Boom! ‘Hurt Locker’ is about to become a reality show

As if the film about a US Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal team defusing bombs wasn’t tense enough for audiences, G4 TV announced that it has ordered 10 episodes of Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan, which the network describes as a real-life Hurt Locker.

“Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan,” billed as a real-life version of Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker,” will take viewers behind the scenes of a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, starting with training sessions in the States and then during its overseas deployment.

If you enjoy reality television, I would think that you’d be hard-pressed to find anything as “real” as a bomb disposal unit diffusing IEDs in Afghanistan. This show is sure to take reality television to a entirely different level, as each episode will chronicle exactly how trying and difficult life can be for people whose job is to keep massive explosions from injuring or killing large numbers of people. It’s hard to imagine any other shows on the air today having the type of dramatic and terrifying situations viewers will be privy to on this one-hour reality drama.

The production has a special agreement with the

Navy to shoot “Bomb Patrol,” but the network said the military will not have creative control. The series will premiere in the spring.

I actually have a buddy that is in a Navy EOD unit, and while it was always a somewhat tense line of work, I remember making a joke before he shipped out. We were playing the game “Catch Phrase,” where the electronic hand-held timer beeps faster and faster as time runs out. My buddy was holding the timer and it started to beep really fast as he got increasingly frustrated and I said, “Better get used to that…” We both laughed, but in the back of our heads we knew it was a bit of nervous laughter. The G4 TV drama is sure to be filled with some tense situations that may make it too hard for some people to handle — especially those with family currently serving in the military.

The Comcast-owned cable channel has ordered 10 one-hour episodes of the show, with a premiere set for next spring.