Mark Burnett, Mike Darnell team up for new ABC game show

Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, two reality competition kingpins, are teaming up for a new ABC game show.

“500 Questions,” the show’s current working title, has been given a direct-to-series order from the network for a rollout in 2015.

The goal of the show is to test the IQ of contestants in a “pressure-packed, incredibly intense environment,” according to a release from ABC. Given the resume of Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Voice”) and Darnell (who was behind such reality fare as “When Animals Attack” and “American Idol” during his time as president of alternative entertainment at Fox), we won’t be too surprised if contestants are answering questions as animals attack or while hiking 11 miles in a dense jungle.

The game show comes from Burnett and his One Three Media production company and Warner Horizon Television. Darnell now serves as the president of unscripted and alternative television at Warner Bros.

Burnett, who will serve as an executive producer, expects the show to combine the best of reality TV and game shows.

“500 Questions,” Burnett said in a statement, “is the first network game show to combine what audiences love about serialized unscripted hits with a huge game show event. It has ongoing characters and huge stakes.”

The addition of “500 Questions” to its programming slate extends ABC’s relationship with Burnett, who is behind the network’s Friday night reality hit “Shark Tank,” which will be entering its sixth season.

“500 Questions” also reunites Burnett and Darnell, who haven’t worked together since the Burnett-produced game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, which Darnell added to the Fox lineup during his tenure there -- and “ever since, we have been trying to come up with another game show that would break new ground,” Darnell said in a statement.

“I think we have finally cracked it with ‘500 Questions,’” he added. “And with Mark and his team on board, I have no doubt this is going to be the next international game show hit.”

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