Do you remember the old TV commercial for Memorex, in which the question was asked: "Is it live or is it Memorex?" I realize that we, as viewers, are consumed with reality TV—we want real-life stories, real-life heroes, real courage—real, real, real! From unscripted talk shows ranging from Donahue, Oprah, and The Rosie O’Donnell Show, to fist-slugging, off-the-wall mayhem TV like Jenny Jones (where one guest felt humiliated by a surprise wish from another and killed the guest after the show) … and now on the "nicer, kinder version" of the Jerry Springer, where just recently one of his guests shot and killed her ex-husband after the episode aired!
These shows exist because we watch them. And, folks—that’s what it’s about: ratings, ratings, ratings! However, advertisers are pulling away from some shows due to hosts’ points of view on touchy subjects like marriage, gays, abortion—I am speaking specifically of Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I applaud these advertisers for taking such a stand.
Why do we crave real people, real ideas, real emotions? After being in the real-people arena for more than 25 years, my belief is that we feel emotionally comfortable in seeing ourselves on the screen. Whether it’s a real couple just learning that they are pregnant, or a couple of guys speaking real-talk, asking "whassup?" in a new beer commercial—we’re reminded of us. That’s the way we talk.
I always tell ad agencies that it may take 100 reads to get an actress to talk believably about how her baby feels so soft with the new lotion. But it may take only one or two times for a real mom holding her baby to attest on camera to the feel of her baby’s soft skin. Are real-people TV ads here to stay? I say, "Yes." As long as the products sell and the people are for real, you betcha! But wait…
Now there’s the new crop of reality shows that we seem glued to, like this summer’s rave-ratings hit, CBS’s Survivor. Here a group of men and women, of different ages and different backgrounds, live together for too many weeks on a deserted island in the South Pacific. Each week one of the tribe’s people is booted off, and at the end of this exasperating experience only one survivor is left and wins $1 million. (Of course, that’s after the government takes its share of $400,000!) Hey, is it worth it—eating rats, live worms, baking in the hot sun? No manicures, no hairdresser, no cleaners, no cell phones, no e-mail, no nothing—just to be insulted on national TV? Oh, yes, you get the opportunity to meet Bryant Gumble, or maybe even David Letterman.
I’d rather sit across from Regis Philbin in an air-conditioned studio at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and be humiliated when I can’t even answer the $100 question. At least I wouldn’t have to sit in a bikini and show all of America my undulating thighs! That’s when real is too real!
