William Shatner Hosts ‘Stars on Mars’ on Fox
Celeb contestants face Mars conditions from their space station
William Shatner will host Stars on Mars, a competition series that debuts on Fox June 5. Fox describes the show as “household names [trading] in their possessions, status and glamorous lifestyles on Earth for an insane and hilarious summer on ‘Mars.’ Their mission? To be suited up with no space to go, as they colonize, compete and conquer their new galaxy surroundings, until there is just one ‘celebronaut’ left standing.”
“The moment I heard the pitch for Stars on Mars, I knew a show this bold, this big and this outlandish simply belonged on Fox,” said Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming, Fox Entertainment. “Watching celebrities take giant leaps out of their comfort zone and step into the unexpected will no doubt be truly transformational and comical. Throughout, we will learn a lot about these stars, and when you factor in William Shatner leading the charge from Mission Control, we have the makings of a show that’s ready for blast off.”
The celeb cast has not been revealed. Fox said the celebs will live, eat, sleep, strategize and bond in the same space station, and will face conditions that simulate life on Mars. One gets voted out each week, and essentially sent back to Earth.
“Good news for our celebronauts from Mission Control,” reports Shatner. “Thanks to lower gravity on Mars, you’ll weigh 62% less. Bad news: the air is unbreathable, so if you’re from L.A., it’ll remind you of home.”
Chris Culvenor of Eureka Productions created the format.
Stars on Mars is produced by Eureka Productions, a Fremantle company. Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and Eden Gaha are executive producers, along with Charles Wachter, exec producer and showrunner.
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Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.