I consider myself quite the conneissure of reality television, as I'll consume just about anything that's put on a screen in front of me, but even I didn't see this Mr. & Mrs. Smith reality show coming. Just when I thought I'd seen everything, producers found a way to bring the movie to the small screen without bringing its original stars, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, along with it. In case you don't recall, because you've been living under a rock on in a medically-induced coma, the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith was where Jolie and Pitt met, fell in love, and took their first steps toward being the Jolie-Pitt Family that we know and love today. They played husband and wife in the film, who then discover that they are both are coincidentally secret agents and assassins whose rival firms have hired them each to kill off the other. Drama!
In the reality TV version, regular-person married couples will participate in a "high-octane, high-stakes" competition that we have almost no further details about, but, if I had to guess, I'd predict they'll have to alternately face off against each other and work together in challenges that are designed to spice up their marriages. Who knows.
The only thing I'm sure of is that I can't quite imagine how this whole thing will work, and it's gotten me thinking about other movies that would translate in a similarly odd manner, and what they would require you to do. Like these ones, for example.
1. Clue
Like the board game that preceded it, this 1985 murder mystery places six people in a house with a dead body and forces them to determine who's responsible. Kind of like the mole, I guess, but maybe with the ability to continue killing people off, one every week? Gotta be honest, I would one hundred percent apply for this show. Whodunnit? came close, but that was more And Then There Were None than Clue.
2. Groundhog Day
I feel like the person thinks they're joining a dating show or a competition or something, and just wakes up in the exact same situation every single day, like Bill Murray did in this 1993 movie with Andie MacDowell. And no one will answer their questions or acknowledge that they're on a show, and — oh wait, I might have accidentally described a nightmare.
3. Cabin In The Woods
This one would be similar to Big Brother, just with all the concepts pulled from the 2012 thriller that parodies other horror movies. There would be one group of contestants inside the house, with another group trying to control them from outside and get them to complete certain tasks or initiate certain actions.
4. Contagion
I'm super interested in observing people's behavior in an emergency, so what better way to observe their reactions than by simulating a disaster like the one in this 2011 film about a worldwide epidemic? You'd have to rely on each other to get stuff done, and, if you became exposed to anyone with the "disease," you'd be automatically out.
5. Freaky Friday
Moms and kids switch places to learn about and love each other more like in the 2003 movie. THIS IS GENUINELY A VERY GOOD IDEA. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
6. Mrs. Doubtfire
People in disguise try to get hired into the households of close friends or family, and hilarity ensues! Modeled after the 1993 movie starring Robin Williams as a deadbeat dad who dresses up like a nanny to get back in his children's lives.
7. The Parent Trap
This one could be a complete disaster, but it would be kids trying to complete challenges that would somehow bring their separated or divorced parents back together, like in the 1961 or 1998 movies starring Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan, respectively. Oh, and, I'm sorry, did I say this one could be a total disaster? I mispoke — it will be.
8. Jumanji
Would love to watch human beings in a house play a game that could come to life at any time and transport them all over the globe or into monsoons or make lions appear, a la the 1995 film starring our boy Robin Williams again.
Am I the only one who would submit for any and all of these shows? Let's get to work pitching them, guys.
Images: giphy (8)
