Now that it's over, how do you really feel?

For people who have watched the Big Brother show do you remember Mike Boogie in episode 2? According to him he has a lot of pull in TV land and rubs elbows with a lot of producers. He owned his own production company before buying Boogie's (a bar and restaurant in Los Angeles). Now getting to the point, there have been three people that I know of who have worked at Boogies getting spots on reality shows. Lisa the last winner of Big Brother 3 was a bar tender at Boogies. Jed survivor Thailand part time bartender at Boogies in the summer (dental student in Texas in fall). Jed didn't get far but still got on the show through Mike Boogie. Gabriel survivor
Marquesas same deal part time bartender at Boogies. Kent Blackwelder on Big Brother 2 claims all contestants have agents. I've read that very few who apply for any of these realty shows actually have a chance. Most of them know someone that helps them get on the show. The reason I point out Mike Boogie is strictly what I have read on some of the realty web sites. Where any of this is true or not I'm not
swearing to it. I repeated what I read on Kent Blackwelder's web site. I also read that Mike Boogie and Krista (both on BB2) were offered a spot on The Amazing Race, which Mike turned down. Seems a lot of this came out when Krista Stegall (Big Brother 2) sued CBS. It all may not be totally accurate but it makes me stop and think if most people have a fair chance of getting on one of these shows. Maybe this is why there are fewer personality types. Reality News On Line has some good articles on shameful performances by former people on past shows.

It's Belly's, but we get your point. But the facts are a little different, from what I've gathered.

Producers and casting agents hang out at Belly's, and if they meet interesting people, they ask them to be on a show. No one has agents, and Mike himself doesn't have anything to do with it. He just owns the place.

Don't forget about Sean Rector, who also hung out at Belly's.

Mike Boogie has more pull in show business in his head than in the real world.

And no, people do not have a fair shot to get on a show. The casting people are obviously looking for personalities that play well on TV, and fit into the niche they've assigned to the show (the bitch, the jock, the person who doesn't really want to play, etc.). If you don't fit the mold of what they're looking for, you have no shot at all. It's not fair, but it's how it works.

I guess I feel disappointed, overall.

The 'good guy/guys/gals' didn't win in the end.

And Jenna walks away from the win with the attitude "Well, I must have done something right." All her spoiled, lazy brattitude taught her (and the viewing public) one thing: It works.

A bit off the subject of how I feel about the series now that it's over - I've been thinking all day: Wonder if the jury simply made a pact to vote for whoever won the final immunity challenge?

Anyway, I feel cheated by the series. Will I watch again? Probably.

I wonder what motivates us to remain such great fans of this show.

Borrowing John’s movie analogy: Movies that end in the bad guy winning are not usually popular with audiences. They don’t do as well at the box-office as movies where the hero triumphs. Yet, after disappointing us repeatedly with “bad-guy” winners, Survivor continues to enjoy a loyal audience.

Using a sports analogy: Thousands of us watch, analyze and comment on a game whose “challenges” are not constant. Would we watch baseball/football/hockey/soccer if the organizers changed the play because they wanted a more “telegenic” result?

So, why exactly can we not kick the Survivor habit?

For me, the variety of the locations selected, the personalities of the contestants, and the different twists that Burnett throws into the game to shake things up, is what still keeps me interested in Survivor. The ending doesn't take anything away from the show's entirety. Well, at least not to me. Yes, I have been disappointed in some of the endings/winners (Austrailia, Marquesas), but I still enjoy the show and looked forward to the next Survivor.
I just loved this Season. Survivor:Amazon. It's number 2 in my book. :) The personalities, especially Rob, is what made this season exciting, not to mention, having the men vs women, and then creating new tribes, before having the 2 tribes merge, which was ingenious. :up

The only series I have really been dissappointed to the point that I didn't want to watch Survivor anymore was Survivor:Africa. The location had potential, but for the safety of the contestants, everyone had to stay withing their little village or whatever that was called. They never went out, unless it was the occasional water-gathering trek. The only two contestants that had amusing personalities, at least to me, were Lex and Big Tom. I loved Ethan, but he was kind of boring. :shrug This series was a total snooze-fest, imo.

I'm glad I kept watching, because I enjoyed Marquesas, and I loved the Amazon. :up

It's Belly's, but we get your point. But the facts are a little different, from what I've gathered.

John, you are right it's Belly's not Boogie's. I saw it on a web site after I had already posted. I'm sure you are right about the casting of these shows too. Each year the personalities seem to vaguely resemble last years or the year before. Mike Boogie is irritating to me and to think that he had anything to do with any reality show is even more irritating.

Oceans, I do want to point out something you brought up.

Almost all of the BB2 contestants, Kent and someone else, (can't remember who) had agents PRIOR to going into the house. While that same statistic may not be help up on other reality shows, like Survivor.. there certainly are reality shows where the ratio of aspiring entertainers to 'regular' people is astonishing.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Xantham Gum
I think the show is a good educational lesson for children to see how things work in the real world. The mean, selfish, and callous people get ahead based on their underhanded behavior or their good looks or both and the people who work hard and do what they think is right are often overlooked and unrewarded.

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I really don't think reality tv is the place to look for educational lessons for your children. Certainly not a show based on scheming and deception (which are a part of the game). If all the characters were honest, humble, moral, caring people, I don't think I could stay awake to watch. Would you?

There should be a disclaimer at the beginning of the show: "For entertaiment purposes only; any similarities to real life are purely coincidental."

If you don't think the personalities and behavior and outcomes shown on reality shows are not a microcosm of real life then you don't read the news. Note the stock market scandals that robbed honest, hard working people of their money while rewarding the scheming, selfish, evil people who stole from them. And even when it all came to light, the perpetrators were given a slap on the wrist that amounted to small change from what they stole.

I'd like to suggest that Survivor is engrossing precisely BECAUSE it is a microcosm of real life.

Heck, I'll admit it. Survivor teaches me about human behavior.

- I feel I understand men now a bit more having seen this last edition.

- The message that one can smile and be a villain was reinforced while watching Brian in action.

-that people, especially perhaps (?) young people, act differently in a group than they do individually.

and lots more....

Cool lessons. Thank you MB.