TV Article

Get ready for medical oddities, live sinking ships, and more strange-but-true tales on Fox

Reality's about to get a little more entertaining. TV executive Mike Darnell, the Fox VP responsible for such high-brow sensations as "Busted on the Job III," "World's Most Shocking Moments II," and "Colonoscopies Caught on Tape IV, V and VI" -- er, that last series is probably still in development -- says that there's plenty more reality to look foward to in the upcoming months.

Fox's next projects: "Shipwreck Live!" will showcase the sinking of a cruise ship off the coast of Key Largo, live, in May. "We'll have stuntmen aboard and underwater cameras below," says Darnell, who has a simple explanation for why he greenlit the project. "Everybody wants to raise the 'Titanic.' I want to sink the baby." Heh-heh. Cool.

Then, thanks to the ratings glory that followed coverage of the removal of a 303-pound tumor, Darnell will produce a new show next summer called "Medical Oddities," featuring what Darnell calls "things you never thought could happen to the human body." If he's not careful, stuntman Robby Knievel could end up making a cameo on "Medical Oddities" after he does another live jump on Fox in February, this one a jump 160 feet across the 14th floors of two Miami skyscrapers. Oh, yeah, and live.

Meanwhile, all those caught-on-tape specials will continue, especially considering that last month's "Busted on the Job III" was the top-rated Thursday-night special in Fox history. By the way, the really interesting footage doesn't always make it on the air. Darnell's favorite never-ran: "We have video of a guy at a job interview, who, after his female interviewer leaves the room, goes over and sniffs her chair. That was just too nasty!"

Originally posted Dec 08, 1998

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