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Getting a line on reality TV
« on: Jan 16th, 2004, 6:37pm » |
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www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-01-15-reality-tv_x.htm
Getting a line on reality TV
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
Last year, American Idol's success was a matter of hope. This year, it's expected.
The singing competition has proved not only that it can drive music sales, but also that it could have what it takes to become a long-running star, network-style, by reliably delivering tens of millions of viewers.
That means that this time around, Idol — beginning its third search for a pop star Monday (Fox, 8 p.m. ET/PT) — will likely join the few, the proud, the all-star survivors of the reality glut. (Related story: Fiancé and Todd also on board)
Even competitors are admirers. "I think it'll be big this time around. You'll be able to add American Idol to the list," says Mike Fleiss, executive producer of The Bachelor.
That list is short, consisting of a single hit reality show standing the test of time on each of the four biggest networks. And all are in high gear this month:
•Survivor CBS' exotic competition hopes its eighth edition, with an all-star cast of previous winners and memorable contestants (premiering Feb. 1 after the Super Bowl), will continue last fall's resurgence.
•The Bachelor/The Bachelorette This ABC matchmaking series is a dating-show model for the reality era. The sixth outing, which premiered this week (Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT), turns Meredith Phillips, a runner-up from an earlier edition, into the latest Bachelorette.
•Fear Factor. NBC's critic-proof mix of physical stunts and gross-out challenges (Mondays, 8 p.m. ET/PT), basking in some of its highest ratings in its fourth season, is experimenting with a seven-week couples competition. The show stands out among reality series for its strong ratings performance in reruns.
How long can they all go? It's hard to say for an alternative genre thatfully bloomed just four years ago with Survivor's premiere. Host Jeff Probst foresees 10 Survivors, but that may be conservative. It's still a top-five show.
Simon Cowell, given to frank assessments as an Idol judge, sees at least a temporary end for his hit — in a few years. "I hope we have the next three years. In this kind of programming, you cannot predict people's tastes beyond (then)," says Cowell, who is signed through the next three seasons. "I would say after three more years of these, we'd have to give it a break."
There's little available for benchmarking. ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire burned out after three years, but MTV's The Real World is chugging along in its 14th season. Survivor and Idol "have become part of the culture" and could become staples like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, says Stacy Lynn Koerner of media-buying firm Initiative. Neither has much format competition, a challenge faced by The Bachelor, and Fear Factor doesn't draw as much buzz, she says.
Fox, coming off a weak fall season, can't afford a falling Idol. It remains to be seen whether Idol, which drew a show record 38 million viewers for its second-season finale, will follow the same ratings pattern as some other reality hits. In general, they start solidly and build an audience during the first season, as word of mouth and buzz draw new viewers.
A series can climb even higher in its second season, drawing extra media attention and curiosity-seekers who want to get in on the pop culture craze du jour. That generally marks the show's ratings peak, as casual viewers get their fill and move on. (Some shows, such as CBS' Big Brother and The Amazing Race, endure, but never reach the ratings heights of the big hits.)
In the alchemy of the television business, there's no formula for success, but these shows, all ratings draws for the four big broadcast networks, share traits.
Each series was the first of its kind, at least during the recent reality explosion, cornering its own subgenre. "The first one tends to get the biggest group of the audience," says CBS reality chief Ghen Maynard.
Core concepts, with a little tinkering
Each also maintains a relatively straightforward core concept. Shows hinging on a trick or playing off an existing format, such as Joe Millionaire or the many Bachelor-influenced dating shows, can be one-trick ponies. And mean or cynical shows can hit big but tend to lack staying power. Those based on particular people, such as the Osbournes, tend to peter out, too.
The reality all-star shows all have made changes, from barely noticeable production tweaks to big surprise twists, to try to stay interesting to viewers while remaining faithful to the program's basic structure.
Survivor offers the most noticeable current twist, through casting, with the all-star edition. On Wednesday, The Bachelorette played off its own creation, the admired, parodied and much-imitated rose ceremony, with a special white rose offering, good for the first one-on-one date. And Fear Factor, unique among the group with closed-ended individual episodes, this week started its serial experiment with nine couples.
Idol, perhaps because of its youth or the relative simplicity of its concept, will feature only minor alterations. A band, rather than a pianist, will accompany singers on a spruced-up set during middle rounds, when 32 singers are pared to 12. Those episodes have formed a mild ratings trough between the audition shows and the top 12 elimination countdown.
Those audition shows before the judges — Cowell, Paula Abdul and a slimmer Randy Jackson — will be expanded, running for three weeks. A push for bigger guests is underway (Paul McCartney is frequently rumored to be visiting), but otherwise the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it philosophy kicks in. "I don't want to try too many different things. It's too early to mess with it," Fox reality chief Mike Darnell says.
Cowell doesn't want to tinker too much, either. He says he'd make one or two adjustments if he were in charge, but he won't discuss them other than to say he doesn't want to see a return of last season's guest judges. He says there has been talk of adding another regular judge, perhaps in the middle of the run. He wouldn't identify who's under consideration, but "knowing who it is, it could be great."
A show's purpose comes first
When changes are made, producers try to keep the series fresh without straying too far from what made the show attractive in the first place. Idol, for example, has eschewed taking a Real World-style look at its top 12 singers in their mansion, because it departs from the show's purpose. "That's not what we're about. We're a positive, aspirational show," says Idol executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz.
Shows gamble when they make more extreme shifts. When Survivor brought back two evicted contestants last fall, Probst said he initially was opposed to the idea, worrying that viewers might think Survivor was betraying its own rules. "We found the purists, journalists or maybe people who run Web sites thought, 'This isn't Survivor. We don't like it.' But the majority of people watching the show loved it."
Fleiss likes to make small changes to The Bachelor to keep the format from getting too predictable. Besides the white rose this time around, he added a surprise mini-rose elimination ceremony in last fall's edition.
Fleiss envisions an all-star Bachelor, with contestants from previous editions coming back, but says changes made by shows that have played off The Bachelor's central theme — including Joe Millionaire, Cupid, For Love or Money and Average Joe — restrict what he can do: "I'm a little boxed in, creatively."
Changes also are made with contestants in mind. Twists to familiar rules can keep them on their toes, making the show more interesting to watch. "We want these people, when they're in the show, to be as spontaneous as possible," says Andrea Wong, who heads ABC's reality division.
New blood, new bonds with viewers
New contestants also give each season a new personality. Many attribute Survivor's resurgence last fall to its cast, led by rough-cut Rupert Boneham, while some critics say Bachelor Andrew Firestone caused ratings to slump last spring. Fleiss agrees Firestone was less emotive than some bachelors, but says the drop had more to do with competition from Idol.
At the same time, he says the decision to bring back ex-suitors, such as Trista Rehn, Bob Guiney or Phillips, strengthens a bond with viewers and is "absolutely crucial" to the success of the series.
Fear Factor, with new competitors each week, is less reliant on such a bond. It offers variety in stunts, locations and themes, including competitions involving Miss USA contestants and twins. "We took the show to Vegas. We added family Fear Factor. We create themes, like celebrity versions. It also gives you a promotional hook," says NBC reality chief Jeff Gaspin.
With the couples' arc, the program hopes to add "a whole new emotional element," especially because viewers will get to know contestants over a few episodes, executive producer Matt Kunitz says.
Cowell says Idol has legs as long as it keeps finding the right lungs. He's slightly perplexed how the show can audition 70,000 singers and find only a couple of Idol-worthy performers. Nevertheless, one new Kelly Clarkson may be all Idol needs to keep going.
And Cowell already has spotted a diamond in the audition rough. "I've seen one girl who I think is very good," he says. "Oh, yeah."
The big four
'American Idol' (Fox)
•Season premiere: Monday, 8 p.m. ET/PT
•Series premiered: June 11, 2002
•Concept: Take a TV staple, the talent competition, load it with aspiring pop singers, good and bad alike, and spice it up with a cantankerous British judge.
•High points: The May 2003 finale, when 38 million viewers watched Ruben Studdard edge Clay Aiken by less than one percentage point for the Idol crown.
•Low points: Pick your mini-scandal: Frenchie Davis being bounced for posing topless on an Internet Web site; Corey Clark getting the hook for not reporting his arrest on battery charges (another semifinalist was dropped after an assault arrest); Trenyce coming clean about a theft charge (she got to stay).
•Secret of success: "It's what the market wanted, much of the record-buying audience. It caters to the need. It's very well-made TV (and) works in its simplicity. I'm surprised there aren't a couple more" like it. — Judge Simon Cowell.
'Survivor' (CBS)
•Season premiere: Sunday, Feb. 1, after the Super Bowl (regularly Thursday, 8 p.m. ET/PT)
•Series premiered: May 31, 2000
•Concept: The workplace jungle is transformed into a real one as 16 Type-A people, isolated in exotic, demanding environs, try to outwit, outlast and outplay each other to win $1 million.
•High point: Richard Hatch's surprise Machiavellian victory in the premiere Survivor.
•Low points: Ugly litigation: Stacey Stillman's charge that producers manipulated her ouster from the first Survivor. Just ugly: Richard Hatch romping naked.
•Secret of success: "We've had some terrific characters. ... I think that we've done a real good job every year of coming up with certain twists and surprises. It's important that (they) don't change the underlying core of the game, but at the same time there have to be things that keep people on their toes." — CBS reality chief Ghen Maynard.
'Fear Factor' (NBC)
•Airs: Monday, 8 p.m. ET/PT
•Premiered: June 11, 2001
•Concept: Pass the cow eyes. Two elaborate physical challenges sandwiched around a gross stunt, usually involving ingestion of a bug or animal organ. The winner gets $50,000.
•High point: Prizewise, it's the $1 million being offered to the winning couple in the seven-episode arc that started Monday. The show scored the series' highest ratings among young adults since March.
•Low point: Some animal lovers protested when contestants ate horse rectum. Other viewers just retched. (Of course, being covered with cow intestines, having to suck out the intestinal fluid, spit it into a glass and then drink it might qualify, too. But is it a high or low point?)
•Secret of success: "Variety is important. They constantly have new stunts and new locations. I can't believe they still keep coming up with ideas. If we've gone 100 shows, that's 300 stunts." — Host Joe Rogan.
'The Bachelor'/ 'The Bachelorette' (ABC)
•Airs: Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET/PT
•Premiered: March 25, 2002
•Concept: A single man or woman chooses from among 25 members of the opposite sex, hoping to find a potential spouse.
•High point: The ultimate payoff: the TV wedding of Bachelorette Trista and Ryan in December.
•Low points: The post-series breakups of Alex, Aaron, Andrew, Bob and their small-screen beloveds.
•Secret of success: "I counted a dozen rip-off shows. ... Those shows are a little too cynical. That's why The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchise continue to do well. People like to see real things happen in front of the camera, that people are there for the right reason." — Executive producer Mike Fleiss.
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