Lifetime may have a monopoly on the made-for-TV dead celebrity biopic, but that’s not stopping the A&E network from continuing to greenlight outrageous reality shows. The network announced four new ones on Wednesday, including one that is bound to shock and cause debate.
Birth in the Wild is exactly what it sounds like. It will feature expecting mothers in their third trimester getting prepared to give birth to their child in the wild without assistance from doctors or medical professionals. It is produced by Matador and the network ordered eight hour-long episodes.
Lifetime has assured Entertainment Weekly that the show is safe. None of the mothers featured on the show will be first-time parents and they must be healthy. In addition, there will be emergency personnel just off camera in case something happens. The couple does pick the location, but the production does have to take place within a certain radius of a hospital.
“Our presence at these births is going to make them far safer than if they were doing it on their own,” Eli Lehrer, Lifetime’s senior VP and head of nonfiction programming, told EW.
The show is actually inspired by an online video that showed a woman giving birth in a rainforest. It has racked up 20 million views since it was posted.
Girlfriend Intervention features four African American women helping a white woman change her look. World of Wonder is producing and eight episodes of the show were ordered as well.
Ish Entertainment’s Kosher Soul earned 12 half-hour episodes and centers on stylist/comedian O’Neal McKnight and his wife, fellow stylist Miriam Sternoff. O’Neal is African American and Miriam is Jewish and family conflicts arise.
Lastly, Threads is a competition hosted by Vanessa Simmons with young fashion designers trying to win $25,000. THat earned eight episodes and is produced by The Weinstein Company, Sara Rea Productions and Full Picture.
Three shows are also in development: Smile, in which a person is given free dental care; Ugly Models about a unique U.K. modeling agency; and Worst Stylist Ever, in which bad hair stylists learn what they’re doing wrong.