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I believe it's Jayna. Dan, what exactly do they do on that show?


I don't entirely know. The general idea is that it's Survivor meets This Old House or something along those lines. Eight couples are supposed to revamp apartments in the same complex, all given the same budget and presumably other wacky constraints. At the end, they are somehow judged or auctioned off or something, and whoever wins gets all the loot. There's also some sort of "kick you off the island" mechanism. At least before she left, she had absolutely nothing more than the vaguest idea of how all of this worked, mostly based on watching episodes of an Australian reality show ("The Block") upon which the Fox show is based. Once there, she was completely incommunicado. They were only allowed to bring one suitcase each of basic clothes and toiletries. No computers. No cel phones. No tools.

Well, she's back home now, but she's bound by something of a NDA, so she can't tell me squat. The NDA, all by itself, is quite a piece of work. She's "responsible" for keeping her family quiet. She can't have a personal web page. She can't give press interviews. On and on. Basically, Fox 0wns her. But, because reality shows are technically game shows, she doesn't get paid squat (unless, presumably she wins).

I knew some swing dancers who competed on a show last year, a revival of Dance Fever. They were eliminated in the first round of the judging and came out crying foul over many of the details of how poorly the show was run. I don't have terribly high hopes for this one being any better, but I'm going to have to suck it up and watch the damn show so I can see for myself.

Here's what the Fox web site says:

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From the creators of AMERICAN IDOL comes a new kind of makeover show. THE COMPLEX: MALIBU moves real-life couples into a cliffside apartment building in Southern California's coastal enclave of the rich and famous, and puts their construction, interior design and, most importantly, their relationship skills to the test with the chance to win a large cash prize. Home renovation under normal circumstances can be stressful enough to tear a relationship apart, but when couples are forced to keep within a tight budget and faced with strict deadlines and competitive neighbors, the stakes are even higher.

Eight couples will compete for the opportunity to restore and redecorate one of four units. Under tight deadlines, the couples will battle each other for control of the units, while trying to add the most value to each of the rooms. A panel of real estate professionals - an interior designer, a real estate agent and an architect - will rank the rooms from best to worst and help decide the couples' fate: who stays and who goes. The renovated units will be sold at public auction, and the couple whose unit nets the highest-percentage profit will receive the profits from ALL of the units.

THE COMPLEX: MALIBU is based on the hit Australian show, "The Block," now in its second season. The first season finale last August drew the highest rating of any show in that country in 15 years.