TV shows heat up with saboteurs, kitchen battles and polar bears

The summertime heat rises on the television landscape with new and returning competitions, ranging from reality TV competitors battling it out in the jungle to a cook-off between celebrity rivals and solitary struggles for survival.

The USA Network pushes human nature to the limits with the new competition series "Snake in the Grass," which premieres at 10 p.m. Monday.

Hosted by radio and television personality Bobby Bones, each episode will feature four contestants who are dropped into a remote Central American jungle for 36 hours. In order to win, the four must figure out which one of them is "the Snake" — a saboteur who is secretly undermining the group every step of the way.

The players will compete in a series of grueling challenges, from retrieving game pieces suspended on high wires over a 500-foot canyon to scaling the face of a cliff to solve puzzles. With each successfully completed challenge, the competitors win a clue that helps reveal the identity of the Snake. Not wanting the identity revealed, the Snake will do whatever it takes to prevent the players from winning the clues.

After overnighting in the wilds, the group will meet in the "Snake Pit," where the players must determine who they think the saboteur might be. If the three players can successfully reveal the identity, they will win the big prize. If they get it wrong, the Snake walks away with $100,000.

Reality contenders from "Survivor" (Cirie Fields, Stephenie LaGrossa), "Big Brother" (Janelle Pierzina, Rachel Reilly) and "Naked and Afraid" (Lacey Jones, Jeff Zausch) are among the contestants (and the potential Snakes).

Premiering Tuesday at 9 p.m., the E! comedic cooking show "Celebrity Beef," hosted by Joel McHale, will follow two celebrity contestants each week as they go head-to-head in a cook-off. As the celebs attempt to settle the score in the kitchen, things get spicy when the inside scoop of their rivalries are revealed.

Contestants include Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris; Ben Higgins and Nick Viall; Cynthia Bailey and Todd Bridges; and Andy Grammer and Justin Baldoni.

The History Channel expands the footprint of its popular survival series "Alone" with two new franchise extensions. "Alone: The Skills Challenge," premiering Thursday at 9:35 p.m. before moving to its regular time slot of Thursdays at 9 p.m., has three former "Alone" contestants competing in creative build challenges. And then premiering Aug. 11 at 8 p.m., "Alone: Frozen" features six participants from past seasons of "Alone" who will begin their survival journeys when they are dropped off the coast of Labrador in Canada, just as the fierce North Atlantic winter is setting in.

Using only basic tools and the natural resources available, the winner of "Alone: The Skills Challenge" needs to prove having the abilities to thrive in the wilderness. Each episode is self-filmed by the survivalists and will feature impressively constructed shelters, ovens and watercraft.