ABC's 2003 attempt to make an American hit out of the international reality format "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" failed, but that won't stop NBC from giving it another go.
In the series, airing at 8 p.m. EST Monday through Thursday for almost a month, 10 celebs get whisked away to the jungle where they must engage in challenges and attempt to survive the not-so-plush conditions.
The big news for this version was the possibility that disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would participate in the Costa Rican jungle adventure. But a judge in his pending trial -- for allegedly trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder -- put the kibosh on that possibility.
Although Blagojevich won't be traveling to Costa Rica, he's still done publicity for the show and hinted that he may be involved in some way. Regardless, the stars will be limited to the likes of actor Stephen Baldwin, "American Idol" embarrassment Sanjaya Malakar and model Janice Dickinson, who appeared in a British edition of "I'm a Celebrity..."
"Life is a jungle," she said at a recent NBC press conference. "Being in the fashion industry for the past 32 years and having survived being on [the show] two seasons ago in Brisbane, Australia, for the United Kingdom version -- I practically won it -- so I'm very excited about doing this show."
The star of "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" on Oxygen said she's an ideal contestant.
"I happen to have mastered the art of reality having done 'America's Next Top Model,'" she said. "Wait until you see me clean the forest. You haven't seen anything yet."
(E-mail Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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