Negative news all positive for TV reality shows

By Brian Lowry
Los Angeles Times

In the Fox special "Man vs. Beast," a stunt pitted the pulling power of an elephant against 44 midgets. Sure enough, complaints came in from animal-rights organizations and a group representing little people.

As each new reality series tries to top what has come before, shows have become provocative to the point that networks seem to view them as a kind of programming pinata — inviting critics to take a swing.

For as much as journalists deride the excesses and manipulation of so-called reality television, they can't stop talking about it.

That much was clear during TV critics' visit to Los Angeles, where programs such as "Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachelorette" dominated much of the hallway chatter and official discussions during the two-week event.

"It's all about making noise," said Sandy Grushow, Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman, Saturday at his network's media event. "There's nothing scarier than a show coming to television that nobody's talking about."

Steve Battaglio, a reporter for the New York Daily News, called fascination with the genre "the best thing that's happened to this beat in 10 years."

At ABC's executive news conference last week, network officials spent virtually all their allotted time fending off questions about such shows as "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People" and "Extreme Makeover," with little discussion of the network's scripted series.

"They're the water-cooler shows right now," said Lloyd Braun, chairman of ABC Entertainment — a day-after office pastime almost given up for dead as television viewing has become ever more fragmented.

The Hollywood Radio and Television Society hosted a widely covered panel examining the genre Thursday, a few hours before CNN's "Lou Dobbs Moneyline" weighed in under the blaring headline, "Culture in Decline."

While unscripted programs have in many instances attracted stellar ratings — such as Fox's "Joe Millionaire," which duped women into thinking the construction worker/model they were vying to romance was worth $50 million — the level of chatter engendered is clearly viewed as a bonus by harried promotion departments.

So, even negative reviews and hand-wringing about despoiling the culture provide a certain benefit, with Marty Kaplan, associate dean of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and director of the Norman Lear Center, likening the genre to blockbuster films that cater to teenage boys.

"It's review-proof," he said, adding that for the networks "it is important people know about a show, and the attacks in free media only supplement the paid promotional budget."

USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco — who has leveled harsh criticism at programs such as "Fear Factor" and CBS' "Big Brother" — suggested that the genre risks sliding into self-parody, thanks to a spate of recent programs featuring has-been celebrities in fabricated situations, such as ABC's "Celebrity Mole Hawaii" and the WB's "The Surreal Life."

Still, there is little reason to anticipate the media's preoccupation with these programs fading soon.

"Right now," he said, "reality is a good story."