Fox has announced that The Complex: Malibu, the network's new home renovation competition series, will debut on Monday, August 30 with a special two-hour 8-10PM ET/PT premiere. Following the two-hour special, the series will air in its regular 9PM ET/PT time period beginning Monday, September 6.
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The Complex: Malibu will move eight real-life couples into a cliffside apartment building in the Southern Californian coastal enclave of the rich and famous. Once there, the couples will put their construction, interior design and, most importantly, their relationship skills to the test for the chance to win a large cash prize. Home renovation can be stressful enough when it occurs under normal circumstances, but according to Fox, when it happens under the pressure of a tight budget, strict guidelines, and competitive neighbors, it can {insert evil laugh here} "tear a relationship apart." Picture The Amazing Race... only without all the travel.
The Complex will begin with eight couples competing for the opportunity to restore and redecorate one of four units. Under tight deadlines, the couples will battle each other for control of the units, while trying to add the most value to each of the rooms. A panel of real estate professionals - an interior designer, a real estate agent and an architect - will rank the rooms from best to worst and help decide the couples' fate: who stays and who goes. At the end of the show, the renovated units will be sold at public auction, and the couple whose unit nets the highest-percentage profit will receive the profits from all of the units.
Produced by FremantleMedia, the product placement kings behind Fox's hit American Idol, The Complex will be sponsored by Sears -- so be prepared to see the Sears logo plastered everywhere.
The eight couples participating in the competition are:
• Barney (age 67) and Rose (age 64) from Hauppauge, NY
• Brad (age 37) and Lew (age 39) from Phoenix, AZ
• Carl (age 30) and Kim (age 30) from Las Vegas, NV
• Dave (age 26) and Ana (age 27) from New York, NY
• Erik (age 31) and Jayna (age 28) from Dallas, TX
• Steve (age 28) and Nicole (age 27) from Chicago, IL
• Sanyika (age 24) and Monique (age 26) from Washington, DC
• Scott (age 32) and Sam (age 31) from Canton, GA
Now in its second season for Channel Nine in Australia, The Block was a huge hit in Australia, with last August's finale of its first season drawing Australia's highest television ratings of the last 15 years.
The Complex: Malibu is produced by FremantleMedia North America, Inc. If The Complex hopes to succeed in America then the first thing it will have to overcome is the less than stellar track record of executive producer Ted Haimes, who lists reality bombs Married By America and Temptation Island among his most prominent professional credits.
