Phoren stuff

By TRUPTI GHAG

Posted on 9 October 2003

In India, the success of reality shows may have been limited to music channels; but it's a big phenomenon in the West. With the ITV's Survivor (2000) mania having caught up, the consequent releases like Fox's Temptation Island (2001) ,CBS' The Amazing Race (2001), and Joe Millionaire did lure sizeable numbers to their television sets. Besides garnering the eyeballs, the new breed of reality television shows managed to bag a few awards as well.

Bachelor

Shows like ITV's Pop Idol, Channel 4's Big Brother, BBC1's big budget talent reality show Fame Academy, Bachelor, Bachelorette and Paradise Hotel had a snowballing effect. Every channel and major broadcasting company in the US jumped into the reality race to claim their audience pie. That's not all, in a unique role reversal, the reality phenomenon has managed to capture the big screen's attention, the idea having inspired movies like the Jim Carrey starrer The Truman Show (1998) and Mathew McConaughey's Ed TV (1999). Interestingly, even George Clooney's directorial debut- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2003) - is based on the life of reality show maker Chuck Barris.

Although not a new phenomenon, since the likes of Blind Date, The 5th Wheel, Eliminate and Jerry Springer have been around for years, the shows have taken a large percentage of TV ratings lately. What really sells here is the show's capability to get extreme reactions.

While Survivor and American Idol have became a cultural phenomenon, Fox's Temptation Island raked in the negative publicity. Be it a Joe Millionaire that was built around a lie or a corny gay show, Boy Meets Boy, they managed to secure viewership owing to the curiosity factor and also because audiences have no qualms about watching other people make fools of themselves.

Launched in 1948, Candid Camera was the precursor to the reality TV genre in the US. The show continues to inspire more edgy versions like MTV Jackass, MTV Bakra on local grounds and even America's Funniest Home Videos.

Temptation Island

If we were to talk about reality shows which made a dent in viewers' memory, one that pops up in the mind is Temptation Island. The show, aired on Star World, featured four non-married yet "committed couples" who spend two weeks in dreamy Belize. The catch is that the couples were separated, and the women were sent to a well-equipped camp with 13 attractive single men who were chosen for their potential to tempt the women, ditto for men. The show did raise quite a few eyebrows abroad. Next to make a dent in the public conscious was PBS' Family Drama, where an English family moved into a home furnished like it was set in 1900.

Survivor

Prior to it, PBS' An American Family in 1973, an unsettling, yet fascinating documentary series detailed the life of the Loud family, excerpts of which were watched by an astonishing 10 million viewers. The success paved the way for another show MTV's The Real World, which in turn inspired Road Rules.

Meanwhile, Fox, long before Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire, dabbled with shows based on cops and America's Most Wanted, which was in turn, an inspired version of CBS' Wanted.

But despite the ratings and the money, viewers still have their reservations, as although labeled reality, the shows seem contrived. It is but understood that once the camera rolls, people act for their audience, or react the way they want the audience perceive them to behave.

Joe Millionaire

While Joe Millionaire will debut on Indian television on 16 October, there are niggling doubts about its success. Especially since the staged romance between Joe Millionaire star Evan Marriott and the winner Zora has been doing rounds in the Canadian talk-show circuits. But the prime problem seems to about its acceptability, especially since the relatively less controversial Survivor failed to create ripples.

Even the likelihood of shows like The Osbournes being made in India seems remote, although it is possible that MTV might just try its hand at it. As for now, the western phenomenon seems to be here for some time, at least until the next big 'phoren stuff' comes along.