I’m back from sunny California just in time for more rain, thunder, lightning and humidity, but it’s wonderful to be home. It was kind of like a week of detox, because I didn’t watch any reality TV while I was away.

The 500-plus e-mails in my inbox when I returned left me with some catching up to do and a little research when I learned that Rob Mariano has announced a new show that will award a whopping $10 million to its winner.

First of all, I had to go back in my files (also known as Google) to figure out who Mariano is. I felt a little silly when I discovered he was a CBS “Survivor: Marquesas” and “Survivor All Stars” contestant. To be fair, we all know him much better as “Boston Rob” who went on to participate in “The Amazing Race” and starred in a couples reality show with his wife.

Enough about Mariano; you want to know about the moolah.

While I haven’t been able to find an official Web site or press release about the new show, it’s already being talked about on reality TV sites and blogs all over the Internet.

Reality TV World concisely describes “Tontine” (I’ll get to what it means in a minute), which will pit 15 contestants against each other. Each will have a key that will unlock a portion of the $10 million prize.

The contest lasts 100 days, and the cast will have to perform mental and physical challenges to fight for the keys. The person left with all 15 keys will be able to unlock the prize.

To find out more about tontine, I had to go to the dictionary. For those who are curious, it means “an annuity scheme in which subscribers share a common fund with the benefit of survivorship, the survivors’ shares being increased as the subscribers die, until the whole goes to the last survivor.”

Who knew reality TV could provide a history lesson? But the word derives from Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan banker who started the scheme in France about 1653.

There’s only one problem: Even though casting was scheduled to begin at the end of June in Texas and make its way to several cities, including New York and Boston, no one seems to know what network is going to carry it.

Reality TV World is reporting that filming is supposed to begin in September with the premiere to be held a year from then, but I’ll have to get back to you on where you can tune in.