Few surprised reality TV shows more scripted than spontaneous

[SnowflakeGirl]

Uh DUH!

Get real! Few surprised reality TV shows more scripted than spontaneous

By Dean Johnson
Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Fab Five?
Make that the Phony Five.
Reality TV may be fake television - but it isn't fooling local viewers.
The revelation that such shows as Bravo's ``Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,'' NBC's ``The Restaurant'' and Fox's ``The Simple Life'' are at least partially if not completely scripted, right down to the pratfalls and reaction shots, doesn't surprise fans.
``I never believed those shows were happening as such, anyway,'' said Susan Bocchino of Saugus. ``I suspected all along they were scripted and not ad-libbed like they led us to believe.
``But it is sort of deflating, because you can't believe what is real on those shows anymore,'' she said.
``For me, none of that matters,'' said Amanda Greene. ``The shows are still entertaining.''
The Haverhill resident described herself as a diehard reality TV fan. ``If those shows are scripted, then they're doing a pretty good job.
``It's still good television, and it gets me away from my reality for a while,'' she said.
The Los Angeles Times yesterday uncovered parts of a 19-page outline for an upcoming episode of ``Queer Eye'' that even covered how the climax should be taped.
Most reality series seem to take liberties with where ``reality'' ends and fiction kicks in.
Fox's ``The Simple Life'' starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie keyed in on the trailer parks where they bedded down each night. But the two stayed in hotels for all but two nights.
When television audiences saw a waiter trip and hurt himself in NBC's ``The Restaurant,'' it was a re-enactment, not the actual fall.
Staff writers regularly whip up the voice-overs that are supposedly the work of the teens in MTV's ``Made'' reality show.
Maybe worst of all, even Ozzie is a fraud. When heavy metal's dark prince chucked a block of wood over a fence and shattered his neighbor's window during the debut season of ``The Osbournes'' on MTV, it was really a combination of sound effects and phony reaction shots.
Hollywood producers have even come up with new ways to describe their not-quite-reality programs: ``hybrid sitcoms'' or ``soft-scripted shows.''

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNe...rticleid=57601

[hepcat]

Oh come on, did anyone think the Simple Life was real? Especially the road trip - can you see Paris and Nicole reading a map?

[Super Goten]

I could have told you that.

But I'm still watching The Simple Life 3. It's sad, I know.

[eny]

Paris said in every interview that she and Nicole acted far worse than they did in real life for entertainment purposes. The people who still think "Reality TV" has an iota of reality in it,probably get upset at the no Santa and tooth fairy stories too.

[SnowflakeGirl]

What...do you mean, Eny? About there being...no Santa Claus or tooth fairy?!!

They should do a Santaland reality show next; you know, who will get voted off the Pole and such. Elves in hot tubs, pixellated Reindeer genitalia.

(I apologize for that. )

[eny]

The idea of a best Santa reality show kind of appeals to me There is a possibility of some great Santa Challenges.
Example
-Loading and carrying a toy sack over a timed route in the least amount of time.
-Best sleigh handling
-Fastest to hook up the reindeer.
-Best time down the chimney and back up
-Fastest time into the santa suit from a sitting in a recliner start position.
etc

Not so sure about the pixilated reindeer though.

[roseskid]

What...do you mean, Eny? About there being...no Santa Claus or tooth fairy?!!

They should do a Santaland reality show next; you know, who will get voted off the Pole and such. Elves in hot tubs, pixellated Reindeer genitalia.

(I apologize for that. )

Thanks for the laugh. And eny, how about a Fear Factor version of Santa eating various disgusting 'foods' with sour milk? (possibly the pixelated reindeer parts?)

[Ishkur]

Simon Cowell was annoyed once that the American Idol producers/writers kept trying to write a script for him, or a list rather, of all sorts of biting zingers, insults, and put-downs he could use to level chalkboard-scratching singers during the audition process. He told them to bugger off, and refused to use any of their pre-ordained witticisms to badger idol hopefuls.

But the other two judges are not so keen on maintaining their dignity. Paula has certainly been prodded up as the sacharine yin to Simon's scathing yang, and the more spiteful he gets, the more compassionate she becomes. It's like a good cop/bad cop routine.

Randy, meanwhile, has devolved into black ghetto stereotypes. The first season he didn't do much of it at all, and actually came off as a smart, educated A&R mogul of the recording industry. But since then the show's producers have, through "helpful suggestions" of course, guided him into a typecasted role in order to appeal to "urban" viewers more. As per instructions, now he can't say a single thing without adding "dawg" after every third word, and every time Ryan Seacrest introduces him he has to go "yeeaaaah!!" and flash gang signs, for all his peeps back in the hood. It's so fake and corny it makes me struggle to take anything they say seriously.

It all reminds me of Poochy the Dog, the much maligned mutt of the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon in an episode of the Simpsons, conjured up by board room execs as a proactive, skateboarding, flannel-wearing, bug-eye shades adorning symbol of Generation-Xtreme. A soulless corporate marketing icon, with no purpose except to sell product placement.

I don't mind if the stuff is scripted or not. I just don't like it when it insults my intelligence. I guess that's why I like Trailer Park Boys.