The future of reality TV <g> (1 Viewer)

[Joseph DeMartino]

NBC ADDS ULTIMATE REALITY SHOW
NY (Reuters) 24 November 2003 - Executives at NBC have announced that what they call "the ultimate reality show" will debut next Fall. "Who Wants to Live to See Next Year" will follow 10 desperately ill people who vie for a life-saving organ transplant. "Who Wants to Live: Kidney" will start shooting in February at new wing of New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital center, built especially for the series. The contestants will be divided into "wards" and compete against each other in a series of elimination events. All will be tissue matched to a single donor, but only the last survivor will get the kidney. "After the ratings started to slip for 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' and all the other shows, we realized that the public was getting jaded," said VP of Reality Programming Tim Phillips, "It was no longer enough to see an emotional explosion, a personality disintegrate or the possibility of a serious injury. We have to raise the stakes. What's more dramatic than life and death? Drama shows have been mining this area for years, so I don't see why anyone should object. And with all these sick people you have this great sympathy angle. We think it is going to be a ratings monster."
None of the other networks were willing to comment on the proposed show, and an ABC executive denied that his network was rushing forward with production on "Who Wants to Live to See Next Month" in which 7 people would be buried in an abandoned mine for 30 days with only enough food and water for one person to survive the entire month.
(c) 2002 Joseph DeMartino

 

[Jeff Rogers]

This reaks of The Onion..
But The Onion already did "Who wants to eat a meal" That was funny

 

[John Torrez]

If that's true then that's just going too far.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

This reaks of The Onion..

I don't know if that's good or bad. I didn't see the Onion piece you mentioned. Will have to check the archive.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Morgan Jolley]

To tell the truth, if this is for people who just cannot afford organs and will die anyway, this lets at least one out of 10 get the organ, so in a way it's good.

At least they're not removing the organ and making them earn it back.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

At least they're not removing the organ and making them earn it back.

Let's hope no one from the networks reads this. They're liable to get ideas.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Mitty]

I'm sure if one had access to a time-machine and went 100 years into the future, assuming the planet is still inhabitated by organic life, television will probably be just 1000s of channels of variations on the theme of people f***ing and killing each other, with one or two channels dedicated to decrying the other channels.
(BTW, this is not to be construed that I actually believe that organ story )

 

[ThomasC]

None of the other networks were willing to comment on the proposed show, and an ABC executive denied that his network was rushing forward with production on "Who Wants to Live to See Next Month" in which 7 people would be buried in an abandoned mine for 30 days with only enough food and water for one person to survive the entire month.

Wha...Ma...Ka...Za...AUGH!!!
WTF?!?! I don't care if the contestants are responsible for their own deaths, but if this really happens...
Soon enough there'll be a reality show for people who want to die/commit suicide, and the network will provide a firing squad, where all have bullets in their rifles except for one person. That one person will be the winner. It may not be in the U.S., but the way reality tv is going...
Wait...have they even considered the legal aspects of this? I guess they have, if they even thought about production...

 

[Evan Case]

Can't wait. Should be awesome.
Evan

 

[Clinton McClure]

We already have this. It's called cable.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Soon enough there'll be a reality show for people who want to die/commit suicide, and the network will provide a firing squad

Nah, they'd never make that into a reality show. That'd be a game show:
(Uptempo music)
MED. SHOT on stage set with a neon lit lectern, a score board, a table with revolver in the center of it and five chairs around it and a giant gun cylinder mounted on the wall with different prize amounts in each chamber.
ANNOUNCER: And now here's the star of our show, Skip Wentworth!
TRACKING SHOT as SKIP enters from stage right. On his way to the lectern he gives the gun cylinder a playfull spin
SKIP: (At lectern) Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to another exciting edition of Russian Roulette!
******

BTW, everybody does realize that the first post in this thread is a joke, right?
Regards,
Joe

 

[ThomasC]

BTW, everybody does realize that the first post in this thread is a joke, right?

aw crap, i'm way too gullible. i even read the reply with the onion mention! the big thing that threw me off was the reuters credit at the beginning of the article...maybe if you spelled it rueters i would've thought twice.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

We already have this. It's called cable.

 

[Tom Meyer]

Wait...have they even considered the legal aspects of this? I guess they have, if they even thought about production...

"(c) 2002 Joseph DeMartino"

um, er, uh, everyone, it's a joke.

 

[Andrew_Sch]

The fact that people (myself included) actually believed for even a moment that this was true speaks volumes of the pure evil that is reality TV. If I did have a time machine, I'd use it to back three or four years and do whatever it took to make sure "Survivor" never got off the ground and starting this dreadful trend. BTW, have I mentioned that I really LOATHE reality TV?

 

[ThomasC]

The fact that people (myself included) actually believed for even a moment that this was true speaks volumes of the pure evil that is reality TV.

 

[Chris Derby]

well.. on a more "serious" note:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/838813.asp

‘Cathouse’ — It’s AnythingGoes TV
Call it ‘Big Brother’ meets ‘Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22 — Just when it strains credulity to see how far ordinary people will go for 15 minutes of fame, and what the public will watch, HBO airs a documentary next month in which patrons of a Nevada brothel happily appear on camera negotiating and consorting with prostitutes.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

This show sounds more like something that Fox would show, not NBC. Of course, it could be turned into a "very special episode of Friends".

 

[Francois Caron]

Nah, they'd never make that into a reality show. That'd be a game show:

You've never seen any Japanese game shows, have you?

 

[Daren Welsh]

Why don't we round up the executives, produces, hosts, and whoever else was responsible for all the reality shows and make a Battle Royale