Executive producer Phil Keoghan pitched this reality competition series in a pre-pandemic world, but it reaches the air at a time when viewers are especially aware of the "essential workers" who have kept the country running during a time of widespread quarantine. The contestants are made up of working-class Americans – a deputy sheriff, a welder, a farmer, a firefighter and so forth – who are put through a series of on-the-job challenges to test their strength, endurance, life skills and mental toughness.