Short-lived romances, fights and tears — true friendships can endure it all, and this fall, viewers can see five friends from the Baltimore area put their relationships to the test in Oxygen's new reality-TV show “Last Squad Standing.”

The 10-episode series, which premieres Tuesday, brings together three groups of friends — from Baltimore, Detroit and New Jersey — to live under one roof near Los Angeles and compete amid the pressures to become the last remaining squad and winner of $100,000.

The Baltimore crew, dubbed The Empire, is composed of local residents involved in entertainment: squad co-leader Colby “Starzz” Hall, 27, is a hip-hop artist; Fred “Big Fred” Watkins, 27, is a comedian; co-leader Ciera Nicole Butts and Davrielle Grenway, both 26, are models and former pageant titleholders, and Ivy Carter, 26, the self-proclaimed “wild child” of the group, is also a model and personal trainer.

The money, which would help members invest in their careers, is a primary goal, according to Hall and Butts. But there's also the exposure. The squad is looking to shine a positive light on Baltimore.

“I don't think enough light is shed on our city. I think we're always known for the negatives … and I think this would be a great way to show a different side of Baltimore,” Butts said.

Members of the group have been friends for a decade, and The Empire went into the competition confident (it was taped early this summer). Carter and her female squad members were looking to stir up trouble on the opposing teams.

“My strategy for the show was to find the person on the other squad, the male figure, and take him down with my sexuality, mess up his brain, scramble his brain. I wanted to get him unfocused,” Carter said.

But the other squads — the Detroit Players, who Hall said bonded with the Baltimore squad, and the Jersey Bosses — brought game plans of their own.

“You have two groups that know they need this money and opportunity more than anything. Then you have the Jersey kids that seem more like the kids from the suburbs, also showing they had strong sides that we didn't know of,” Hall said.

It just showed you can't judge a book by its cover, he said.

The program, hosted by actress Alesha Reneé of MTV's “Girl Code,” features various twists and turns. Squads take part in competitions — for instance, the first episode shows members racing through obstacles, using a beam. Teams that come in last lose one of their members.

Yet the toughest aspects weren't the physical challenges.

“We've never lived together. That's the biggest thing,” said Butts of her squad.

According to Rod Aissa, the executive vice president of original programming and development of Oxygen Media, living with 14 others is another major component in the show, which gives an unfiltered view of friendship under pressure.

“I think what we worked hard to do is create a format, a competition elimination show, but have that only as an element and really have the house reality kind of be the driving force of the show,” he said.

“We were able to get all the drama and all the fun and excitement that is the aftermath and really seeing how it plays out back at home when the pressure's off.”

Friendships are tested, but the concept wasn't to make them fall apart, Aissa said. Instead, he said, he wanted to examine how friends respond and relationships can be defined during “pressurized situations.”

“It's really kind of like a love letter to friendships, because if you laugh through this, you know your group of friends, your squad — you're tight, you're good. And that's what I want people to take away … choose your friends carefully, because it actually means something,” Aissa said.

Members of “The Empire” won't reveal what happens on the show, but Carter said viewers can “expect a lot of sex, drama, challenges, crying — just real, raw energy.”

bbritto@baltsun.com

twitter.com/brittanybritto