Review: 'Siberia' full of thrills, chills and scare tactics

NBC's scripted drama about a reality series is more fright-night than satire, but it does have fun playing with the tropes of the genre.

By Mary McNamara, Television Critic

When "Survivor" debuted in 2000, it seemed such a dangerous and unpredictable experiment — dumping strangers into a remote locale where they would have to struggle to survive. "Lord of the Flies" came easily to mind; the prospect of watching human beings both learn to live off the land and wrestle with their primitive inclinations was thrilling and disturbing.

Then, of course, we all realized it was just a game show. A new sort and a wholly addictive game show with some elements of physical deprivation and animal cunning involved but carefully produced, at least semi-scripted and very, very safe — being voted off the island was the real danger.

On Monday, we finally get a version of the "Survivor" that haunted some of our imaginations. In "Siberia," a scripted NBC drama about a reality series in which things go horribly wrong, 16 contestants are plunked into the middle of the Siberian wilderness with a camera crew and not much else.

The goal: to survive long enough to claim the $500,000 prize. It's a convincing, if a tad unregulated, reality premise (there are no rules save do what you must to survive). From the moment the hunky host (Jonathon Buckley) announces that the group will be staying at a settlement from which the original inhabitants vanished mysteriously 100 years ago, leaving fires burning and food on the table, it's clear something more is afoot. (If only "Croatoan" had been carved on a tree.)

And soon enough, top notes from "The Blair Witch Project" are rustling around in the dark.

Written and directed by Matthew Arnold, "Siberia" has fun with the tropes of reality, assembling familiar types — the diva, the cowboy, the nerd, the good girl, the beach bum with the prayer bead bracelet. But "Siberia" is more fright-night than satire. And though it does not have the built-in fan base of "The Dome," it could turn out to be just as much fun.

While blood 'n' guts horror is all too prevalent on television these days (including in "The Dome"), there aren't too many shows that employ straight-up, old-fashioned scare tactics. "Siberia" excels at this.

Other shows, including most recently "The River," have attempted to cash in on the "video footage" school of horror so popular at the cineplex, with not-great results. The well-trod format of "Siberia" may be its biggest asset, quickly building the kind of sturdy perimeters that horror so often needs; real fear emerges when the familiar and predictable become shockingly distorted (is any ghost as scary as a child ghost?).

The woods and the camp quickly shift from pastoral to menacing and back again. Meanwhile, the personalities of the contestants seem just as mercurial.

Because it requires such a complicated balancing act of mood and plot, the scary story is the most difficult to tell. Television adds the extra demands of compelling character. So "Siberia" could go either way.

The ingredients of a good ghost story are remarkably similar to those of a bad one; it's all in how you stir the pot.

Source: LA Times

More Bang for Your Buck: How ‘Siberia’ Was Fully Financed Before Landing at NBC

Fake reality show arrives as broadcast nets try to ramp up their original summer offerings

by AJ Marechal

The finance model for NBC’s summer drama “Siberia” comes from a place not-so-remote: the indie film world.

Series, set to launch tonight at 10 on NBC, was fully financed by film producer Michael Ohoven of Infinity Media (“Saved,” “Capote”) and partner Chris Philip of Sierra/Engine TV before the project was even pitched to a network. Since the skein was fully backed before being shopped around, “Siberia” was also able to skip the arduous piloting process, which would have undercut the progression of the show’s unique, slow-burn plot.

“I come from the feature world and thought, with all the risk involved but with all the potential upside, why not apply the model here?” said Ohoven toVariety. “We truly have a groundbreaking idea,  something not done yet on TV.”

“Siberia” is the latest and perhaps most ambitious blending of television’s scripted and unscripted spheres, as it centers on a group of people filming a reality competition in the isolated territory of Tunguska when something goes terribly wrong. Show has already drawn journos and social media users alike to ask: “What is Siberia?” and “Is It Real or Fake?”

Ohoven of Infinity Media shepherded the concept to Philip and Nick Meyer of Sierra/Engine TV, where Philip said, “We saw the potential.”

“Our first question was: ‘Which network?’” recalled Philip. “They told us, ‘No network,’ and slowly it began to unfold: we’d completely finance a show without a net, not even one in Bulgaria. I’m involved with a lot of straight to series, low-cost orders, like ‘Cross Bones,’ ‘Black Box’ and ‘Rescue Three,’ so we knew how to pre-sell 13 episodes.”

When Ohoven and Philip teased the series at MipTV in April, NBC was intrigued by the concept, as vague as it was at the time. (The partners even had those eying jobs on “Siberia” sign NDAs in order to protect the show’s format and keep the concept under wraps.) Less than two months later, and after quick negotiations with NBC, “Siberia” secured a spot on the Peacock’s summer lineup.

While Philip and Ohoven have entered a risky game of being out of pocket on an entire series, they see lucrative returns for the show, which was shot in Canada and didn’t have much overhead.

“We basically own an NBC show,” the pair quipped.

“The upside is the rest of the world is available for us to sell to, and the NBC brand helps us sell internationally,” said Philip. The show also draws a healthier license fee from the Peacock than Canadian and European summer imports that have already aired elsewhere, Philip explained, as NBC has essentially secured its own original program for a 13-episode run.

Philip says “Siberia” has already been sold to seven countries with more territories lined up to negotiate. Its launch tonight on NBC faces competition from CBS’ summer skein “Under the Dome,” which opened strongly last Monday and showed significant gains with DVR use later in the week. Philip and Ohoven see “Siberia” as viable for a five season run, as far as the concept goes, and hope it’s renewed for a second season.

But even if the show doesn’t perform well with American auds, “Siberia” now has a buffet of international outlets that could renew it.

Ohoven and Philip hope to reproduce this TV finance model again in the near future.

“I know what sells around the world, and Michael knows how to produce with that independent feel,” stated Philip. “It’s a good partnership, and we’ve already identified a second project for this model.”

Source: Variety