It was announced yesterday that CTV would not produce a new season of Canadian Idol, their once popular reality TV show. But maybe it’s time to give all competitive reality TV a big re-think.
In November, when a former contestant on American Idol killed herself in front of the house of Idol judge Paula Abdul, we got an unusual look into the lives of the people who compete on TV. The woman’s name was Paula Goodspeed and her license plate read “ABL LV.” When her parents noticed Goodspeed was missing, they told police to check the home of Ms. Abdul.
With shows like Intervention, The Biggest Loser and Double Shot of Love hemorrhaging the airwaves, the market is much to open with avenues for exploiting societies shakier sides. What’s the screening process anyway for getting onto TV? It seems like the bigger jack-ass you’re willing to be, the faster the networks will grant you your own show.
Canadian versions of American programs are rarely as ruthless as their American counterparts. Indeed, there was no stand-in for Simon Cowell north of the border — one of the reason’s the programs ratings probably failed. But reality TV can be a cruel and horrible mindless pastime. What looks funny to us can be a sign of someone’s rapidly diminished reality foothold. Maybe Canadian Idol leaving the airwaves will create room for original programming. Wouldn’t it be great if we made something that actually gave people like Paula Goodspeed help?
Let’s face it – reality TV has always been exploitative. Whether something will “make good television” will inevitably take priority over the wellbeing of those involved. And someone having a meltdown live on air is compelling viewing so in some respects, the more misguided or unstable the participants the better.
Somehow managing to achieve a new low over here in the UK is a new internet show just starting to fire up its publicity machine called Debt Monkey. One “lucky” person will apparently have all their debts paid off and then be filmed 24×7 for six months. If that doesn’t guarantee a live mental breakdown I don’t know what will. And don’t even get me started on the dubious morals of this “debtsploitation”.
If that’s not enough, we’ve got Celebrity BB starting in just two weeks time and of course the audition rounds for BB10 which will almost certainly be a magnet for sociopaths and the terminally confused. Particularly worrying since BB’s screening process seems only to exist in order to filter out all the sane people…