truTV Green-Lights Six Series

Former Court TV Also Details Four Series Still in Development

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/3/2008 2:59:00 PM

truTV picked up six series, the network announced Monday. truTV also detailed four series still in development.

The six series given the green-light were:

• Black Gold, a reality show from Deadliest Catch producer Thom Beers, which follows Texas oil prospectors, or “wildcatters,” as they compete to find some black gold;

• Man vs. Cartoon will have scientists and engineers put some of the chaos featured in Warner Bros. cartoons to the test. The show, reminiscent of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters, is being brought to the network by Warner Horizon Television and Pilgrim Productions, which produces Dirty Jobs and American Chopper, also on Discovery;

• Principal’s Office (working title) will examine an area familiar to any television viewer: high school. Specifically the show will follow high-school administrators as they deal with the conflict that naturally arises with teen angst;

• Rich & Reckless (working title) will examine the lives of the rich and famous “as they make the classic mistake of believing that their lives of privilege put them above the law”;

• Crisis Point (working title) will take viewers inside life-threatening situations, told by the people who experienced them; and

• Ski Patrol (working title) follows the title characters as they patrol the slopes and keep the mountains safe for skiers.

The four series in development are:

• Maui Chopper, which chronicles helicopter pilots on the Hawaiian island as they try to rescue people in need;

• Driving Me Mad, which will feature driving expert Pete Hosmer coaching a new person every week on how to be a good driver and showing the dangers of not being one;

• Sky Racers, which follows the daily routine of a news-helicopter pilot in Los Angeles -- an area B&C examined last August; and

• One False Move, which follows people whose jobs put them on the brink of disaster, such as rescue crews.

truTV did not provide release dates for the new series.