Nina Metz: The reality show ‘Stars on Mars’ is ‘Big Brother’ meets ‘The Martian’ — and a whole lot of propaganda
I’m not usually drawn to reality TV. But when physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein mentioned that she was watching the Fox series “Stars on Mars,” which premiered earlier this month, my interest was piqued.
The premise is “Big Brother” meets the 2015 Matt Damon sci-fi survivalist drama “The Martian.”
Twelve celebrities — sorry, celebronauts, in the show’s parlance — begin at the outset, with an elimination round each week, and they range from former pro athletes (Marshawn Lynch) to nepo babies (Tallulah Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis) to legitimate Hollywood actors (“Superbad’s” Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to reality TV veterans (Tom Schwartz of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules”).
Can they survive life on Mars? Or rather, a televised simulation? The show has devised all kinds of tasks to find out. So off they go to the Australian town of Coober Pedy, where the landscape approximates the dusty, reddish, barren look of Mars, and their indoor habitat is equipped with a command center, living quarters, a gym and a biodome where they are expected to grow their own food.
