‘Roof’ Turns Family Vacations Into Competition
For folks who look back fondly at those cross-country road trips with cranky relatives, or the near-fistfights with other vacationers over disputed campsites, UPN may have just the “Survivor” clone for you.
Tonight at 8, five families from across the United States begin a 21-day competition while sharing a beachfront bungalow in Fiji in the aptly titled “Under One Roof.” The last family standing at the end of the scheduled seven-episode run gets the keys to the dwelling--assuming, of course, that it is still standing. With the tumult that begins unfolding in the opening minutes alone, that’s no sure bet.
“Under One Roof,” with host Rob Nelson (“The Full Nelson” talk show), has been carefully designed to generate maximum mayhem among the contestants. The five families, including one from Huntington Beach, are blindfolded and dropped off at five different points on the island, each exactly 1 kilometer from the beach-house base. The blindfolds are removed and each group is given a global-positioning device programmed with the house’s coordinates to guide them through the exotic terrain. The first contingent to the house gets to stake out any--or even all--of the four bedrooms.
How greedy will the first families to the house be? How will subsequent families react upon arrival? It’s not pretty, but it is pretty interesting, in a train-wreck sort of way.
One hulking family member who was wilting fast in the heat and humidity had more immediate issues on his mind.
“My first thought when the blindfold came off was ... where am I?” he said. “And two, when can I take my leather pants off?”
Once all the families--22 people in all--are in the house, some loose alliances begin to form. Several of the teenage girls gather privately to discuss the embarrassing behavior of their parents during an earlier altercation. The parents, meanwhile, talk quietly about how to guard the modest food provisions from midnight snacking by the ravenous youths.
The next morning brings the first of the “challenge” competitions that will be used to whittle the number of families down to the winning clan.
As island residents line the beach to watch all the goings-on, some can’t help laughing at the crazy Americans. You’ll probably be laughing too.
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“Under One Roof” can be seen at 8 tonight on UPN. The network has rated it TV-PGL (may be unsuitable for young children, with an advisory for coarse language).