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Sparrowhawk
08-28-02, 06:23 PM
Pseudo Celebs Enter "Boot Camp"
by Julie Keller
Aug 27, 2002, 3:00 PM PT

If you thought the star wattage on Celebrity Boxing was low, check out the cast of Fox's upcoming Celebrity Boot Camp.

Maybe they should have called it Former Celebrity Boot Camp.

Despite the name, the list reveals that the hottest name on the list is...rapper Coolio, whose main claim to fame was the mid-'90s hit "Gangsta's Paradise." That and some unruly hair.

Joining Coolio will be a cast worthy of a Love Boat episode: former pop idol (and Playboy centerfold) Tiffany; O.J. house guest Kato Kaelin; Married...with Children's David Faustino; surviving Milli Vanilli lip-syncer Fabrice Morvan; Baywatch babe Traci Bingham; enriched popster Vitamin C; Lorenzo Lamas of Falcon Crest fame; Brady Bunch star Barry Williams; and Price Is Right spokesmodel Nikki Schieler Ziering.

The show, based on last year's celebrity-free Boot Camp, pairs the pseudo stars with two real-life Marine Corps instructors who will run them through a variety of mental and physical tests. The weak will be eliminated until just two stars remain standing. The finalists will then be put through "The Gauntlet," an eight-hour battle of wits and brawn. The winner, who will take home up to $100,000, will be determined using a combination of the dismissed recruits' votes and total "Gauntlet" victories.

"Deprived of their usual luxuries, the celebrities will be forced to put their own personal limits to the test," says a release from the network.

Though its unclear just what the luxury level is for stars like Barry Williams, who got clobbered by Danny Bonaduce on the first Celebrity Boxing, this new show is certainly not the first to try Tinseltown casting to keep the public's eyes trained on reality TV programming.

Fear Factor did it last year in an episode in which the victor turned out to be... Coolio. Celebrity Boxing drew stellar ratings for its first and second installments. And CBS kicked around the possibility of a celebrity version of Survivor, but the idea was eventually shelved. Instead, producer Mark Burnett recently announced plans for a "Tournament of Champions," which would pit the four winners and popular non-winners against one another for the $1 million prize.

Incidentally, the original Boot Camp drew ire from the producers of Survivor, who claimed the show was a blatant rip-off. Fox then accused CBS of rigging the show to draw ratings. A nasty set of lawsuits ensued, which were eventually settled quietly out of court last year.

Meanwhile, Celebrity Boot Camp kicks off September 30 on Fox. The fifth installment of the CBS hit, Survivor: Thailand, debuts September 19.

http://cache.eonline.com/News/Photos/b/bootcamp.082702.jpg

Sophora
08-28-02, 08:21 PM
darn..I go to bed at 7pm..I won't be able to watch it :cry: