An Unscripted Scenario Trumps Reality TV Tastemakers, or, "Idiot Reality People Don't Leave Burning Building" - Hillary Atkin

It was event designed to give the deans of reality television even more time in the spotlight so it seemed only fitting that a cold hard dose of earsplitting reality disrupted the proceedings at the Hollywood Radio and Television Society39s Unscripted Hitmakers luncheon last week at the Beverly HiltonIn response host and moderator Tom Bergeron uttered words that would not normally come out of his mouth on quotDancing with the Starsquot during an insightful panel discussion part of HRTS39s ongoing newsmaker luncheon seriesA fire alarm and strobe lights went off in the hotel39s International Ballroom as Bergeron sat on stage with the people behind some of television39s most successful reality programsConrad Green quotDancing with the Starsquot Kris Jenner quotKeeping Up with the Kardashiansquot Mike Fleiss quotThe Bachelorquot Eli Holzman quotUndercover Bossquot Brent Montgomery quotPawn Starsquot and Bertram van Munster of quotThe Amazing Racequotwere in the midst of discussing their respective shows when they were interrupted by what at first seemed like a stunt worthy of a reality showSeveral dozen people made their way quickly to the exits but most stayed put amp8211 as Bergeron tried to assess the situation which included a PA announcement that the commotion was in fact a fire alarm With an expletive the experienced host urged everyone to stay and it turns out he was right In short order the PA system declared that it was indeed a false alarmquotThe headline idiot reality people don39t leave burning buildingquot Bergeron said to laughter from the crowdWhat is in fact a bit alarming to those on stage was that ratings have leveled off for reality shows as the genre enters middle age or at least teenagehood and producers search for new ideasquotCompetitive shows require a huge audiencequot said Green quotIt39s concerning because such shows rely on being special It39s crowded The stronger ones will survive but the challenge is to innovatequotBergeron asked Jenner whose family lives not only with camera crews but in the glare of an intense media spotlight if there is a line that cannot be crossedquotWe won39t do bathroom shotsquot she said quotWe let it all hang out We39re strong personalities and we let it fly I stop myself from editing That39s what makes it successfulquotShe noted that the program only shows 22 minutes out of a 24hour period of moments in the lives of 12 people quotIf there39s a crazy moment we see smiles on the faces of the crewquot she said revealing that the family actually feels strange when they are not around quotI39m always patting my chest to see if a mic is onquot Jenner revealedquotThere39s enough weird stuff that comes out of people naturally to keep it interestingquot said Fleiss of quotThe Bachelorquot series quotJust look at the number of people who come away heartbroken It39s incredibly highquotAs for other low points he admitted that the season shot in New York was not one of its best that the main participant was inebriated much of the time and that the crew was burnt outquotI feel that the audience could sense that and moving forward we had more sincere participants both on and off cameraquot he saidCasting is always a key issue for unscripted programs and for shows like quotDancingquot it39s a nearly constant process quotThe key is the feel of each cast The danger is homogenizing itquot said Green quotWe are looking for marquee booking We have the opportunity to change 12 facesquotquotIf I don39t have a good cast I have nothingquot said van Munster of quotThe Amazing Racequot He continually lauded CBS39s support of his awardwinning program which wins the Emmy in the reality category almost like clockworkCBS has also been very successful with quotUndercover Bossquot whose producer Holzman is launching quotThe Pitchquot on AMC being promoted during its acclaimed drama quotMad MenquotquotIt39s hard work We embedded filmmakers into the offices quotsaid Holzman of the program which pits advertising agencies against each other to win a prized account He said he39s working on a new show about turning a home recipe into a supermarket product based upon his own experiences with a dessert treatquotAre you taking jobs away from actorsquot asked Bergeron of his panel a notion which they almost uniformly laughed offwith some positing that the reality genre may have even served to make dramas better in what many have termed a new golden age of televisionquotIt39s a misconception that you don39t work as hard as dramatic actorsquot Jenner said and Fleiss agreed citing the long hours quotEvery person has a strong work ethic and our show employs hundreds of peoplequot said Jennerquot It makes me feel goodand we39re having the time of our livesquotProving once again that it takes a lot to keep up with the KardashiansHillary Atkin is the editor and publisher of The Atkin Report wwwatkinreportcom and has written extensively on media and entertainment for USA Today the Los Angeles Times Daily and Weekly Variety The Hollywood Reporter TelevisionWeek Entertainment Weekly The New York Observer and LA Confidential She is an awardwinning journalist who began her career as a television news writer reporter and producer As a broadcast producer at KCBS in Los Angeles she won numerous Emmy Associated Press and Golden Mike Awards for live coverage and entertainment special events programming and then produced and directed biographies on Robert Duvall Elizabeth Montgomery Linda Darnell and Nicolas Cage for AampampE and E She can be reached at hillaryatkinyahoocom Read all Hillary39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Hillary AtkinCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and 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An Unscripted Scenario Trumps Reality TV Tastemakers, or, "Idiot Reality People Don't Leave Burning Building" - Hillary Atkin

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