Court TV unveils new reality shows

In ‘The Chase,’ contestants try to evade trackers

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Hollywood Reporter

updated 2:22 p.m. ET March 29, 2004

NEW YORK - Court TV is hot on “The Chase,” one of several new reality series the cable channel is set to unveil for advertisers Monday.

Inspired by films like “The Fugitive,” “Chase” drops a couple of contestants in a remote location with 24 hours to elude a team of professional trackers and find a cash prize. The April 30 special, which functions as a backdoor pilot, will take place along the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert.

“Chase” exemplifies Court TV’s efforts to transcend its documentary core in more youth-friendly unscripted formats, network president Art Bell said. “We are taking our programming in an expanded direction,” he said.

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“Chase” contestants will wear orange prison jumpsuits and be chained at the waist. The tracking team will be led by Tom Browne, a specialist whose work inspired the similar Tommy Lee Jones film “The Hunted.”

“It’s like a big game of hide-and-seek, but we want it to feel real,” said executive producer Robert Dustin.

Court has also given the go-ahead to six episodes each for previously aired pilots “Impossible Heists,” which will premiere in December, and “House of Clues,” which joins the schedule April 30.

The network also will stay in the original-film business with “Jury of Our Peers,” starring Stephanie Seymour, and has an upcoming special produced by music mogul Russell Simmons called “Hip-Hop Justice.”

Court is hoping the new offerings will build off the success it has met with younger viewers with returning series “Psychic Detectives.”