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Reality
TV Panel
DGA members Reginald D. Brown (AASC Co-chair), Gina Brittle Mackey (WSC Co-chair/
moderator), talk-show executive producer Jose Pretlow (panelist), DGA member Victor Webb (AASC event subcommittee), FOX Broadcasting Alternative and Special Programming VP Mike Darnell (panelist), ABC Alternative Series and Specials VP John Saade (panelist), William Morris Agency Talent and Packaging VP John Ferriter (panelist), and USA Studios Programming and development Sr. VP Lonnie Burstein (panelist). (Photo: Terry Lilly)
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The realities of reality television point to much more of it in store in the wake of such ratings successes as the group-attrition hit Survivor, the prime-time game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the endurance of provocative "yak" shows popularized by Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Jenny Jones and others.
But nonscripted television will continue to push the envelope according to the TV experts convened for "The Reality of It All: A Showcase on the Explosion of Reality TV," a panel discussion conducted Nov. 15 at the Directors Guild of America.
"We have Temptation Island coming up," said panelist Mike Darnell, executive producer of alternative and special programming for Fox Broadcasting. "We'll send couples to a resort and have 26 singles there wanting to date them," he told the packed industry audience in the DGA's Theatre 2. The event, which was a co-production of the DGA's African-American Steering Committee and the Women's Steering Committee was moderated by WSC Co-chair Gina Brittle Mackey, a development executive for Tribune Entertainment.
Among the other reality shows in development or production by the networks, cable and syndication channels are Boot Camp, Cher's Fashion Emergency, Face Lift, I Flirt, Jailbreak, Mall Confessions, Road Rage, Speed Dating, Sweet Revenge, Talk or Walk and Who Wants to Date a Hooters Girl?
A main theme of the evening was a Hollywood evergreen: To green light or not to green light a multi-installment project with millions at stake. "With something like Survivor or Real World, you can't just shoot the pilot," said panelist Ghen Maynard, Vice President of Alternative Series Development for CBS. "You have to shoot it all. You have to make that commitment."
Joining Maynard and Darnell on the panel were John Saade, Vice President of Alternative Series and Specials for ABC; Lonnie Burstein, Senior Vice President of Programming and Development for Studios USA; Jose Pretlow, executive producer of talk shows including Donahue and Geraldo, and John Ferriter, Vice President for talent and packaging for the William Morris Agency. The discussion
was introduced by AASC Co-chair Reginald Brown after an audience welcome by Rodney Mitchell, DGA Assistant Executive Director.
Panelists said that variety shows will be making a comeback while the group-attrition dynamic seen on CBS and Maynard's Big Brother and Survivor will be as popular as ever.
"We have The Mole," said Saade. "It's a whodunit with ten people and one person sabotaging the efforts. The audience gets to assess each character on both a straight-clue level and intuition level."
Darnell averred that most nonscripted TV programs were DGA-contract shows and, for the most part, directed and produced by reality TV veterans. "Every now and then I'll take a chance on someone inexperienced," said Studio USA's Burstein. "But it will invariably fail. I rely on the great producers and directors who produce over and over again."
While the envelope pushing goes on, the panelists said they turn down many ideas - a hidden camera in a brothel, for instance. Another was Destination Mir, about the troubled space station launched into orbit by the former Soviet Union.
"We would send a person into outer space," Ferriter said. "But the Russian government is falling apart and we had to ask the question, 'Can we guarantee no one is going to die?' We couldn't make than guarantee. Do we want to put the kind of money that sort of show would need into something with so much risk? It would be a win-win situation in terms of ratings, but we can't guarantee no one would die."
-Jerry Roberts
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