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his murderous rampage. A victim’s family cannot only watch an account of how the victim was killed but simultaneously watch the murderer celebrate his deed and become something of a TV personality. Due to poor ratings, Big Brother is calling it
a day in 2010 and audiences are going to want ‘fresh meat’: a new format and new victims to satisfy our voyeuristic demands. Maybe it should have considered following in Germany’s footsteps where their Big Brother production team hold the view that ten weeks in a house is simply not enough so built an entire village where contestants sign up for life: a real Truman Show (1998) philosophy where surveillance is intrusive from the cradle to the grave. If Big Brother is dying a death then where will
television look towards in order to fill this void? How about Russia where endangering the public has real entertainment value? TV producers have teamed up with the police force on the streets of Moscow to produce Interception (USSR), which is a weekly, prime-time, hour-long show that challenges members of the public to steal a car and avoid being arrested for 45 minutes. If they are not tracked down by the police (who use live ammunition), they win the car they have successfully stolen. Probably not the best use of police resources or in the interest of public safety but it’s accepted as it’s all in the name of entertainment.
Exploit-a-child TV Perhaps the reward for contestants should
be something more valuable than a car; how about an unborn child? Be My Baby (ABC News) follows a pregnant 16-year-old who puts her child up for adoption. Instead of documenting this event, ABC decided to turn it into a reality game show where families audition and compete against each other to win the ‘trophy’. Thirty two million viewers watched as she handed over her newly born child in one hand and signed the adoption papers in the other. The exploitation and devaluation of human life is a theme that not only keeps reoccurring but becomes more and more controversial with each show. Programme by programme, reality TV is testing the waters and straddling the line of decency. If you can win a child then why not a parent?
Who’s Your Daddy (USA) took a long-lost father, put him amongst other actors and asked the contestant to guess who was their real father. Coined ‘the Daddy of all game shows’, this ‘guess- your-pa’ quiz show had ten series made though only one was ever aired. The actors go out of their way to provide fatherly advice and construct profound emotional moments but all in all it is the television equivalent of dangling a paternal carrot in front of an orphan’s face.
Relationship busting TV Perhaps we need more emotional turmoil and
graphic violence in our shows? Cheaters (USA) sees TV producers hire private investigators to film unfaithful partners who are confronted and quickly put face to face with the person who has been cheated on. Naturally, much violence ensues and in one episode, the charismatic presenter Joey Greco, manages to get himself stabbed. Now there’s a way to guarantee ratings. This imploding of relationships on air is a
tried and tested format. Fidelity Test (Brazil) sees suspicious partners set their lovers up in a ‘honey trap’. This trap films whether their partner will become intimate with someone when propositioned. Meanwhile, a live studio audience watches the bedroom antics on a big screen along with the heartbroken other half. Surely there are some real moral issues here; but seeing these relationships disintegrate before your very eyes is both disturbing and very ‘moreish’.
Bodyshock TV Reality TV’s fascination with the human body
is an area where no stone is left unturned. It is a medieval instinct that draws in the crowds who want to see the gruesome, gory and down right wrong. It was somewhat of a mini hurdle when this year’s Big Brother had contestants experiencing real pain through the administering of electric shocks. Of course they had the option
english and media centre | December 2009 | MediaMagazine 63
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