A Pitch for The History Channel

Alone is good entertainment. I keep showing up to watch it despite the familiar story arcs and predictable outcomes reinforced across several seasons. Each year I say “we don’t need to watch this, it’s just gonna be more of the same.” And then we watch each episode as rapidly as it’s available depending on when we locked in to the release cadence.

I’d like to see a companion show to bridge the gap between seasons of Alone. Connected. The premise of Connected would be endurance, just like Alone. But instead of going into the wilderness to survive on bushcraft, the contestants go into a one bedroom apartment to live a larp of luxury. They’ll inhabit the kind of cookie cutter apartment buildings that show up adjacent to the interstate in developing cities. Perfectly curated to live a simple life.

Contestants can choose any 10 items for their stay in this monument to suburbia. Instead of choosing amongst hatchets, saws, or bows and arrows, they choose which devices they’ll need to thrive in their frictionless survival. They can have laptops, phones, e-readers, coffee brewers, pots, pans, utensils, treadmills, washing machines, dryers, a bed, a book, a mirror, anything. It’s their choice, just like Alone.

Running water, unfettered internet access, and a reasonable monthly budget are provided. The only thing contestants are not permitted to experience is the real witness of another human being. All interactions must be mediated through a screen. Any arrival of supplies or exchange of services happens in an air-lock style entryway with no liminal interactions with another human.

Contestants can order anything they want and have it delivered within their budget. They can sign up for Netflix. They can subscribe to an AI companion. They can send their laundry to a dry cleaner if they opted to forego the machine. They can invest their money in the market and increase their capital if they want to take that risk. These contestants live as hyper-connected as possible in the digital world, and see how long they can endure.

Contestants tap out by walking out. No calls for retrieval. Just a step outside the one bedroom apartment.

Medical checks don’t exist on this show because the apartment is filled with closed circuit cameras that are running all the time and vitals are recorded daily. If someone is going to be pulled for medical reasons, there is no hint from previous checks or the periodic feedback of possible decline. When the decision gets made by producers, the air lock is replaced by the door opening straight into the natural world. Every time a contestant prepares to fetch new supplies, they face the dread that they might find themselves losing. It’s a constant anxiety engine to know they’re always being monitored but never receiving feedback about how it’s going.

The winner’s reward is a pension that pays exactly enough to cover a one bedroom apartment with utilities and match the contestant’s monthly budget for the rest of their life. The reward for enduring Connected is guaranteed provisions to pursue connection.