USA, vet producer bring Robin Hood to reality
Network revving for heist race
Series pits two teams in a race to execute a repo-style retrieval.
The teams may be asked to pull off such tasks as locating and returning a stolen painting or recovering stolen government secrets from a Russian yacht during a lavish party.
The first team to return the booty to its rightful owners wins. The prize has yet to be determined.
A pilot for the show, tentatively dubbed "Break In!," will likely go into production over the summer.
Chris Sloan, USA Network's senior VP of reality programming, said he's aiming to have the show preem on the general entertainment cable net as a weekly, one-hour series in the fourth quarter of this year.
Sloan said the show takes its inspiration from the intricate heists of such fictional films as "The Pink Panther" or "Mission: Impossible," where the protagonists go through elaborate plans to bring things back to their rightful owners.
What the show will not do is teach people how to pull off a crime, he said.
"That's why we're doing the fairly fantastical type of things -- we're not breaking into someone's house. You're not going to hear us saying here's how you break in to steal the Oscars."
Specialized security professionals will train contestants as they prepare and plan for their challenge.
Nash is prexy of Nash Entertainment, which produces "Robotica" for the Learning Channel, and produced NBC's "World's Most Amazing Videos."
