Who Will Be The Next Martha?
A new kind of reality show begins on CBS Thursday, Jan. 6., at 8:00 p.m ET/PT. Contestants don't have to eat bugs or go to a remote island. But they do have to heat up their glue guns and double boilers.
The host of "Wickedly Perfect," Emmy Award-winning journalist Joan Lunden tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm that the new reality show puts twelve "Martha wannabee's" in a mansion for four weeks and pits them against one another in a series of lifestyle projects that include cooking, arts and crafts, decorating, and more.
Renowned chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay (Mesa Grill), Emmy Award-nominated stylist David Evangelista ("The Rosie O'Donnell Show") and best-selling author Candace Bushnell ("Sex and the City" and "Trading Up") will serve as judges.
The winner will receive numerous prizes, including six appearances on The Early Show, a development deal for a lifestyle-oriented television show and a publishing deal with Atria Books, a division of publisher Simon & Schuster, which, like CBS, is owned by Viacom.
Though contestants are divided into two teams, each week, one of them will be tossed from the luxurious 22,000 square feet estate, located in New England, where they not only live together, but bunk together.
"Every single room has a little television camera hidden somewhere," Lunden notes, pointing out viewers will have the chance to watch their every move.
She says it was very interesting over the course of the weeks to see how people changed as they began to play the game and things started to get political. And, as things progressed, they started to think differently about one another.
Says Lunden, "Initially, they were all in the same pickle. They were just thrown into it without any alliances and not knowing anything. But as they got hip to the game, you saw minds clicking, and you never really knew who they were going to send home."
Having the "it" factor is very important, Lunden says. That's where stylist David Evangelista comes in. The contestants not only have to know how to throw a great party, but also be able to empower viewers to think they can do it, too.
Lunden says that, in addition to clothing, each contestant was allowed to bring one sack -- one "bag of their tricks." So, what did they bring? "They weren't your ordinary things. One brought a drill with eight different bits. There were glue guns, a laser level stud finder, food seasonings and favorite recipes."
Though the domestic arts used to be a hobby for some people, Martha Stewart took it to another level and it's now a multimillion-dollar industry.
Lunden says, "I was amazed they got 10,000 applicants for a show not even on the air and got 50 in L.A., and tested them in their skills and got these twelve. Some are bakers and chefs and tabletop designers and a few are housewives who know how to do everything. You go to her house and she puts out this amazing spread and she made the tablecloth and she's decorated the house beautifully and you think, 'Gosh, I wish I could do all of those things.' "
An interesting added value to the show is that viewers will be able to watch and learn how these domestic artists do things, Lunden points out. "Instructions for what can't be demonstrated on the show itself will be on the show's Web site. So viewers can see some clever ideas and then access the Web and learn how to do it themselves."
For the first episode, contestants were told they were going to a high tea. So they showed up dressed to the nines, only to be told they had to pick as many apples they could in 30 minutes. It took no time before women contestants got rid of their stilleto hills and started climbing to the top of the trees, Lunden says.
"Right away, you started realizing who had the certain talents, because some knew there were eight different kind of apples and some you could use for cooking and some for crafts," Lunden observed. "You started seeing who had strengths right off the bat and you start to see personalities emerge right away. You certainly got a handle in the beginning on who the audience was going to cheer for and who they were going to love to hate."