Celebrity Survival with Stephen Baldwin and Janice Dickinson of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! by Troy Rogers
In
a driven TV age where viewers can't get enough
on-screen reality as entertainment, the next step
in the evolution of "un-scripted drama" was to
combine both the still-popular small-screen sub-genre
with the current craze of celebrity. On Monday,
June 1, NBC is going back in time to the TV days
of Swiss Family Robinson to give reality fans
"I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," a survival
competition that sees 10 celebrities dropped off
in a Costa Rican jungle to square off against
each other in comedic challenges designed to put
their survival skills to the celeb based reality
test.
Debuting for two hours on June 1 at 8pm, "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" corrals a number of well-known names into one tropical survival arena with a cast that includes The Hills stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, former NBA star and TV personality John Salley, supermodel Janice Dickinson, popular 2007 American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar, actor Stephen Baldwin and professional wrestler Torrie Wilson.
Although we caught up with Stephen Baldwin and Janice Dickinson at a time when former controversial Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, was slated to be a contestant, we’ve since learned that the governor's wife, Patti Blagojevich, will be taking his spot in the "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" line-up.
Although we only spent a brief few minutes
with Stephen Baldwin and Janice Dickinson on
the recent conference call, here's a look at
the color convo we had with the two survival
celebrities prior to Patti Blagojevich joining
the show.
THE
DEADBOLT: Who surprised you the most when
you saw the cast list?
JANICE DICKINSON: What's that mean?
THE DEADBOLT: Who were you surprised to see on the show?
DICKINSON: The Governor.
STEPHEN BALDWIN: Yeah, Blago [Rod Blagojevich] is pretty gnarly.
DICKINSON: I didn’t know how to take the Governor. Well true, that, Stephen. I didn’t know how to take the Governor, because I’m an American - a frigging die-hard American - and I thought maybe he was going to sell his spot.
BALDWIN: Well, the other thing is -
I mean, everybody is still kind of curious,
if and why, and how he’s going to participate.
I mean, not to put you on the spot, but even
last night someone was saying to me, ‘Is he
going to be doing something remote from America,
or this or that?’ I don’t have an answer to
that. I don’t know if he’s still involved or
not.
DICKINSON:
Yeah, these producers are really clever. I didn’t
get that at all. You know, I welcome it, Stephen.
I’m really looking forward to it, to just going
out chopping wood. I can’t wait to hear some
of your stories. You’re so talented and experienced.
I just can’t wait. It’s going to be so much
fun.
[John] Salley, I don’t know. He’s already got his hands all over me. I told him to keep his filthy hands off of me. Heidi [Montag] and Spencer [Pratt], dude, I just saw them the other day at the gas station. They’re like, ‘The three of us we have to pull together. We’re only going to last three weeks anyway, we’ve got other things to do.’ I didn’t like that attitude, because I’m in it to win. Aren’t you, Stephen? I’m in it for my charity.
BALDWIN: Yeah, I’m going to do the best I can. I think I was most surprised by Sanjaya [Malakar], because I met him and talked to him for about 10 seconds... I think he’s going to be dead in 5 minutes.
THE DEADBOLT: Stephen, Janice mentioned that she doesn’t like rats. Is there anything in the outdoors that freaks you out, like snakes, spiders?
BALDWIN:
No, I’m really into all of that stuff. You’re
speaking to a Fear Factor champion, and one
of the things I did during Fear Factor was;
I had to lay in a coffin-like device with worms,
snakes, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches on
my face. When I had the cockroaches on my face
it was kind of cool.
DICKINSON: Stephen, honestly, seriously, where do you go in your mind? Help us all out. Where do you go in your mind that allows you to do something like that? How do you do it, just how?
BALDWIN: You just said it. It’s like the Apocalypse Now kind of thing. I go into like Colonel Walter E. Kurtz mode. You know, the Brando character there. You know, just make yourself one with the insects.
DICKINSON: Okay, my hat’s off to you for that. You’re rad.
This is truly amazing - the saddest excuse for a TV show. Not so sure why they call it I'm a Celebrity...get me out of here!...it should be "I'm a looser ...who wants to be, used to be, or never will be a CELEBRITY". Shame on NBC for airing such trash.
mxo'brien – Boston area
June 03, 2009 - 18:41
Subject: "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here"
I have a weakness for tacky reality shows and am a "Survivor" fan. Your show, though, exceeds all boundaries of good taste. Tell me it's a satire, please. The portrayal of Christianity is particularly offensive. If you're serious, it's insulting. If you're not serious, it's insulting. That's just a start. This is a graduate course in the making.
Yvonne Reyes – Beaumont,CA
June 02, 2009 - 23:39
Subject: can we talk about homeless and troups
also why do actors say that acting is so hard when they are a bunch of whining babies,except The tall black guy he has an awesome sense of humor
Reply to Yvonne Reyes
Larry
June 03, 2009 - 20:24
Subject: Re: can we talk about homeless and troups
I have to agree with you, John Salley is cool. Janice Dickinson should sue her plastic surgeon...she looks horrible.
In
a driven TV age where viewers can't get enough
on-screen reality as entertainment, the next step
in the evolution of "un-scripted drama" was to
combine both the still-popular small-screen sub-genre
with the current craze of celebrity. On Monday,
June 1, NBC is going back in time to the TV days
of Swiss Family Robinson to give reality fans
"I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," a survival
competition that sees 10 celebrities dropped off
in a Costa Rican jungle to square off against
each other in comedic challenges designed to put
their survival skills to the celeb based reality
test.
THE
DEADBOLT: Who surprised you the most when
you saw the cast list?
DICKINSON:
Yeah, these producers are really clever. I didn’t
get that at all. You know, I welcome it, Stephen.
I’m really looking forward to it, to just going
out chopping wood. I can’t wait to hear some
of your stories. You’re so talented and experienced.
I just can’t wait. It’s going to be so much
fun.
BALDWIN:
No, I’m really into all of that stuff. You’re
speaking to a Fear Factor champion, and one
of the things I did during Fear Factor was;
I had to lay in a coffin-like device with worms,
snakes, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches on
my face. When I had the cockroaches on my face
it was kind of cool.