What it's like to star in a failed Travel Channel reality series

Last October, I was sitting high above Wall Street in the offices of Magilla Entertainment, the creators of reality TV smashes Moonshiners and Long Island Medium, when the call came in. A Travel Channel exec was on the phone. They loved our new show, Edge of America, and wanted to up the network’s order for episodes. Not only that, they were pushing for a mid-January launch in prime time.

Magilla swung into action. Laura, one of the company’s partners, darted out of the office to grab a clipboard and plot out a potential production schedule. I contemplated what seemed insane: a TV network committing at least a couple of million dollars to a new show centered around—and named for—an unknown talent: Me.