Series 7 (2001) - Synopsis

series 7 - heading graphic

"Real people... in real danger.... in a fight for their lives. " Tonight, on The Contenders - Series 7 marathon!

The Contenders, the highest-rated "reality" program on U. S. television, selects people at random - to kill off one another until a lone champion survives. On the show, six contenders (normal people living everyday lives) are picked at random by lottery, given a gun, assigned a cameraman, and let loose.

Brooke Smith is Dawn, the eight-months-pregnant reigning champion (10 kills in two tours so far). Single, alienated from her family, and with just one round to go before she wins her freedom from the show, this survivor returns to her hometown of Newbury, Connecticut after being away for 15 years - and The Contenders goes with her.

Five new contenders are randomly selected in a televised drawing to join Dawn. We meet them as they are notified on-camera, with knocks at the doors of their respective homes:

Tony is an asbestos-removal worker whose family is coming apart at the seams; Connie is an emergency-room nurse with a strong religious faith;

Lindsay is an 18-year-old all-American girl with all-American overbearing parents;

Franklin is an elderly conspiracy theorist; and Jeff is an artist and pacifist who is dying of testicular cancer - and was Dawn's high-school sweetheart.

Determined to liberate herself and her unborn child, Dawn wastes no time in hunting down her opponents. But these latest contenders are the most cunning that Dawn has yet faced. The stakes get higher when Dawn and Jeff confront each other - and their past together..

"The only prize is the only prize that counts: your life. " Tonight, on The Contenders - Series 7 marathon!