Reality Will Eat Itself,
Part 1
Gordon Pepper
Any time that any network
has a good idea, the other networks attempt to pull a
Dolly the sheep and clone it. It gets even more
competitive for reality shows, as reality shows cost
much less to produce and can be put in the can and ready
to go on the air quicker than their non-game
counterparts. Some times a clone actually works out
(Like CBS cloning itself when Big Brother evolved into
the summer version of Survivor), but usually, with the
exception of the Nanny and the Spouse Swap shows, the
clone usually disappears quicker than Trista Sutter in
Dancing With the Stars.
Let's go back to Survivor. We got the incredibly lame
'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!', as well as 'No
Boundaries', 'Wickedly Perfect' and any other reality
show which features 2 teams voting out a person when
their team loses a challenge. Shows like Big Brother and
The Biggest Loser worked because there were
modifications in the game play to make it stand out on
it's own - but pitifully, we only have two of those, and
plenty of substandard dreck in this genre.
Then there was 'The Apprentice' Era, where Burnett once
again took an idea and made it great. Unfortunately,
that spawned wanna-be shows from Mark Cuban, Andy Dick
and Richard Branson, a really bad spoof sham from Fox
(My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss) and now we have to sit
through one from Jerry Hall (Yuck) Kathy Hilton (Double
Yuck) and Tommy Hilfiger (I don't care if the theme is
fashion. Jason Block nailed it when he counted all of
the Apprentice references and homages in the show). The
problem here is that because of all of the bad clones,
the luster is starting to come off the original. The
Donald hopes that he and Martha Stewart can revive it,
but we'll have to see.
Next up - The Sports Competition genre. Both The
Contender and The Next Great Champ is down for the
count, but ironically, a clone from that genre is doing
the best. Based on The Ultimate Fighter, these people
show more heart and personality then their boxing
counterparts. What may be the secret of their success?
They show the whole fight in it's entirety and spend
more time on the dream, instead of overdramatizing it or
making it into a pale shell of Rocky.
The only show that escaped erosion is American Idol -
though it's not like other networks didn't try. The
competing networks even got a successful clone out of it
- Nashville Star - and a sort of successful clone - Star
Search, which lasted for 4 runs and had competitors such
as Jessica Sierra, Amanda Avila, John Heffron and Alonzo
Bodden (any of those sound familiar?). Unfortunately, we
also got clunkers such as Fame, The Next Action Star,
American Juniors and Missy Elliott.
Of course, we have to grab the latest trend and copy the
crap out of that too. After Dancing With The Stars, the
networks that be have decided that we want to see
CELEBRITIES IN ACTION! So coming down the pike for your
entertainment - Ice Skating With The Stars! I'm a
Celebrity but I want to Sing Too! Battle of the Reality
Network Stars! I'm sure some of these sound more
appealing than others, but they are all coming from the
same source - and quite frankly, watching blatant copies
of shows who claim to be original is getting very
tiring.
Sure, there are shows who take ideas from other shows
and are hits in their own right, but unfortunately, what
we get most of the time isn't an acceptable clone, but a
bastard child which disintegrates in a matter of weeks.
The success is also leading to something that poses an
even bigger threat - but that is saved for another
column. Join us in that different column as we discuss
that threat - in 5 days.
Gordon Pepper is the reason that America is against
cloning. E-mail him at gordon@gameshownewsnet.com |