Reality television bites. But all the networks have jumped on the bandwagon.
(Author’s note: I continue to be baffled by the concept of “reality TV” since it is TV that has very little to do with reality. I mean, how often do you spend 40 days in the Australian Outback climbing obstacle courses and eating nothing but rice?)
Survivor is CBS’ silly soap opera in which 16 people are stranded somewhere for more than a month and act as if they’re on The Young and the Restless. Fox’s Temptation Island, MTV’s Jackass and UPN’s Chains of Love are bottom-feeding shows meant for the lowest common denominator of American society, which seems pretty low at this moment.
Though it originally passed on Chains of Love, NBC finally entered the reality fray in June with Fear Factor.
Now, executives at NBC love to boast about how their high-quality shows–The West Wing, ER and Law & Order–lure television’s most elusive and desirable audience: people under 50 who make more than $75,000 a year. (I admit I watch and enjoy those shows, but fall only into the former category, not the latter. Though I’d like to join that group as well.)
It seems NBC schedules quality programming only during the ratings season. Come summer, all bets are off and the network will find out whether its quality-seeking audience also has lowbrow taste.
Sadism, masochism, voyeurism, exhibitionism, network terrorism. There may not be enough “isms” to fully characterize Fear Factor, a show that practically begs critics to condemn it for all kinds of cultural ills.
Contestants compete in a series of elimination rounds, trying to endure such challenges as being dragged by a horse, attacked by a dog or asked to jump from one moving truck to another. The winner is the one who doesn’t fall down, fall off or chicken out.
Some of the stunts have a gross-out twist: In the first episode, contestants were strapped down one by one inside an elevator shaft where 400 rats crawled over them while fellow players shouted encouragement.
The grand prize is $50,000. Losers get nothing.
The price of torture and humiliation on TV has, apparently, come down.
Host Joe Rogan might comment about how the contestants are trying to be brave, but don’t buy it. They want fame, money, or both.
Given my statements about other reality shows, you might expect me to join the chorus of critics who have almost unanimously panned Fear Factor, but I can’t.
I really like it.
There’s something incredibly compelling about watching the average Joe or Joanne perform stunts that people normally only dream of. And by “people,” I mean 14-year-old boys and girls who have too much time on their hands and too little fear in their heads. I used to be one of those.
Rogan is a great host, making jokes at contestants’ expense when they’re in the middle of a stunt. You get the feeling Rogan himself could and would do every stunt on the show.
I have always wanted to jump from one speeding vehicle to another, climb across a rope from one building to the next, and even–now that they’ve put the thought in my mind–wanted to climb from a speeding jet ski to a helicopter hovering overhead.
Bugs, worms, and other creepy crawly things are certainly not my forte, and yet I still wonder if I could force myself to eat beetles or worms or sheep’s eyes.
Of course, all of it sounds easy if it’s not right in front of you, and I haven’t even managed to fill out the application form to join in on the action.
Couch potato heroes such as myself will continue to enjoy watching people squirm and freak out from the comfort of our living rooms.
