NBC celebrity reality show to be filmed at . . . Selva Verde?
 

Contestants include American Idol contestant Sanjaya and Speidi.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/20...he_Speidi_Moon

"The temporary home appears to be set on location in the Sarapiquí region and potentially at Selva Verde Rainforest Lodge. NBC is in negotiations with the hotel to house most of the cast and crew while the nearby Hotel Sueño Azul Resort may serve as the headquarters for production.

While the judge on Blagojevich's case overpowered the good/bad television gods by nixing any travel abroad, it is rumored that Mrs. Blagojevich may take to the jungle if she can stomach eating bugs and other unsavory challenges.

If she goes for the unsophisticated but legit dough, she'll be battling it out with contestants besides Speidi that might include: talk show host Geraldo Rivera, former supermodel Janice Dickinson, former “American Idol” contestant Sanjaya Malakar and Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman for the title of "King of Queen of the Jungle." How kind of NBC to give these people a chance at being a winner.

Personally, we'd much rather watch the howler and spider monkeys swing from the canopies. Hopefully the toxic cast doesn't destroy the eco system."

These are not exactly A-list celebrities, are they? ;)

It should be called, "I'm desperate for media attention (get me out of here before I ruin Costa Rica)".

http://www.nbc.com/im-a-celebrity/

But, I might watch it in order to get a little 'hit' of Costa Rica this summer!

How is this considered a punishment?

Good point! Except for the company, it looks lovely to me.

Pretty ironic with it being called "Get Me Out of Here" while all of us are seeking ways to get back there as frequently as we can! :-))

That's what I was thinking! :)

I'd normally not watch it, but the location will sway me more than the inanity of the show. I hope they get their details a little better sorted....I saw an ad a couple weeks ago showing misty mountains and what looked like a marmoset, which is not native to CR.

lol @ colibri, true true!!

Love all of your comments! I suppose it might be watchable with the 'mute' button on!

Reminder - this show is starting here on the East Coast in a few minutes. Normally wouldn't watch but am curious where they will be. All rumours I've seen say the Sarapiqui area.

OMG -- these people are AWFUL! Costa Rica is totally wasted on them -- it's sad. They should've taken a few lucky Fodorites instead. How can they be complaining?! It's so beautiful.

The shot of that runway looked like it was beside the beach, right? Could it be Tortuguero?

Yeah looked like the Tort airstrip from what I've seen pics of. They might've gone up the river from there, not sure. It's a reaaallly bad show.

That's what we decided--the Tortuguero airstrip. I haven't seen it, but I knew it wasn't Drake Bay, which was the only other alternative that I could think of. Too bad it isn't more about Costa Rica and less about the nuts involved. I do like LD Phillips, though. . . .good bod after all these years. Oooh. . .could YOU eat a tarantula? I don't think I could, honestly.

Could we vote them all out of the camp?

I don't recognize most of those names.

The one guy who kept saying he was so famous and I don't even know who he is. Guess I'm out of that loop, and glad.

Yeah, I think LD Phillips & John Sally (?) have come across the most decent.

Did you notice several times it appeared to be pouring and yet there was no rain? Must be a tarp over them. Wish they'd show more of the area and less of the drama.

Was I the only one that considered the 2nd place prize of gallo pinto maybe a better prize?

Jeff, I like your idea. I was really hoping to see more of Costa Rica but I couldn't even watch until the end of the show...it was terrible.

I couldn't finish it either, petite. Who are some of those people? LD Phillips seems very level headed along with J. Sally, the rest are something else.

I watched it to see Costa Rica, but don't think I can turn it back on...

We didn't finish either. It for sure didn't have anything to do with Costa Rica.

I can't believe LD Phillips is even on this show!

Do you think this show will be good for Costa Rican tourism? Do you think someone who has never been to Costa Rica will see it and say, "That looks like a beautiful country. I want to go"? Or do you think shows like this create the impression that, eeeeeewwwwwww, you have to eat insects if you travel to Costa Rica?

The segments where it's just the two hosts are live. In one of them, the male host said, "It's 97 degrees."

Sorry. It's never 97 degrees in the evening in Sarapiqui.

I thought the same thing when I heard that. I can't think of ANYWHERE that it is 97 degrees in the evening except Guanacaste, and even there that's about as hot as it gets at the hottest point of the day.

Jeff, I don't think it will affect tourism either way. It's just stupid.

I watched a couple of minutes, but I couldn't really stomach it - I didn't see any of Costa Rica, and I didn't know who most of those people were!

I with you VG, watched about five minutes and it was totally laughable, thought I might see some nice shots of CR, wrong, it's totally about those people, whoever they are :)

I meant "I'm w/you", sorry.

Yeah, at least Survivor gives you a feel of the places where it's shot (I must admit, I still watch it). I don't think this features Costa Rica at all -- it might as well be on a set in Hollywood. And those live shots are pointless -- why do they need to be live?!

I did notice the lack of rain too -- even though it was raining. I bet the whole thing is a sham -- I bet they don't even sleep out there. Anyway, I couldn't stomach the second hour either. I had to Google the "famous" guy too! But, I don't have cable, so I'm sort of out of it these days.

Oh well, at least I got to see a howler or two.

I agree with all of the above. I could only stomach five minutes of it!

I too agree with the above. We tried to watch it again tonight but unless you mute the inane and obviously scripted dialogue it's unbearable. In a way I'm glad that they're NOT showing more of the Costa Rica that we all love. Would we really want the type of people who would regularly watch a show like this to visit Costa Rica? Think of Heidi and Bonehead holding court during dinner at the Bosque del Cabo. Ouch! They should stick with Cancun. How do we know they're not really filming there anyway... My daughter thinks they're staying at the Four Seasons in San Jose. California.

Also, if I knew that gallo pinto was the second place food prize I would lose on purpose. We love the stuff!

LOL! We do, too. I've yet to make it just right here at home, though. I did manage some good fried plaintains yesterday.

I heard Speidi quit - they seem to always be ones for the drama.

Not to get too political on this site, but in Patty Balgo news...the children's charity that she was playing for announced yesterday that they do not want her contribution. They are affiliated with the Chicago Children's Hospital. It seems that the FBI has her husband on tape refusing to send the hospital a promised $8 million in state funding unless they contributed to his "campaign fund." I live outside of Chicago and this was all over the news yesterday. Please don't buy her sob stories.

We watched the first 2 episodes. There's not a lot on TV right now, but I just can't watch it again. Just too awful...

I can't imagine this will stay on the air. What do you guys think?

There are no winners here. Everyone's a loser! LOL!

I really despise these "celebrity reinvent themselves" type of shows anyway. I'm not going to get sucked into it just because "it's for charity".

I also understand everyone's grip with "reality" television, but at least with shows like The Amazing Race, Survivor, American Idol, etc. you have real people trying make something of themselves or make a buck.

And at least the Amazing Race gives you an idea of what the country and their culture is really like. I guess we won't get a CR fix from this one!

I love the Amazing Race - there's no way that you can even compare it to this show!

Yes, Amazing Race is awesome, I miss it when it's not on :(

I guess a downside (well there are plenty) to this show is people seeing this show and thinking that is all CR has - snakes, bugs etc. Case in point - my sis just emailed me and mentioned she was watching it. She remembered they said it was 97 at night and how did I bear it. I will have to write her back & set her straight. ;)

I love the Amazing Race too! If all reality shows were that engrossing, I'd be forming a serious t.v. habit.

I also gave this "celebrity" show a look because I was thinking it would kick my anticipation into overdrive for my upcoming CR trip. It was painfully awful! :&

I like stamfam's question about whether we would want the type of people who regularly watch and enjoy a show like this invading our beloved Costa Rica. :-)

I like the Amazing Race too. I was comparing it in a good way, that it has justification whereas the celebrity shows do not. :-)

I didn't interpret your comments to be anti-Amazing Race, Hip. Your assessment was sound! :-)