When I saw the promos for this show I was very excited. I love pirates and maritime history and I love reality TV. For me this show is like a Reeses, two great tastes that taste great together. The crew of 16 pirate wanna-bes will spend 33 days living aboard a 179-foot pirate ship as they sail around the island of Dominica in the Caribbean.

For the most part it sounds like this show will follow the formulas used by most reality shows. The ‘crew’ will face challenges each week as they go on adventures to compete and gain clues to the treasure’s whereabouts. At the end of every episode, at the Pirate’s Court (i.e., Tribal Council from Survivor) one pirate will be voted off or ‘cast adrift’ as they say. Another pirate, the one who accumulated the most gold will be made Pirate Captain (i.e., project manager ala The Apprentice) who will be in charge and assign duties to the other crew members.

The most interesting twist to this show is the gold. Each week the contestants will find actual gold coins (worth a total of $500,000) which are theirs to keep even if they get booted off the show. The twist is that they can use the money in the game as well to bribe and buy the loyalty of the other crew members. At the end of the series, the final remaining pirate will become the Pirate Master and win the remaining treasure worth another $500,000. With any luck, the contestants will take the whole pirate thing to heart and make this a really cut throat series.

Pirate Master will be hosted by Australian actor Cameron Daddo. The show is set to ride the coat tails of Pirates of the Caribbean 3, At World’s End which hits theaters the weekend before. Pirate Master premieres Thursday May 31st, at 8PM on CBS,

CBS has created an elaborate fictitious back story for this show which runs to 8 pages on their website. If you think you might watch the show, it might be worth reading the full story. Here is the short version. The pirate, Captain Henry Steel and his band of cut throats sailed around the world raiding over 100 ships. Finally fed up with his depredations the crown sent a warship out after him. Knowing he could not escape, he and his crew decide to bury their treasure.

Captain Steel had a special chest from Zanzibar with 15 drawers, one for him and each of his band. Each pirate buried his key and created a map to its location, the map would then be locked in one of the chest’s compartments. So to open the chest and get the booty, you have to find the first key then open the next compartment to get the map to the next key, then repeat 14 more times. What a coincidence there just happens to be 15 compartments and 16 contestants. Obviously we will lose a contestant each time they get a new map. After hiding the keys and burying the treasure, the pirates sail out to do battle with the Royal Navy all of whom die in a bloody clash on the high seas.

As you might expect the historical accuracy of this show leaves a lot to be desired. As far as I can tell (and I actually did some research in my own books, at the library, and online), the blood thirsty Captain Henry Steel never existed. Although his story does bear some resemblance to Black Beard’s. Their “pirate ship”, while an actual sailing vessel, looks more like a prop from a theme park than a real pirate ship. It is certainly not anything you would find available in 1726 the supposed year of Captain Henry Steel’s final days. Based on the shape of the bow, configuration of the rigging, and location of the boats, I would have to guess late 19th, more likely early 20th century.

While I am very excited about this show, I am trying to keep my expectations in check. Pirate Master could go either way. The reality TV shows which air during the summer are typically not very good. I think the idea of bribing the other people on the show for loyalty, favors, and support has a lot of potential. But, the concept, set, and costumes (did I mention they have to wear pirate costumes?) all look pretty cheesy. It has the potential to be really good or go the way of Small Town X and be canceled after 3 or 4 weeks. Either way, I will definitely be watching and reporting here at Wild Bluff Media.

Check out the rest of our Pirate Master coverage.

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