Sundance Channel is adding five new reality shows to its 2012-2013 development slate, the network announced Friday.
The network also renewed three of its current reality series. "Iconoclasts" will get a sixth season, "All on the Line with Joe Zee" a third and "The Mortified Sessions," in which celebs like Bryan Cranston and Ed Helms reveal embarrassing, emotional and sometimes hilarious moments from their pasts, a second.
The new shows, none of which have airdates yet, include "The Trouble with Love and Sex," in which actual recordings from couples therapy sessions are brought to life as animated stories; "Dream School," which "reinvents education to rekindle a generation’s love for learning" by setting up a learning environment where the music teacher is an actual rock star, the gym teacher is an Olympian and the science professor is a Nobel prize winner.
"Dream School" is produced by chef Jamie Oliver and is based on a U.K. series in which Oliver was the school's cooking teacher.
Other unscripted shows in development are "Kenya & Carl," about marriage counselors whose clients are in open marriages; "Dead & Found," about government investigators whose subjects are unidentified bodies; and "Wino," in which a wine sommelier tries to make wine more accessible.
"Sundance Channel’s non-fiction shows tell terrific stories about compelling characters, and at the same time lift the lid on a world you may not have seen before," network general manager Sarah Barnett said in a statement. "By airing shows that shatter expectations and explore our contemporary world in disarming and novel ways, we offer something different on the TV landscape."
