FOX’s Michael Thorn

The competition series Extracted, which combines elements of reality and gaming, debuted in February on FOX in the U.S. and was recently greenlit for a second season. Filmed in the Canadian wilderness, the format sees competitors face extreme conditions while their families watch via a feed and decide their fate. Michael Thorn, president of FOX Television Network, talks to TV Formats about Extracted’s unique concept.

TV FORMATS: How did Extracted come about?
THORN: Extracted was one of the first pitches Yasmin Rawji [executive VP of unscripted at the network] and her team presented when I started last year. It just stood out as original and exciting. It’s a marketplace filled with legacy shows, so you better stand out. Extracted presented an opportunity to do exactly that.

It started with a simple question: What if survival wasn’t just about endurance, but strategy, deception—and trusting your family to keep you alive? This is a high-stakes, cinematic survival competition set in the unforgiving Canadian wilderness. But the real twist? Contestants’ fates lie in the hands of their loved ones, miles away at a secret HQ. That unique dual layer of physical and psychological gameplay is what made this format stand out for us.

TV FORMATS: Tell us about the partners involved and what each brings to the table.
THORN: Extracted is the result of an incredible collaboration in which we partnered with B17 Entertainment, part of Sony Pictures. They are fearless format innovators with cinematic storytelling, and these are the types of partners that we like to work with. We’re looking for risk-taking partners, which is a top priority for us—whether that’s in the U.S., the U.K., Australia or the Netherlands. Extracted is proof of what’s possible when those partnerships align.

TV FORMATS: How does Extracted put a new spin on the traditional survival competition?
THORN: We’re always looking to reinvent a genre or find a twist on a concept that makes it stand out in this crowded marketplace. It brings this unique family element to the survival competition that we haven’t seen. Most survival shows focus on who can tough it out the longest. Extracted flips that on its head, asking a simple but compelling question: What if survival wasn’t just about battling the elements but was about putting your fate in your family’s hands? And, in turn, for the families: How far would you let your loved ones go for $250,000? It’s about strategy, deception and trusting your family to keep you alive. That psychological tension—combined with the physical danger—creates a survival show like no other. It’s as much about emotional endurance and conflict in the headquarters as it is about wilderness skills.

TV FORMATS: Is this purely a big-budget, prime-time play?
THORN: Extracted has all the ingredients of a bold, noisemaking, prime-time event, but the format is modular. Future international broadcast partners could opt for a stripped-down, grittier version of the format shot in a controlled environment or scale up with massive outdoor set pieces. The HQ portion of the show (where most of the gameplay and conflict happens) allows for budget variation while retaining the core drama and strategy that define the format.

TV FORMATS: How does this fit what commissioners and buyers are looking for right now?
THORN: Finding compelling original formats that break through the clutter is a priority for us at FOX. This is not just another survival series. It’s event television with a fresh angle, built-in social buzz and true global potential. We aspire to pierce popular culture with our programming. That’s why we’ve bet big on Extracted and are seeing that pay off. We are always looking for appointment television, and, between linear and streaming, we are very encouraged with season one of Extracted. The nature of the format makes every episode unpredictable, and you have to come back the following week to see the fallout.

TV FORMATS: What’s working in the global entertainment marketplace right now?
THORN: Audiences want bold, original breakthrough formats and are responding to big swings with fresh concepts and authentic, emotional stakes. We would like to think Extracted is just that: a unique, original high-concept format with real heart, family, high production values and global scalability.