D&D Meets Reality TV: "The Quest" Premieres July 31

I'll admit, I'm a sucker for themed reality game shows. I loved The Mole (conspiracy/espionage), Murder in Small Town X (police procedural), and Pirate Master (errr...pirates). (And, although not a "game show," The Colony's post-apocalyptic angle fascinated me.) With the proliferation of reality shows nowadays, I had wondered why no one had yet tapped into the "fantasy world" genre. Well, looks like that's exactly what's coming to U.S. television in a few short weeks. The Quest will premiere July 31 on ABC. Here's the description of the show:

Announcing "The Quest," a reality show that literally takes contestants and audiences to an amazing, imaginative realm, where the ogres are advancing in the woods, the dragons are stirring, agents of a dark lord are infiltrating the keep, and the only thing that stands between peace and chaos are 12 very unlikely heroes. From the producers of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, paired with the producers of "The Amazing Race," "The Quest" is a fully immersive experience. In and around this castle, our fantasy realm comes to life with state-of-the art projections, animatronics, prosthetics, real-time motion capture and art direction. The narrative and mythology of "The Quest" is deep and fully imagined, and it was designed to incorporate seamlessly with the unexpected actions and decisions of our contestants – fantasy comes alive as it never has before in this genre-bending series. 

Gotta admit I'm intrigued enough to tune in for the first episode. Here's the trailer for the show: