MUMBAI: Utopia: a word we have mostly seen being used in literary articles, often times in reference to a society that the entire human community desires to live in. Literally, the word means a community or society that possesses highly desirable or perfect qualities. While most of us are still wondering if it’s feasible to have an Utopian society, FOX, one of the major American Television networks, seems to be working on the idea to create one such society with a new reality show, Utopia – an adaptation of a Dutch reality show of the same name.

The Network has given a series order to executive producer and creator John de Mol, Jr. (The Voice, Big Brother).

Utopia moves a group of everyday people to an isolated, undeveloped location for an entire year. Throughout the course of the year, the group is followed by cameras 24/7 and challenged to create their own civilisation. The US series is envisioned to last a year but its length will depend on what happens in Utopia. As the Utopians build the new society, each contestant must try to become indispensable to the group or risk being exiled to their regular lives and replaced by potential newcomers. (The original series has new participants joining at part of the elimination process, but it has not been determined whether the FOX version will feature that.) Cameras will follow the pioneers 24/7, with their efforts chronicled weekly on FOX and also online. The online component of the original series has been very successful, something the producers will try to replicate in the U.S.

The show premiered in Holland earlier this month, where it was SBS 6's top-rated unscripted series premiere in six years. Utopia continued as the No. 1 series in its Monday through Friday time period for 10 consecutive nights.

Casting and location scouting for the U.S. series of Utopia will begin almost immediately.