Our loyal follower Rob Eric is a Potter head, a daydreamer, a monster-seeker, a Bowie fan, a proud geek and a fun-loving Libra with a penchant for the fantastical. And oh, yeah: he’s the Executive Producer of The Quest, a crazy-cool new reality competition premiere tonight, July 31, on ABC.

Yeah, there have been a couple of other fantasy- or sci-fi related reality shows out there (though it’s probably best not to speak too loudly about King of the Nerds or Capture, that Hunger Games-inspired chase-contest from last year). But The Quest is clearly something entirely different: a kind of classed-up Renaissance Faire/LOTR mash-up where the competition seems to be well-rooted in the real-life medieval skills of combat and achievement.

One thing’s for sure: The Quest looks great. Check out the trailer below; you’d think you were watching high-quality B-roll from The Hobbit (and you wouldn’t be far wrong; one of the producers is Mark Ordesky, who was one of the producers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy). For another, it promises to be an actual game, not a shouting match or a glorified obstacle course (sorry, Wipeout, we still love you). And other Quest execs include the people behind The Amazing Race and other high-class competitions. (Though we’ll never forgive you, Amazing Race, for not rigging it so the deaf kid and his mom could win!)

The premise? The Quest takes “12 unsuspecting contestants to an imaginative realm, where ogres run free in the forest, dragons stir, agents of a dark lord infiltrate the keep, and the only thing standing between peace and chaos are one dozen very unlikely heroes. The Quest will be a fully immersive experience. In and around this castle, the fantasy realm will come to life with state-of-the art projections, animatronics, prosthetics and art direction. The narrative and mythology of The Quest is deep and fully imagined, and it has been designed to incorporate seamlessly with the unexpected actions and decisions of the contestants – fantasy comes alive as it never has before.”

Okay, we’re in. Beside, our close personal show-business friend and Twitterfollower Rob Eric is behind it, so it has to be good. Who knows? We may even recap it. We’re that crazy.

Onward to Everealm! 8:00 pm on ABC! (Wish we’d thought of that name! Damn!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgL9VwCRX4k