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Will a New Mexico senator have to drink his own pee to survive on a desert island? Can his Arizona counterpart from the US Congress figure out how to spear a fish for dinner?
US Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., are expected to tackle the challenges of securing drinking water, shelter and food during a new television show called Rival Survival that is scheduled to air on The Discovery Channel at the end of October and promises to be at least slightly more entertaining than C-SPAN coverage of congressional debates.
The congressmen taped a show on Uru, part of the Marshall Islands, where they "put their political differences aside and work together for six days and six nights to find common ground through compromise if they want to survive," according to an announcement from Discovery.
Heinrich's press office issued three news releases today, one about the 13th anniversary of 9/11, one about the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, and a statement about campaign-finance reform efforts. But the official channels were silent about the TV show.
Laurie Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the Discovery Channel, said this statement comes from both leaders.
"Both of us know just how frustrated people are with Washington right now. We can both attest that no one is more frustrated than those of us trying to get things done in this environment. We recognize how difficult it can be to cut through the partisanship. So we decided to do something completely out of the ordinary and frankly a little extreme to show the world and our colleagues that even if you have serious differences, if you want to survive you have to work together. "
Here's the news release issued today from Discovery:
At a time when partisanship in U.S. politics litters the media landscape, Discovery Channel's RIVAL SURVIVAL brings together two real world political adversaries and maroons them on a remote island for a week. Disconnected from the world on an uninhabited island surrounded by shark infested waters that mirror the seemingly treacherous terrain of the U.S. Congress, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) must put their political differences aside and work together for six days and six nights to find common ground through compromise if they want to survive in RIVAL SURVIVAL which premieres on Discovery October 29 at 10PM ET/PT.
Sen. Flake, a true conservative Republican, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for six consecutive terms from 2001-2013 prior to his election to the U.S. Senate. Sen. Flake is a self-described reformer who attacks government spending and is vocal on hot-button issues like immigration reform. Last year, Sen. Flake and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) were part of the "Gang of 8" who teamed up to try to change immigration policies in the U.S. Sen. Heinrich, a member of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is a self-described conservationist and a strong progressive voice from New Mexico on issues that include education, health care and social security. Polar opposites and often at odds in the Senate, these two men must come together to take on the island of Eru, Marshall Islands, an utterly unforgiving deserted destination where the reefs alone are fraught with dangers that include venomous stonefish, lionfish and scorpion fish.
In RIVAL SURVIVAL, our senatorial adversaries turned survival teammates are given a modest choice of items from which they can select only three. Using only these limited resources and their wits, the pair must work together as they attempt to spear fish, build shelter and find enough water to survive for one week. There is no natural source for fresh water on Eru, and what lives in the ocean will be their major food source. This unusual pairing will leave behind the daily life of congressional staff, senate hearings and committee meetings to navigate the rigors of surviving on an isolated island with no contact with the outside world to call upon for help.
Once a pivotal point of control during World War II, Eru is home to the wreckage of downed WWII aircraft, and is also knows for what lurks in its waters -- the largest shark sanctuary in the world with more than 2,000,000 square miles of protected waters. The ban on shark fishing here has created one of the greatest shark populations on earth with nearly every major species of shark, including Black Tip Sharks, Oceanic White Tip Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Bull Sharks and Tiger Sharks, among others.
RIVAL SURVIVAL is produced for Discovery Channel by Renegade, the producers of Discovery's hit series Naked and Afraid, where David Garfinkle, Jay Renfroe and Sean Foley serve as Executive Producers. For Discovery, Denise Contis and Craig Coffman serve as Executive Producers.
Santa Fe Reporter