Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Entertainment
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Film
Music
People
Television
Arts
Industry
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Unscripted TV fare balances real with "reality"
Fri Jul 3, 2009 12:10am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Daniel Frankel
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - When the Oxygen network green-lighted the reality series "Addicted to Beauty," the idea was to chronicle the day-to-day workings of a trendy California medical spa via the lives of its married co-owners, a socialite and a doctor.
That was the plan, anyway.
"Before we even got into production, they got divorced," Oxygen general manager Jason Klarman says. So when "Beauty" premieres next month, it will focus on socialite Dianne York-Goldman's attempt to start a med-spa at a different location, as well as her re-entry into single life.
"You've got to roll with the punches when you're doing these shows," Klarman says. "These aren't characters; these are real people, and you always run the risk of them having lives."
Indeed, as TLC has learned with its breakout hit "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the unanticipated real-life travails of reality personalities can prove both a boon and a bust to the network that's following their every move.
In TLC's case, a record 10.6 million viewers watched Jon and Kate Gosselin announce their marital breakup during the June 22 episode. But the show -- only six installments in a 40-episode order have aired -- has since gone on hiatus until August 3 to figure out how to move forward.
The "Jon & Kate" phenomenon has sent shock waves through Hollywood's unscripted TV community.
TRYING TO BOTTLE CONTROVERSY
"I'll bet there are some networks saying, 'Let's hire a VP of controversy; how can we make this happen for every show?'" says Arthur Smith, producer of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" and ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show." "I think it might be a misguided reaction, but a lot of people are saying: 'What a home run! Ten million people watched TLC. How do we bottle that?'"
In a crowded reality landscape, executives even are strategizing ways to spice up their "diary" shows -- which track the day-to-day existences of ordinary people and celebrities -- with attention-grabbing real-life side stories.
"In a world where you never seem to have as much marketing money as you'd like, you need people talking about you," Animal Planet president Marjorie Kaplan says. "There's no question that when we're talking about doing a series, we think about what will get people talking: What will get activists talking, what will get US Weekly talking, what will get the 'Today' show talking, what will get YouTube talking."
Adds reality veteran JD Roth, who is producing A&E's "Hammertime": "Every time I've had a moment like that in a show -- and granted, none has generated the kind of press attention that 'Jon & Kate' has -- it's always helped the series, not hurt it. You don't want something to happen like what's happened to Jon and Kate, but you hope someone does something to shake things up. That's what moves the drama forward."
The heat generated by "Jon & Kate" is only the most recent example of unscripted TV's increasingly tough balancing act between the real and the "reality."
CO-STAR, NOT BFF
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie stopped being friends after the third season of "The Simple Life," but by then E! had shelled out millions to acquire the show from Fox, so producers concocted a conceit that allowed the duo to continue for two more seasons without interacting much. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
"Ice Age" heats up box office with record opening
Also On Reuters
Commentary: Miles O'Brien and why planes crash
Judge tentatively dismisses conviction in MySpace case
Blog: Citizen journalism, mainstream media and Iran
More Entertainment News
Ex-wife's custody bid looms over Jackson memorial
| Video
Jay Leno wins cybersquatting case
Alice in Chains reunion "Gives Way" to album, tour
"Ice Age" heats up box office with record opening
Deal chatter heats up in Hollywood
More Entertainment News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Air New Zealand staff bare all to get flyers' attention
Hope for California budget deal as IOUs planned
North Korea fires fourth short-range missile: report
UPDATE 1-Arianespace launches "largest commercial satellite"
CORRECTED - UPDATE 4-U.S. regulators close seven banks
UPDATE 1-South Carolina gov. cleared on use of state funds
U.S. regulators close seven banks
Investors turn to stock picking after massive rally
New flu may not spread like regular flu -studies
Millionaires' springtime optimism wilts: survey
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Micahel Jackson's last video
Jackson rehearsal video released
After the withdrawal in Iraq
Operation Strike of the Sword
California's state of emergency
Jackson's brother
Obama warns of more job losses
Vanishing jobs
No Jackson funeral at Neverland
Dutch banks still investing in arms?
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Special Coverage: Michael Jackson
The King of Pop
Full coverage of Michael Jackson's sudden death, with the latest news, videos, facts and timeline. Full Coverage
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.