Facing Reality: Latest TV trend may not be a trend after all

Kirk Baird

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 8:17 a.m.

Love it or despise it, reality TV isn't going anywhere.

Not according to the ratings.

And not according to one of the genre's leading producers.

"I think TV (audiences) especially the younger generation want to feel more real. They do not want television shows to tell them when to laugh or cry," said David Krasnow, executive producer of NBC's "Average Joe," "Average Joe: Hawaii" and the upcoming "Average Joe 3: Adam Returns."

"I don't think that's going to change and I don't think reality TV is going away."

Speaking last week at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) convention at the Sands Expo Center, Krasnow said the reality television craze is generating a kind of excitement long missing on network TV.

"Our shows, much more than scripted shows, are the ones everyone is talking about," Krasnow said in an informal question-and-answer session with convention attendees. " Everybody Loves Raymond' is a great show. But people aren't talking about it around the water cooler."

The numbers back Krasnow up. The third season of Fox's "American Idol," which premiered Jan. 19, drew the highest numbers of any debut this season. CBS, meanwhile, has such high hopes for its upcoming "Survivor: All-Stars" series, it's premiering the show after the Super Bowl on Sunday.

What once was considered a broadcast novelty when MTV introduced us to the "Real World" nearly 14 years ago has quickly emerged as the quick fix for ratings-desperate networks much to the chagrin of critics.

Matt Roush, chief critic for TV Guide, has all but conceded that, though "these are the times that try critics' souls," reality TV has become a viable form of programming.

"It's such a hot commodity that everybody wants to have a reality TV hit and just about everybody's got one," he said in a phone interview from his office in New York.

Amid the glut of the programming, a Las Vegas theme has also emerged.

"Real World" featured an entire season in Sin City in 2002, and one of the cast members of "Real World Paris," Christina Trainor, is from Las Vegas. Meanwhile, NBC's "Fear Factor" has taped in Las Vegas and Fox's upcoming summer series, "The Casino," promises a "behind-the-scenes" account of casino life as new ownership takes over the Golden Nugget and attempts to restore it to its Rat Pack heyday.

It hasn't hurt the genre that reality shows are considerably cheaper to make than scripted programming.

"Reality TV costs $500,000 to $1 million an hour. Scripted dramas on network take $2 million and beyond," said David Green, chairman of September Films, a television and film production company based in London and Los Angeles that has made such "nonfiction" programs as "Bridezillas," "Single in Vegas" and "Snip and Tuck."

"It's half to less-than-half the cost and you're getting the same kind of viewers. I have to tell you, it's a no-brainer for them."

So how is it that this emerging genre has gained in popularity?

It's the ability for audiences to relate, Krasnow said.

"I want to make it watchable and relatable to the audience," he said. "It must have that water cooler quality ... that captures the imagination."

Bert van Munster, co-creator and executive producer of "The Amazing Race," said the success of a reality show boils down to "a great idea and a great story to tell." "Storytelling is what it's all about," van Munster said in a separate Q-And-A session at NATPE.

"Right now the types of shows we're doing are soap operas."

And just as with daytime dramas, viewers are becoming hooked to the drama.

In December more than 17 million viewers watched reality-TV queen Trista Rehn marry Ryan Sutter, whom she met and (presumably) fell in love with on last season's "The Bachelorette."

And in May 33.7 million viewers tuned in to see "Velvet Teddy Bear" Ruben Studdard claim the crown of "American Idol" over nerdish Clay Aiken. That's more than watched last year's Academy Awards telecast -- traditionally, the most popular entertainment event of the year -- which drew 33.1 million viewers.

And reality TV has made pseudo-celebrities out of such people as current and former Las Vegans Sue Hawk and Kelly Wiglesworth, respectively, both of whom were cast in the first "Survivor."

"There are people who are very used to this kind of TV and like it and also people who just discovered this kind of TV within the last three years," Roush said. "Right now, people are still discovering it and still responding to the novelty and that it promises something different."

Not all reality TV, however, has been golden.

The first installment of "Joe Millionaire," in which single women were duped into believing a construction worker was worth millions, was a huge ratings winner for Fox last year. The network's follow-up, "The Next Joe Millionaire," in which the same concept was tried on unsuspecting European women, was a colossal failure.

Other reality programming such as Fox's "Married by America," CBS's "Cupid" and ABC's "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here!," starring Las Vegas resident Robin Leach, have crashed and burned.

Even "The Amazing Race," which won the first Emmy last year for Outstanding Reality/Competition Program, perpetually has fought an uphill battle in the ratings, although it has been renewed for a fifth season.

"We have always struggled in our ratings," van Munster said. "I don't know why."

The fickle acceptance of nonfiction programming, coupled with a glut of these types of shows, has led networks to wild experimentation with the format, often overstepping the boundaries of good taste.

For example: Fox's "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance," in which an actor goes out of his way to make his in-laws despise him while his "fiancee" tries desperately to marry him -- all to win a million dollars -- is low even by network TV standards, Roush said.

"It's a bad skit that looks like it's never going to end," he said. "It's the kind of show that's difficult to find anything good about. This is all about people willing to do anything to get on television.

"The only good thing about 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance' is that it's only a six-week run."

Still, Krasnow rejected the statement that reality TV has gotten "too outrageous."

"Too outrageous? When I was growing up, there was a sitcom where a mother was a car," he said. "Why are we getting beat up?"

As to where all this is headed, no one is sure.

"I don't know where it's going," Roush said. "The fact is, right now we're in a frenzy. This month in particular we have reached critical mass with the format. Some nights reality TV is on every time period. That was the case (Jan. 20) with 'American Idol' and 'The Apprentice,' where two reality hits collide.

"It's hard to choose if you're a reality fan. I'd like the networks to settle down a little bit."