At first glance, American Grit looks like a typical competition show with a military twist – there’s a series of challenges, a million dollars in prize money, and plenty of interpersonal drama along the way.  But American Grit takes its military inspiration seriously, which leads to some pretty great TV.  

“We didn’t want to be like other shows where you have civilians in uniforms pretending to be soldiers,” said Executive Producer Jon Kroll in his exclusive interview with SciFi Vision. “We felt that would be disrespectful. We are military-themed but we don’t have drill sergeants screaming and people in uniforms.”

Instead, American Grit features four genuine U.S. military heroes (a Navy SEAL, an Army Ranger, a Marine gunnery sergeant and an Army sniper) guiding their teams of incredibly athletic civilians through physical challenges that emphasize military values – leadership, teamwork, and endurance.

“We wanted to create a show that broke the mold as to how typical elimination shows are done,” Kroll said. “We wanted there to be teams but not to have teammates ever turning on each other.

"The emphasis is on teamwork and only you can send you home."

A million dollars should be more than enough to incite some serious gamesmanship and backstabbing. But to win you’ve got to make it through the team-oriented challenges; lose a player and your team is at a disadvantage. Therefore, he explained, “there is no incentive to lose teammates. What serves you best is to keep your team intact.”

American Grit also pits men and women against each other on equal footing. “There are no ladies tees,” Kroll said, referring to the forward tee markers on a golf course. “In these challenges, they go toe to toe with the men. You are not at a great advantage as a man or a woman.” In the season premiere, for example, three players faced off in an endurance challenge that involved holding a sandbag aloft for as long as possible. The sandbags were proportional, so that each player was holding 15% of his or her own weight.  So when Chris, a self-described “trainer to the stars,” went up against tiny Goldie, his larger stature and body weight offered no advantage. Their burdens were proportionally equal.

And that set up what will surely be the series’ most memorable moment. Because Chris did have some major disadvantages – a tremendous ego and a complete inability to function as part of a team.  In just one hour he alienated most of the cast, badmouthed his coach, angered host John Cena and insulted the audience (“normal people are weak and stupid”). The producers could not have cast a better villain if they tried.

Fast forward to the challenge: holding that sandbag for over 40 minutes. Chris showed off, holding it with one hand. He yawned as if he was bored, taunted Goldie, mugged for the camera. Goldie and Jim ignored him.   

And then it started to rain. Everyone’s hands got slippery, Chris struggled and finally, having wasted his energy, he lost his grip. Millions of viewers cheered!  

“There was a magnificent sense of justice in that perhaps the most athletic and fit member goes up against the oldest and the least athletic competitors,” said Kroll, “and they crush him by virtue of his own arrogance.”  

“People will think there were shenanigans going on,” he admitted, but he swears that was not the case. “We all sat there and just watched it unfold.”

Watch American Grit Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX.