deer, I want to see the huntress take one down. It's filmed in New York CA and I don't know what the hunting laws are. Unless she isn't really a huntress and that's what a producer decided that's what her character is.
> ...


They said the set was located on 5 acres. How much "hunting" can you do on 5 acres of scrubland in Southern California? Not much, unless you enjoy a meal of insects and perhaps a lizard.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

MonsterJoe said:


> "$20 for brown rice that's a waste of money! Pass the oreos and frozen beef patties!"
> 
> I was totally on board with the brown rice and quinoa idiocy until they brought out the junk food.


I thought they didn't have a fridge/freezer. Were they planning to cook all their frozen patties at once? Seems like I saw other stuff in their prefer that needed to be refrigerated as well.

Agreed about the Whole Foods crap. They need to worry less about eating healthy and worry more about just eating.


----------



## Numb And Number2 (Jan 13, 2009)

DevdogAZ said:


> Every time (the narrator) came on the screen I just had to laugh. He looks like a cartoon version of a hipster. Like a real person couldn't possibly be that much of a hipster cliche, so they made a cartoon version to incorporate even more hipsterness.


Hey! It's a classic look:


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Bob Coxner said:


> They said the set was located on 5 acres. How much "hunting" can you do on 5 acres of scrubland in Southern California? Not much, unless you enjoy a meal of insects and perhaps a lizard.


Besides the deer they have shown? The show makes a big deal calling her a huntress. I want to see her hunt something.


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

> On FOX, Utopia's Friday premiere earned a 0.7 adults 18-49 rating, it's lowest yet


I won't be sad if this show gets cancelled. I guess it also depends on how many idiots people are paying to watch the feeds.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

If the show gets cancelled, I am sure they would just send them all home, right? They wouldn't continue their "social experiment".


----------



## Numb And Number2 (Jan 13, 2009)

These guys are on the verge of a drum circle. Summon Cartman *NOW!!*


----------



## Anthjo (Aug 7, 2007)

I just stumbled upon this thread and I'm glad other viewers feel similarly.

The ex-con is a major ******. His tantrums every time he doesn't get his way are reason enough to tune out. Why they just don't throw this guy out is beyond me. What adult acts like that? Good lord.

The toothless hillbilly can't be a real person. Surely he's playing a role....

The "handyman" needs to get over himself.

Prepper lady is f'in nuts. Hugging herself? Doing a complete reversal on her decision about the handyman? What about her damn chicken cart? What in the world??

Let's not forget about the Asian girl, who can't keep her coslopas in check....

I'm all for bad reality television, but this is dreadful....Mind you, there is NOTHING competing against it right now and I still bailed on it knowing I had nothing to watch. LOL.

Can we talk about the host? I want to smack that hipster moustache right off his face.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Not looking good...

'Utopia' ratings drop again: How long will it last?


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

no big surprise. The show had promise, but they had to pick the 15 most incompatible people for it that basically devolved into shouting matches, temper tantrums and well, frat parties.

I mean, within a week they should've decided on a basic form of government (even a dictatorship works fine for the small group), a basic form of rule of law, and have a leader to help guide the way forward. Right now it's anarchy and that form of government doesn't typically lead to civilization moving forward. It just leads to societal collapse.

There's a power vacuum and it shows. Hell, they could even try various forms of government. Right now it's a bit of direct-democracy, but that generally fails for minorities (it's the downside to democracy - there's a winner and a loser. Most democratic countries have ways to ensure the minority viewpoints aren't trampled over).

(While a constitution isn't mandatory, it actually helps lay out the foundations for government and how everything happens.).


----------



## rimler (Jun 30, 2002)

I haven't seen any real indication that they are even thinking of a government. They occasionally stick a toe into it when they need to make a decision. But so far it's been 14 or 15 or 16 people doing their own thing.

Fox did a good job picking the Utopians. If their goal was to find 15 of the most ill-equipped people to seed Utopia....great job.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

Worf said:


> The show had promise, but they had to pick the 15 most incompatible people for it that basically devolved into shouting matches...within a week they should've decided on a basic form of government...rule of law, and have a leader to help guide the way forward...There's a power vacuum and it shows.


this sums up my opinion of the show...endless, pointless arguments, no established decision making or dispute resolution processes, and wasteful spending. when they run out of cash (which could happen very soon), it might become more interesting. 

what i love even more is red's theory of democracy - they vote, and if the vote goes against red's position, he claims it's "not democratic" because he lost...huh? it would be funny if it wasn't so sad.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

NorthAlabama said:


> What i love even more is red's theory of democracy - they vote, and if the vote goes against red's position, he claims it's "not democratic" because he lost...huh? it would be funny if it wasn't so sad.


That's why it doesn't matter if they try and form any kind of government. Those who don't agree with the "government's" actions are too stubborn and pig-headed to accept that this is what the majority wants and go along, so you've essentially got a camp full of teenagers saying "You're not the boss of me."


----------



## Numb And Number2 (Jan 13, 2009)

DevdogAZ said:


> That's why it doesn't matter if they try and form any kind of government. Those who don't agree with the "government's" actions are too stubborn and pig-headed to accept that this is what the majority wants and go along, so you've essentially got a camp full of teenagers saying "You're not the boss of me."


Not abiding by majority vote is not being pigheaded. After all, two guys kicking the crap out of a third guy is an example of majority vote. They need a constitution and government to protect it. Then they need a goal. What do they want to see in a year?


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

communism would work better with this number of people in this timeline.


----------



## rimler (Jun 30, 2002)

Yes, one of the issues is the timeline. Our (America's) demand for quick resolution is going to hurt this show. Growing a democracy or republic will take a lot of time, mis-steps, trial and error. I doubt the show will last long enough to see it's fruition.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

MonsterJoe said:


> communism would work better with this number of people in this timeline.


exactly, which is how they are mostly operating at the moment, with a few exceptions.


rimler said:


> Yes, one of the issues is the timeline. Our (America's) demand for quick resolution is going to hurt this show. Growing a democracy or republic will take a lot of time, mis-steps, trial and error.


there's little chance for a constitutional democracy given the time and the lack of resources.


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

I don't understand how you can have a government with 15 people. Leader, yes. Government, with complex rules of law, no way. Especially since they vote out someone every month and bring someone else in. Also at the moment theres no way any of these people are the leadership type. I see bullies, but none of them are leaders. Maybe the new girl will be the chosen one.


----------



## Tracy (Mar 12, 2000)

I just watched the third episode, so I think I am still behind. This was the one where the ex-con left but came back to be baptised.

I am a huge fan of competitive and 'smart' reality TV but hate the more (in my opinion) dumbed down stuff like Real Housewives or Long Island Medium. This show seems to be the dumbed down stuff in a deceptive 'smart' package.

The fact that we are letting this show pile up on our DVR is telling. I told my husband tonight that I'm not sure what could turn this around for me. I think the main problem is that almost everyone on the show is a caricature of a 'type' and I just can't relate. There is no one to pull for.

I will give it one more episode and then I'm pulling the plug.


----------



## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Utopia scored a series low 0.5, down 29 percent from last week&#8217;s 0.7 adults 18-49 rating.


----------



## spartanstew (Feb 24, 2002)

Man, I love this show.

It's such a train wreck I can't stop watching. I keep waiting for someone to bludgeon another contestant to death or for a sexual assault to occur.

Can't wait to see the lawyer dude presiding over a murder trial. Should we give them a second chance? Death Penalty? Or just kick them out of Utopia?


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

spartanstew said:


> It's such a train wreck I can't stop watching...Can't wait to see the lawyer dude presiding over a murder trial. Should we give them a second chance? Death Penalty? Or just kick them out of Utopia?


i'm still watching, patiently waiting for the money to run out, which might be soon if they continue the rate at which they're going - that's when the real drama will begin. i hope they don't cancel the show before then.


----------



## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

My wife and I watch. It's not great and definitely a train wreck but is mildly entertaining at times. 

I don't understand some things though. They kicked the one guy out. The ex con. BUt they had the two women come in for a day or two and had the whole bunch vote on which one they wanted to stay. Then they just brought in the dumb eye candy guy. So, are they going to vote people out at some point? Why did they bring the new girl and guy to the group? 
I know the preacher left but thought he said he'd return.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

2004raptor said:


> My wife and I watch. It's not great and definitely a train wreck but is mildly entertaining at times.
> 
> I don't understand some things though. They kicked the one guy out. The ex con. BUt they had the two women come in for a day or two and had the whole bunch vote on which one they wanted to stay. Then they just brought in the dumb eye candy guy. So, are they going to vote people out at some point? Why did they bring the new girl and guy to the group?
> I know the preacher left but thought he said he'd return.


The show does a bad job of explaining. They should've started with 15 Utopians. Once a month, the Utopians and the public will nominate people to leave. Then 2 new Utopians will come in. The group plus the public vote for which of the 2 gets to stay. Then the Newtopian that stays picks one of the nominated Utopians to replace.

The 2 female Newtopians that were voted on were replacing another female that was kicked out before it started.

Taylor came in as a replacement for Dave, the convict.

Not sure why they replaced them differently.

Edit: the voting rules came from the producer's twitter.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

realityboy said:


> Not sure why they replaced them differently.


i'm thinking because they needed another cute guy for the girls, in an attempt to spark another showmance?


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

NorthAlabama said:


> i'm thinking because they needed another cute guy for the girls, in an attempt to spark another showmance?


That plus they probably just had more time to replace the 1st girl. I'm not sure how many Newtopians they have lined up since it was supposed to be only once a month.

Spoiler from the feeds:



Spoiler



yesterday, another new guy was brought in to replace the preacher.


----------



## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

my wife has already given up on it due to the stupidity of the first 45min of the premiere. I'm giving it more time - but given the amount of shifting of the people around, as well as the horrible explanation of the rules. This is really not high up on my list of stuff I will watch. I have a backlog of Gordon Ramsey to get through. If I want to hear someone swear at someone else, it's going to be him, as his yelling has a reason.

These people are just ridiculous. It is as if the producers brought in the most divergent group of people that are short tempered and extremist in one way or another. Too many annoying fringe alphas.


----------



## tem (Oct 6, 2003)

ducker said:


> It is as if the producers brought in the most divergent group of people that are short tempered and extremist in one way or another. Too many annoying fringe alphas.


----------



## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Well, looks like a retooling is taking place:

Fox shakes up 'Utopia': Castmates to be voted out




> Here is specifically how the format change will work: Next week, the current cast of 15 pioneers will select two candidates for exile, plus Utopiatv.com passport members can choose a third. The Utopians will then decide which of the three candidates will be asked to pack their crate and leave. Two new potential Utopians will arrive at the camp and spend several days vying for the open spot. Then the established cast will decide which new candidate will become a full-fledged member of their society.


----------



## gschrock (Dec 28, 2001)

Isn't that what they were planning on doing all along?


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

gschrock said:


> Isn't that what they were planning on doing all along?


Close, but they're changing it so the Utopians vote someone out as opposed to the new person deciding who goes.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

Also an example of what's wrong with Utopia:



Spoiler



From Jon Kroll's Twitter, about the birth of the calf: "@windysea @utopiatv All 130 cameras missed it - it happened when the Utopians were all fighting. It's funny when you see in show."


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

realityboy said:


> Also an example of what's wrong with Utopia...


i get your point, and there is plenty wrong with the show, but accident or not, i'm not bothered by their missing the birth of a calf - if i want to see animal births, i'll tune to nat geo, i'm watching utopia primarily for the human interactions.

it's understandable to think someone in production would have caught the event, though, whatever else was going on at the time. now, if they miss the birth of amanda's child...


----------



## 702 (Feb 9, 2003)

rimler said:


> I've decided this is Joe Schmo III, and the audience is the Schmo. These 14 people are too far over the top. Think of who you got. The multi accented drunk working on redemption. The criminal. The hot headed chef. The slut. The hillbilly. The religious guy. Various naked girls. The right winger. The left wingers.
> 
> On second thought, it's 15. The narrator dude is just as much a caricature as the character that Ralph Garman played.
> 
> I'm saying it now.


Joe Schmo III has already came out


----------



## rimler (Jun 30, 2002)

702 said:


> Joe Schmo III has already came out


Oh yeah. II was so forgettable.....I forgot


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

NorthAlabama said:


> i get your point, and there is plenty wrong with the show, but accident or not, i'm not bothered by their missing the birth of a calf - if i want to see animal births, i'll tune to nat geo, i'm watching utopia primarily for the human interactions.
> 
> it's understandable to think someone in production would have caught the event, though, whatever else was going on at the time. now, if they miss the birth of amanda's child...


Not really bothered by the birth specifically, but the show is supposed to be about them building a Utopia, and we get 130 cameras on fighting as opposed to any of the gardening, constructing, basically the whole making Utopia part.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

realityboy said:


> Not really bothered by the birth specifically, but the show is supposed to be about them building a Utopia, and we get 130 cameras on fighting as opposed to any of the gardening, constructing, basically the whole making Utopia part.


I've never understood the logistics of the gardening. They've got $5k to feed 15 people. Even if they don't spend any money on anything else and cook extremely frugally, I think that $5k would be gone before any crops that they could plant would be ready to harvest. The show's premise seems to be that the Utopians can develop some kind of marketable goods or services and trade those with the outside world. But without them being able to leave the compound, and without some additional resources/time, I'm not sure what they're expected to do to make money in the near term before that $5k runs out.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> I've never understood the logistics of the gardening. They've got $5k to feed 15 people. Even if they don't spend any money on anything else and cook extremely frugally, I think that $5k would be gone before any crops that they could plant would be ready to harvest. The show's premise seems to be that the Utopians can develop some kind of marketable goods or services and trade those with the outside world. But without them being able to leave the compound, and without some additional resources/time, I'm not sure what they're expected to do to make money in the near term before that $5k runs out.


I believe the Dutch version was building and selling book cases. I do not know what they did short term. This group has already been making money short term with yoga, boot camp, and tours. It's not much, but at $40 per visitor, it should provide food for awhile. I haven't gotten around to watching the last 2 shows yet, but on the feeds


Spoiler



they have set up a website with the computer that they bought.


----------



## sean67854 (Jul 11, 2001)

It sure seems like their business plan is to get people to come and pay to see them because they are on TV.


----------



## Numb And Number2 (Jan 13, 2009)

sean67854 said:


> It sure seems like their business plan is to get people to come and pay to see them because they are on TV.


More than $5,000 they were given a brand, free national advertising, and a product (a chance at getting your mug on TV, that big break in show biz could be $40 away!)


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

sean67854 said:


> It sure seems like their business plan is to get people to come and pay to see them because they are on TV.


That's pretty much the plan. They take advantage of the fact that they are on a TV, and Kristen takes credit for marketing them.

Originally, they just wanted to start a kickstarter campaign, but production told them that they were not allowed. Also the first URL that Kristen mentioned wanting on the feeds was bought by a fan. The purchaser originally had "Kristen Sucks" in large red letters.


----------



## sean67854 (Jul 11, 2001)

realityboy said:


> That's pretty much the plan. They take advantage of the fact that they are on a TV, and Kristen takes credit for marketing them.
> 
> Originally, they just wanted to start a kickstarter campaign, but production told them that they were not allowed. Also the first URL that Kristen mentioned wanting on the feeds was bought by a fan. The purchaser originally had "Kristen Sucks" in large red letters.


I realize that this method is effective, but it just feels like it goes against the spirit of the show.

The beekeeper thing seems more in line with the spirit of the show, work for money instead of going the Kardashian route.


----------



## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

The whole show is against the spirit of the show.

Yet I watch.

go figure.


----------



## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

MonsterJoe said:


> The whole show is against the spirit of the show.
> 
> Yet I watch.
> 
> go figure.


I'm watching them delayed and it gets bumped often.

But I would agree - I would have preferred them to have really lived off the land. Maybe be able to get some food stuffs as early pioneers would have been able to with trading.

But none of this - stove, fridge, etc... I haven't seen the episode when they purchase a computer... but if I wanted to see a show about how a bunch of boobs learn how to semi-work together in building a self-sustained community I really wish they would have not billed it as so much of a "creating a society from scratch" type of program.

it is a shame as I think they could have created something really neat, but they missed the mark here.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

FOX has pulled Utopia from Tuesdays effective immediately. It will now only air once a week on Fridays.

http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-prin...f-junior-to-tuesday-strands-utopia-on-fridays

Not surprising, given that its ratings last night were a 0.8 (adults 18-49) and just 1.99 million viewers. That's not a good way to lead off your night and funnel viewers to your later shows.


----------



## Tracy (Mar 12, 2000)

I finally deleted my remaining episodes and have officially given up on this. I just can't think of anything that could happen or be rejiggered that would make me want to watch this show. I'm very disappointed.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

I'm actually surprised that it's still getting the Friday showing. It was scheduled (from the beginning) to go down to once a week on Tuesdays after this month. With that plus normal World Series schedule interruptions, they only lost 2 shows. 10/7 & 10/14 with the rest just moving to Friday.


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

Fridays are the "don't care" days, after all, given traditionally lower ratings on fridays.

It's why when a series gets moved to Fridays, it usually means it's coming to an end - either it's going to be the last season, or the second to last.

Friday show ratings are typically lower and ads cheaper because there's less viewers on friday nights. So low-performing shows are burned off on Fridays where you can still recoup some money, and frees up the old timeslot for more lucrative shows.

Before not too long, I think Fox will kill even that and resort to just online streaming.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

Worf said:


> Before not too long, I think Fox will kill even that and resort to just online streaming.


I think Fox lets it play out on Friday for awhile and then cancels it. It's too expensive to keep going just to have if streaming. Fox bet big hoping to replace X-Factor & American Idol. Most articles had the price as about $50 million for 20 episodes. Assuming this works similar to scripted shows, I think Fox may run the episodes that they have committed to and then let it die.


----------



## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

realityboy said:


> I think Fox lets it play out on Friday for awhile and then cancels it. It's too expensive to keep going just to have if streaming. Fox bet big hoping to replace X-Factor & American Idol.


American Idol is still in production. Either that, or all of those people that just auditioned in San Francisco are part of an incredibly large prank for some unannounced Fox reality show...


----------



## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

Worf said:


> Fridays are the "don't care" days, after all, given traditionally lower ratings on fridays.
> 
> It's why when a series gets moved to Fridays, it usually means it's coming to an end - either it's going to be the last season, or the second to last.
> 
> ...


All of this is true but it doesn't explain why CBS moved The Amazing Race to Fridays. I thought TAR was doing well on Sundays and remained a solid performer for CBS. Personally, I'm happy since it means no more problems with football overruns.


----------



## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

CBS is a network that generally skews older, and it's an exception to the Friday series death rule. Mostly because older people don't generally do Friday nights out (the generally accepted reason for the Friday slump - it's Friday night - do you want to go clubbing or watch TV?). It's easy to see this for the viewer-ratings mismatch on a number of shows (e.g., NCIS and its offspring - they bring in over 10M viewers, typically over 15M, yet are often second in ratings, vs. say Big Bang Theory that scores a whopping 5+ with less viewers).

CBS moving shows around is to generally try to figure out the best time for their demographic. 

The best way to see this is to look at the Daily Ratings Thread to see the daily ratings for shows. CBS consistently scores a LOT of viewers, but few in the "target demographic" (hence middle-of-the-road ratings but a large number of viewers). I mean, most other shows are getting 1-3M viewers, and CBS is scoring 10+M on a Friday. Accordingly, because CBS's prime demographic is older, their ad rates are lower for shows in prime time.

A network that skews younger like Fox, though (remember, Fox is a latecomer being under 30 years old!) though, Friday nights are the series death knell. Hell, Fox tried to dispel the Friday night of doom when Fringe moved there with announcements that Friday nights aren't as they were. Of course, everyone else knew better (and Fringe was gone by the next season).

Utopia is doomed. I give it to the end of the year until Fox pulls its Friday timeslot and we'll see 30-second ad clips to promote the online offerings where it has a chance to make some money.


----------



## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

That Don Guy said:


> American Idol is still in production. Either that, or all of those people that just auditioned in San Francisco are part of an incredibly large prank for some unannounced Fox reality show...


AI can keep going for a few years, but it's not the ratings juggernaut that it once was. Fox definitely needs to start grooming a replacement. Utopia is not it, though. I would think that Utopia's failure bodes well for So You Think You Can Dance as well.


----------

