The Colony (Discovery Channel)

What would you do -- how would you survive -- if a global epidemic left a huge portion of the population dead and civilization consequently descended into chaos? That’s the premise of THE COLONY, an intense reality series about 10 people who volunteer to spend 10 weeks in an isolated part of Los Angeles, attempting to “rebuild society.” The group sets up camp in an abandoned warehouse and must find food and water, figure out how to reestablish electricity, tend to sanitation and other basic needs, and defend their new home against the bandits who sometimes try to steal their valuable resources.

Everyone involved in the show knows that it’s just an experiment, that civilization is just a few blocks away and hasn’t really been swept into anarchy. But it’s surprising how quickly the participants begin to think and act like the survivors of a global disaster who must defend their turf. When the producers send a few faux marauders to break into their compound, for instance, several members of the group pick up pipes and other makeshift weapons. The intruders, the narrator explains, have instructions not to harm anyone, but the participants certainly look ready to do anything necessary to protect their hard-won supplies.

The participants deserve credit for their innovative solutions to very real problems, such as using sand and charcoal to create a water filter that makes even the highly polluted water from the Los Angeles River drinkable. But the group -- which includes two engineers, a contractor, and a doctor -- is hardly a representative cross-section of the population. Where are the bloggers and struggling actors? People without such specialized skills might have a harder time in a survival situation ... which just might be the point of the series.