On June 5, Fox’s reality and game show Stars on Mars premieres. Twelve adventurous celebrities landed on Mars. On the red planet, they lived, ate, bonded, and worked with each other. The series will air on Mondays at 8:00 PM EST and features an impressive cast list.
William Shatner narrated the series. Marshawn Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Tinashe competed on the show. Lance Armstrong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Ariel Winter, and Natasha Leggero appeared on the show. Amanda Rippon, Richard Sherman, Porsha Williams, and Tallulah Willis collaborated as well. The series has a great production team and film set.
Australian-American television studio Eureka Productions worked on the show. Stars on Mars films in a South Australian town called Coober Pedy. The area’s desert looks like Mars’ red landscape. It was the perfect backdrop for an astronaut simulation. The elaborate film set looked like a theme park ride. Celebrities competed in high-stakes challenges.
The episode opened with impressive establishing shots of the desert. Shatner said, “In the year 2023, twelve celebrities embarked on an unprecedented mission.” This set up a convincing experiment. The first experiments took place at 8:30 AM.
Lights blared and the words “incoming astronaut” played on the set. A screen appeared which said their name and profession. Each celebrity entered the decontamination chamber. Then, they claimed their lockers and space suits. Some stars had witty one-liners.
“Oh god!” shouted Mintz-Plasse. The decontamination chamber splashed him with water. “This will be a true challenge: standing here, full glam, in an astronaut outfit,” Tinashe explained. Armstrong delivered an inspirational voiceover.
As a child, he looked at the other planets in the sky. He wondered “What would it be like to live on another planet?” This reality show answered that question with vibrant shots of celestial objects. Shatner introduced the episode’s challenge.
Robotic cameras captured the activity. The actors repaired a communications tower outside the space station. Previously, they used it to communicate with Shatner from Earth. Two celebrities stayed behind and gave instructions. The other stars wore helmets, space suits, and gloves, which made the task more difficult. After they returned, the stars were covered in sand and sediments.
The astronauts received an incoming call from Shatner. In a nail-biting scene, he asked them to eliminate a star from the space simulation. The team’s “base commander” had to decide who to remove. “Y’all did a hell of a job,” said one of the actors. Stars who stayed in the simulation received leadership patches.
