Finally, a Reality TV Show I Can Watch!

NBC is going to air a show where boxing contenders go at it for a yet-to-be determined crown. The organizers? Mark Burnett of Survivor fame, Dreamworks co-founder Jeffery Katzenberg, and none other than Rocky himself:

Sources close to the bidding said NBC agreed to pay $2 million an episode for the 16-part series, a higher license fee than many first-year scripted dramas and sitcoms fetch, but that the deal was structured to allow the network to recover much of the fees.

The Burnett Prods. spokesman said the series, planned for a debut sometime next season, would begin casting on Monday for several aspiring pugilists to compete on the show as they slug their way through training and qualifying bouts to a big-time title shot.

Stallone, who gained fame in the 1976 film “Rocky” as the small-time boxer who beats the odds to go the distance with the world’s heavyweight champion, will play a central role in “The Contender” as a kind of mentor to the young boxers.

He also will serve as executive producer with Katzenberg and Burnett, the producer behind such reality shows as the hit franchise “Survivor” on CBS and “The Apprentice” with real estate tycoon Donald Trump on NBC.

But the series is not being linked with “Rocky,” in part because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. controls rights to that franchise.

Details of the program remained sketchy, but the Burnett Prods. spokesman said the series is envisioned as an unscripted drama that chronicles the struggle of real-life boxers to make a name for themselves rather than as an athletic competition.

There’s even talk of Stallone et al. creating their own independent boxing federation. Cool!