Solitary is a reality show on the Fox Reality Channel whose contestants were kept in round-the-clock solitary confinement for a number of weeks with the goal of being the last contestant remaining in solitary, for a $50,000 prize. It was the channel's first original series commission with its debut on May 29, 2006. The last season, Solitary 4.0, ended on March 20, 2010.
A German version is broadcast on German TV channel ProSieben, and a Brazilian version was broadcast on SBT between 2010 and 2011. Solitary 3.0 also broadcast in Singapore.
Premise The show calls itself a "social experiment" in determining the physical and mental endurance of the competitors.
The show's theme is based on solitary confinement; accordingly, the contestants are placed in isolated pods, with only an artificial intelligence named Val to communicate with. In reality, Val's voice is a computer-modified human voice. In the first season, Val was voiced by the show creator who was male and whose voice was altered; for all remaining seasons, Val was voiced by actress Keri Tombazian. In season 2, Val's voice has only minorby Keri Tombazian computer modification. However, some "corruption" can be heard in the voice pattern where Val speaks a word or two in a similar voice to season 1. In the subsequent rebroadcast of the season 1 episodes, the producers replaced the computer-sounding voice with the more feminine voice that was used in season 2. In the season 3 episode "Rest In Pieces," Val's "eye" turns red and its voice takes a deep, sonorous, distorted tone, similar to that of Jigsaw in Saw, while giving instructions for the episode's test. Val is possibly a reference to HAL, the demented computer who takes over the spaceship in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The AI and main antagonist GLaDOS from the video game Portal bears a slight resemblance in tone and voice to Val. Val also often makes references to the fact that she is a computer (e.g. by saying "If I had feelings, they would be hurt right now").
No contact with the outside worldor other competitorsis permitted, with the following exceptions: At the very beginning, a final two-minute phone call is permitted. The guests had a chance to send a letter to their loved one. (In season 2, at one point, Val gave them pen and paper.) In season 1, on two occasions, the guests were allowed to speak to each other, but only through Val. In season 2, another phone call was auctioned off in the fourth episode, and the last two contestants in the final were allowed to taunt each other via Val. In season 3, contestants were randomly paired in pods for the first challenge in the first episode, and the last two contestants were again allowed to taunt each other via Val in the final. In season 4, guests were given the opportunity to send a message via Val to number 6, as he was considering sharing his reward of beer and peanuts.
Beyond the social isolation, there is also isolation from time, with no clocks, watches, or other timepieces available to contestants. There are no environmental time cues (sunlight or moonlight).
The environment is completely controlled, from temperature, light, access to a restroom, food, etc. In addition, the room is roughly octagonal, adding another disorienting aspect.
Players are only referred to by their number, not their name. This is an additional separation from the world, as their identity is reduced to a number. (This is similar to The Prisoner.) Out of respect, Val did call two contestants by name at the termination of their experiences: season 3's "RobRob" and season 2 and 4's Tyler.
A season 1 episode stated that alcohol was not permitted. However, one guest received a plate of cheese and a glass of wine as a prize in season 3 and another won beer and peanuts in season 4.
Format Each season starts with the players finding themselves in their "pods", small octagonal cells approximately across, and identified by Val by the number of their pod. The pods include a "meal slot" where food and other items may be given to the players as part of the "treatment"; several cameras, microphones, and one-way mirrors; and a lockable door to an "ante-pod" chamber where players may use the bathroom, be sequestered while challenges are set up in the pods, or for further interviews. Most importantly, the pods each contain a flat-screen television representing Val and red and green push buttons below it.
The environment of the pods is under control of Val, including the lighting, the temperature, and other features such as a retractable bed that may be offered at times. While players are given sufficient water, their meals are rationed, typically consisting of either a tasteless "nutrition bar" or a very small portion of a food item, e.g. a single grape or almond. However, as either a reward or part of a challenge, players are sometimes given larger amounts of more nourishing food items. Furthermore, while each pod is equipped with a proper bed, Val will often limit the amount of sleep the players get by making sure they stay awake, though the players are granted short sleep periods at times. Players only communicate with Val during the game, with Val being their proxy should they be allowed to "communicate" to another player.
Once in the game, players are required to perform actions as instructed by Val. Players must press the green button to request permission to use the bathroom or make other similar requests. Outside of the "Treatment" phase, the player may hit the red button at any time to indicate they wish to quit the game.
The game then cycles between "Tests" and "Treatments", along with other less strenuous activities that may be conducted by Val. During a "Test", players will compete against each other (though unaware of how the other players are performing) in completing a task set by Val. These tasks are generally physically and mentally grueling, taking several hours to complete. For example, players may have to use a piece of exercise equipment a certain number of times to gain a portion of a brain teaser to be solved. There are often additional distractions that will occur during the Test, such as Val interjecting random facts to throw off counting. Val will inform players when they are correct but will wait until either all the players have finished or after a certain amount of time before announcing the winner. The Test winner has immunity from the upcoming Treatment, and in some cases has the ability to handicap another player in the upcoming Treatment, such as by making them perform an extra round before the other players start. Sometimes, an extra reward is given to the Test winner to make their Immunity more enjoyable, such as a decent amount of sleep on their bed or a decent sized portion of real food items (usually in the form of a well rounded meal consisting of the Test winner's favorite foods).
The "Treatment" phase is generally a more painful endurance exercise, such as sleeping on a bed of small rods, spinning quickly around in a chair, or "jumping" a heavy rope. Some Treatments are simply endurance tests with no set bounds, while other Treatments are broken into a number of rounds with increasingly more difficult goals to achieve. In the latter case, if a player cannot finish a round, they are sometimes given the opportunity to do a penalty round to catch up, though further exhausting that player. Some treatments would have each round be competitive. In this case, the player who did the best in each round was allowed to skip the next round, while the player who did the worst had to do the penalty round, which increased in difficulty with each penalty round endured. At any time during the Treatment, a player may hit the red button to quit the Treatment, at which point they no longer have to participate; they also may be forced to press the red button should they break any of the rules of the Treatment (in particular, if a contestant vomits during a Treatment where food items are being consumed, Val declares that "your body will have quit for you"). However, the first player to hit the red button during the treatment will be required to leave the show. (There was one instance in season two when Val decided prior to one particular Treatment that no one would be excluded, although no mention was made of this until after the Treatment was over.) The other players are not told when a player has left the Treatment, and generally the Treatment continues from the end of one show into the start of the next with the remaining players attempting to outlast the others. After a given amount of time or a number of rounds, Val will inform the remaining players the Treatment is over, allowing them to continue in the game. Shortly thereafter, Val will notify the remaining contestants as to which guest has been eliminated.
When the game is down to two players, a final Test may reward the winning player with a brief advantage during the final Treatment. As with other Treatments, the Treatment continues until either both players press the red button or until a set amount of time passes after one player has pressed the button. The player that outlasts the other in the final Treatment is awarded $50,000, although in the way the show is broadcast, Val keeps the winner inside their chamber forever, as in 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, or the winner is seen being killed by the final treatment, as in 1.0 (although, of course, this is simply part of the story, and in reality, the winner is permitted to leave immediately following their victory).
Season 1
Players
Pod Contestant Age Occupation Synopsis Ranking 1 21 Travel agent College student Eliminated 6th 2 31 Personal trainer Mother of two daughters Eliminated 2nd 3 29 Fashion designer The show turned her shyness into an outgoing personality Eliminated 7th 4 30 Writer Was born in Romania Eliminated 5th 5 36 Martial arts instructor A Divorced Buddhist Eliminated 8th, Runner-up 6 25 Stuntman Obsessed with hair gel and Chapstick Eliminated 4th, Outside of a treatment 7 35 High School English teacher Break dancer Winner 8 29 Beautician Once a member of a fight club Eliminated 3rd 9 28 Member of Mensa Working for a non-profit organization Eliminated 1st
Episodes
Episode 0: The Road to Solitary Original airdate: May 29, 2006
"The Road to Solitary" episode shows behind the scene footage of cast auditions, setting up for the season, the crew, and other such things. It is revealed that Florin wasn't originally going to be on the show; he was a backup cast member in case one backed out. He made it onto the program after Chris decided that he didn't like how the crew handled getting him to the set; at which point Florin was picked over Ariel, the other backup cast member. When Ariel learned she hadn't been picked, she was allowed to walk around backstage and see what the show was like. The episode also shows several challenges that didn't make it into the program because they were too much of a health risk, such as sitting in a tub of ice water as long as possible, as well as how the octagonal rooms were conceived.
Episode 1: The Experiment Begins Original airdate: June 5, 2006