In a recent survey on website ask 500 people the majority of the public worldwide said that they did not like reality television and most people who I interviewed were also in consensus- they did not watch reality television or if they did watch it included talented contestants.
However, Big Brother, which most of my interviewees admitted to not watching, included talented contestants this year in order to attract viewers. Amongst the contestants there was a racing driver, artist, circus performer, entrepreneur, boxer and classical musician. This was Big Brother's attempt at change after last year's Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy (click for Dipity story). However as the side bar reveals, this year's Big Brother was more unpopular than ever showing that talent does not have anything to do with it.
Adam Hosker from the Apprentice believes that talent does affect a television show's success. Click here to see my interview with him and hear his opinions on reality television.
The lure of reality television to producers is evident. It is cheap, there are no actors to fund, no scripts or rehearsals and minimum props which lack extravagance. Whereas a television drama can cost up to one million pounds, reality television is cheap and can cost as little as £114,000. Extra money is also generated through advertisements.A 30 second advertising spot during Big Brother Three cost £40,000, over three times more than any other show on Channel four.
Is reality television beginning to lose its sparkle? Or are people just too embarrassed to admit that they watch it? This blog illustrates some of the excuses these American mums use to disguise their obsession with reality television to their husbands. One confessed to excusing her love of My Super Sweet Sixteenth by telling her husband watching it was research for her job as a YA fiction writer-but she admits "I really just like them."
Why is it classed as "uncool" to watch reality television? Could it be that the surprise and naivety of the game is what fuelled the public fascination in the first place? The first Big Brother (2000) did not include twenty-four-hour footage like that on E4 today. Although afterwards housemates complained that editors had moulded them into certain typecasts by the clips they selected, on the plus side what happened on the evening show was fresh stuff which had not been reported in the papers. Adam Hosker also claimed television producers did this on the Apprentice. Channel four exposed the cheat, Nick Bateman , and expelled him from the house.Everything was under control, everything was fair, or so it seemed.
The rules were much clearer and the house mates had no idea of the fame or attention they would receive when they came out, thus, they did not play up to the cameras. This is evident from Nick Bateman's cheating- he actually forgot about the cameras and thought he could get away with influencing housemates to vote the way he wanted them to.
No contact with the outside world meant no contact with the outside world- and the option of spending the week's shopping budget on a magazine was not an option.
The cheers and support on the first Big Brother eviction night are depressingly different from the bad spirited booing which is so common in more recent evictions-sometimes even when it is the winner who is coming out.As a result some contestants have decided after a few weeks to take the back entrance and leave early in order to avoid the public humiliation of the booing mob. This sort of patronising, Z-list fame is not for them.
It was a rarity for housemates to leave in the first few Big Brothers and even the most memorable contestants, who gained fame, have managed to slide back into a relatively normal life. Sada from BB1 has managed to keep a low profile apparently working in a bistro somewhere in London. Whilst a friend informed me that her hairdresser Helen, who was in Big Brother Two, is barely recognizable as a reality television star. The more the Big Brother's progress the more outrageous the contestants become, merely applying to get a blink of low-rate fame. Contestants like Jade Goody are the type of people who reflect badly on the show. It is for people like her that the term "Z-list" has been coined.
Definition of Z-List in the Urban Dictionary:
"1. An annoying ex-reality tv star that manged to get everywhere on TV."
Diana Vickers says that sometimes she has regrets about being in X Factor. The scrutiny of the media and public is putting contestants off competing altogether
X Factor and I'm a Celebrity may be doing well at the moment but how long until they follow in the shoes of the (once thought to be) indestructible Big Brother?
More importantly what tricks have Channel four got in store for encouraging people to watch Big Brother Ten and what will Simon Cowell do to save X Factor heading the same way? Perhaps there is no answer...Cowell is reported to be leaving X Factor after this year.
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