Cnn
–
The Ministry of Internal Security examines an argument of reality TV where immigrants would compete for American citizenship, according to a spokesperson who declared in a statement to CNN that “the program is in the first stages of this verification process and had not received approval or denial by staff”.
A producer who presented the idea to DHS said that he was considering that the show was a “positive love letter to America” while rejecting criticism that it would be “hitting” on competitors.
Rob Worsoff, himself a Canadian immigrant whose credits include “The Millionaire Matchmaker”, “Duck Dynasty” and “The Biggest Loser”, said that he had presented the idea of his program as far as the Obama administration. He said he had three conversations with the current DHS on his field – “and they went far” – but said that secretary Kristi Noem was involved in any of the discussions.
Worsoff told Kaitlan Collins de CNN later Friday evening: “I’m not now where they are exactly now, but I have the impression that we tend in the right direction.”
DHS assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, told CNN in a statement that the DHS “receives hundreds of television land per year, ranging from documentaries surrounding the ice and the functioning of CBP borders to white collars by HSI. Each proposal undergoes a process of in -depth verification before refusal or approval.”
The Daily Mail and the Wall Street Journal previously reported on the show. McLaughlin denied aspects of the previous report in the Daily Mail, however, saying that Noem had not “supported” or even examined the field of a scripted or reality TV program “.
Worsoff said he was considering that his program be “the biggest loser” for immigration “- referring to the old reality TV show where overweight candidates have contributed to see who would lose the most weight, and who had also been criticized as for its content.
But he insisted: “There is no one losing in this program – it is ridiculous to suggest the opposite.”
“These are all the people who are likely to become future Americans,” said Worsoff. “They are all people with an online place. They are all people of good candidates. I do not hit personal – I offer someone the opportunity to jump forward from the line and no one else loses. In fact, everyone online will be humanized and we will know their face and history and we will love them and maybe they will hold a job, or maybe they will send other opportunities. ”
He provided CNN parts of a pitch deck for the show with a working title “The American”.
A description of the field for a show can be read as follows: “Competitors will represent a large demography of ages, ethnic groups and talents. We will join the laughter, tears, frustration and joy – hearing their stories – as we are reminding how surprising it is to be American, through the eyes of 12 wonderful people who want nothing more than what we have – and what we often take for granted: freedom, freedom, opportunity and honor of what we are American. ”
Each episode would include a heritage challenge, an elimination challenge, a meeting of the city of the city and a final vote, according to the game. Worsoff declared that the heritage challenge will be adapted to specific places – a “Rush gold” challenge in San Francisco, for example, or a “pizza” challenge in New York or a challenge “NASA” in Florida – to present “how is the cool of America”.
Worsoff told Collins on “The Source” that he envisages each episode ending with a city meeting, “as in a presidential election.”
“The inhabitants of Tennessee, say, will vote on which of our future Americans that they would like to represent the state of Tennessee the most,” said Worsoff.
He previously recognized that the issues would be raised for the candidates, but said that it was not a bad thing.
“I hope that any competition reality TV show will have challenges,” Worsoff told CNN. “Yeah, I’m not going to apologize for this fact that there are real issues in the series. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I think it’s a good thing.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
Kaanita Iyer of CNN contributed to this report.
