You see, Brian...I don't believe any of that.
I work in broadcasting (TV & radio) and I sincerely don't believe these shows have writers...or that the outcome is plotted out ahead of time. I hope you are wrong about that. And I would have to think that everyone involved in these shows hopes you are never proven right...because they would be facing jail for defrauding the public. Some pretty stiff laws were enacted after the quiz show shenanigans of the 1950s.
I fully understand the "realities" of Reality TV that there are crews assigned to each participant or team and the incredible planning/editing that goes into blocking the filming to prevent footage of camera/audio crew from being seen.
But if the outcome is manipulated outside of production strategies which all need to be in place before shooting actually begins, there would be a whole lot of trouble facing the producers of these shows.
Any interview I've ever read with any of these shows' producers always includes questions about game-changing events and if they were done "on the fly" to control the direction of the game. To an individual, they deny that those manipulations take place and insist that various events are planned-out well before game-play actually begins.
I guess I could be naive about certain things...but this would be too much of a big money con for them to take any such risk.
I work in broadcasting (TV & radio) and I sincerely don't believe these shows have writers...or that the outcome is plotted out ahead of time. I hope you are wrong about that. And I would have to think that everyone involved in these shows hopes you are never proven right...because they would be facing jail for defrauding the public. Some pretty stiff laws were enacted after the quiz show shenanigans of the 1950s.
I fully understand the "realities" of Reality TV that there are crews assigned to each participant or team and the incredible planning/editing that goes into blocking the filming to prevent footage of camera/audio crew from being seen.
But if the outcome is manipulated outside of production strategies which all need to be in place before shooting actually begins, there would be a whole lot of trouble facing the producers of these shows.
Any interview I've ever read with any of these shows' producers always includes questions about game-changing events and if they were done "on the fly" to control the direction of the game. To an individual, they deny that those manipulations take place and insist that various events are planned-out well before game-play actually begins.
I guess I could be naive about certain things...but this would be too much of a big money con for them to take any such risk.