okay, so this involves a little technology that doesn't exist yet, and is a little far fetched, but it'd be damn cool-
SOMEDAY, we'll have the ability to "patch in" to people's nerves. We'll be able to surgically implant a device attached to one's optic nerve and one's aural nerve, implant a transmitter, and have that person be a walking, talking camcorder. It might be (instead of the optic and aural nerve) those centers of the brain, as I'm sure the brain does some post-processing particularly on the image side (error-correction, image stabilization), and perhaps if we locate the right place on the brain, we could even tap into someone's internal monologue.
So anyway, once we have this technology, we could hold auditions and have a group of people be selected as possible candidates for the show. They sign a bunch of waivers and stuff, and understand that if selected, they will, without prior knowledge of their selection, be anesthetized in their sleep, have these devices implanted, and then be transported to a random location (e.g. botswana, togo, etc.) and dropped off there to wake up all by themselves with little or no money and just their clothes or few provisions. When they get home, they get $10M or something crazy.
I'd watch. Although I imagine the first hour or two of the show will be something like:
"What the %#$^!? Where the #$%@ am I? #&*$!!!"
It would also be cool because the viewer would hardly ever actually SEE the contestant.
And then, if it's possible for this technology to exist, then it should be just as possible for people to have RECEIVERS implanted, and then get to see/hear/smell/taste/feel what the contestant is experiencing.-- utexaspunk, Mar 30 2002 Lost http://www.channel4.../microsites/L/lost/Quite entertaining, if you like watching middle-class lackwits lose their minds in Uzbekistan. [calum, Mar 30 2002] It wasn't much fun watching narcissistic people do nothing from the outside. I have scant interest in what boring strangers are up to anyway, so the extra detail would be even less appreciated. I might be in the minority here, I don't know. Still, since you don't explain much of the "how" of your idea (just an assertion that this will be possible eventually), this stinks a little of WIBNI or even magic.-- mcscotland, Mar 30 2002 Why? I've seen 3 seconds (cumulative) of this dreck and it was far too much.-- thumbwax, Mar 30 2002 Although this idea brings to mind the WIBNI classification, there is much work being done in this area, and I myself have written ideas based on the concept of recording and replaying sensory input. So I really can't WIBNI this (utex, if you're not sure what that means, read the help page in the meta section, below the croissant - which you should, anyway).
However, I can think of few purposes that are greater wastes of the technology than this one. I suggest to you that the easiest and by far the most realistic way to accomplish this is to be the contestant.-- waugsqueke, Mar 30 2002 There was a UK TV programmme called "Being Caprice" which involved Caprice - a blonde calendar model of limited versatility - wearing specs with a wee camera in them. The show was made up entirely of "what Caprice sees" (a major balls up on the part of the programme makers: there's no point in paying money to have Caprice on your TV show unless the viewing public can see her). Anyway, it transpires that Caprice sees exactly the same things as everbody else - newsagents, dogs, concrete, cutlery etc. I for one would not want to sit in my house, staring through the TV at Milton Keynes (or wherever). If I wanted to do that, I'd go to Milton Keynes (or wherever) myself.
Anyway, the idea of "dumping people in lonely places with no money and the instruction 'find your own way home and you might win a prize'" is baked in the form of the Channel 4 programme "Lost." (see link)-- calum, Mar 30 2002 random, halfbakery