The "Rules" of Reality TV

I recently attended a lecture & panel discussion through the departments of Communications, American Culture, and Screen Arts & Cultures called the Goldring Symposium. Entitled “New Trends in Popular Culture: From Reality Television to Hip-Hop and Jerkin’”, it had 3 Michigan alums talk in their respective areas of contemporary music, women’s studies, and television production.

The one speaker that stood out to me as a Screen Arts & Cultures student was Joel Zimmer, the head of current production for his company, 495 Productions. His company produces solely reality television content for networks like MTV and NBC amongst others. Of the most well known shows he has produced are the hit series “The Jersey Shore” and “A Shot at Love” with Tila Tequila.

Joel’s approach to delivering a talk was less academic than the other presenters – it was conversational and allowed the audience to really understand his role in the business. Joel supervises all the shows 495 is producing, which he described could be anywhere from 3-10 shows at any given point during the year.

I will explain how reality TV really doesn’t play by any set rules through several points, each of which fall under a single principle: Reality television is an enticing genre for producers because the content is cheap to produce and it generates a sizable audience – including some of the largest on network television.

1.     The crazier the subjects, the better. When casting for reality shows, Joel made it very clear that they’re not out to find individuals that embody characteristics of someone that can relate to the masses – It’s actually the complete opposite. They seek people that are crazy enough to be entertaining, but not so off-the-wall that they would be too big of a risk for the producer’s investment.

2.     The structures of the stories are completely up in the air.  When a series is green lit to enter production, the producer only has a general idea of the messages the series should convey to an audience. The individual storylines that drive the story through each episode don’t emerge until the middle stages of post-production. Because of this, there are literally endless possibilities for what each episode can communicate.

3.     The director has no say in shaping the content – all the power lies within the producers and executives. The director’s role on set if solely to make sure production runs smoothly. As you can imagine, though, it is impossible to actually direct the actions of the talent in this genre. Similar to the second point where the story takes shape toward the middle of post-production, the decisions made are almost completely dictated by the producer’s desire for profits, not a director’s creative vision.

 Can you think of any additional ways in which this genre disregards conventional rules of scripted television to increase viewership?

MProve

Yesterday, Tom and I presented a new initiative that can bring the University into its tercentenary called MProve. Personally, when defining this initiative, I was attempting to respond to the popularity of entrepreneurship in today’s society. Many of the world’s most successful, inspirational, and influential people got their status with an idea, persistence, and creativity—not a college degree. It makes you think, what is the value of higher education?

Neither Zuckerberg, Jobs, or Gates graduated from college.

Source: http://dailypicksandflicks.com

Think of all of the times you have crammed for a test, pulled an all-nighter to finish an essay before a deadline, and sat through class scrolling through Facebook. Have you ever thought to yourself: What am I doing? What is the importance of this test, paper, or class? Why am I in school? MProve (although fictional) would like to individualize and revitalize the UM education system to encourage exploration and promote more intuitive, involved learning. Isn’t that what we’re here for anyway?

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If you have forgotten or weren’t paying attention in class, the following were the main provisions of MProve:

The New Classroom

     Anything: All UM students could sign up for any University class regardless of college, and could even create their own if a professor or GSI were willing to teach the subject

     Anytime: All lectures would be available online through video streaming. Students would still have the option to attend in-person

     Anywhere: Discussion and Section would be based on participation through social media to integrate academia with everyday activities, two entities that are typically viewed as distinct institutions

Evaluation

      Grades and GPA’s would be substituted with Performance Reports, offering a more qualitative analysis of a students participation, mastery, and effort

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These ideas took a lot of thought, and we considered many counterarguments. For example...

Q: How would the new evaluation system set back UM students comparatively to other universities when applying for jobs and admission into grad schools?

My response: The officials of the university would make a statement insisting that the evaluation system is actually more significant than GPA. This could further define The Michigan Difference.

After the questions in class, though, I continued to think about the ideas involved with MProve and how they could be altered. Would there still be an Honors program? Should students be able to have a major?

My first instincts: No (after reconsidering what I said in class) and Yes. The point of the new system would be to allow students’ interests and passions to speak for their character and abilities. An Honors system would reinstate the same competitive nature of a GPA, and majors, to some, are important in self-conceptualization. However, I do not think students should have to apply to these majors (Business, Organizational Studies, Public Policy, etc.). Students should study what they want, and the UM admissions office should strive to accept students that can maintain the prestige involved with each major.

What do you think about the ideas involved with MProve, and are they possible or even feasible?

My parents have always told me to put down the phone and talk at the dinner table. I always got annoyed with them and asked why they cared so much. They would tell me that it was rude and dinnertime was family time, a time to catch up on everyone’s day. I never thought I’d actually admit my parents were right about something and I was wrong. But I must do it now. I was completely wrong and technology has truly corrupted communication.

After a long day of classes, all I want to do is be able to catch up with my friends at dinner. With all of the new cool things and apps the iPhone has provided us with, some of my friends can’t peal their eyes away from their phone. When I ask them a question, I get nothing but silence. I then have to repeat my question until I break their focus and they actually hear me. I find it rude that games like scramble and words with friends are consuming my friends’ attention and me and my other friends sit and watch.

                              

I didn’t realize how consuming these games really were until I heard my friends were communicating through the chat provided by the game. I thought texting was getting out of control—giving people a way out from having to talk to each other personally. I think talking through the game and not even getting the person’s phone number has taken things to a new extreme.

When people are asking others to their date parties and formals via words with friends or draw something, I think that technology has pushed things too far. I am shocked that people no longer have the courage or etiquette to ask in person to something such as a date.

In my opinion, it didn’t start with phones. Computers and game stations are also a source for this lack of communication face to face. I remember growing up I would hear my brother from the room next door talking to someone. When I would walk in, no one was on the phone or there with him. I would find him playing on his X-box. When I asked who he was talking to, he replied with a sign-in name for X-box. X-box decided to come out with something called X-box Live. With this, players could interact with one another by talking to each other while playing against each other.

Now is it just me? Or does someone need to do something about the lack of communication in the world?

Have you ever thought about everyday activities as games? Cause I sure have. Just the other night I was going out to dinner with some friends by Main Street. We were parking in a lot near the restaurant. When we got to the lot, it was full. There were two exits and two entrances, one of each on opposite sides of the lot. As one car would leave, another would be able to enter. The box where you had to push for a ticket would say ‘lot full’ until one car would leave. The minute that happened, the box would change to say ‘press button for a ticket’.

We would see countless cars ahead of us get beaten by a car on the other side to enter. It became a game, one that was exciting and entertaining. It was funny to see who would get to the button first when the box gave the ok. When it came to our turn, we were so entertained and thought the process was so funny that we started thinking of tactics for when it was our turn. My friend driving, when we pulled up to the box, unbuckled her seat, lowered the window, and climbed half way out of the car. She pressed the button over and over again so that when the box would change from full to not full, she would be the first one to press the button.

It is so funny to see how competitive people get with everyday tasks. This also relates to wolverine access and how registration is some sort of a competition. Now that it is near time to register for our classes for fall 2012, people are starting to get competitive with each other. People tend to not tell others about certain classes so that they themselves will not get closed out. Also, when getting your registration time and date, it goes by the number of credits you currently have. This motivates people to compete with one another to have the highest number of credits to get the best registration time. Then it becomes a game of waiting.

You sit, starring at your computer screen, watching as the number of available seats in the classes you have backpacked slowly decreases. Finally, it is your turn. So many of the classes you chose are closed or have waitlists and you must scramble in an effort to find an open class or a spot on the waiting list; you have to be quick though before someone else beats you to it. Enrolling in classes becomes a stressful and vicious fight—often leaving the person to feel like a victor or defeated. 

Playoff System for NCAA Football

While March Madness was still going on, I was wondering about the implications of having a playoff system in college football. This is a topic that’s been hotly contested over the years, but I think it’s finally time for a change and that a playoff system should be implemented. I believe there would be an increase in competition with the potential to contend for the BCS championship despite not being the #1 or #2 team, but instead, through winning a playoff of perhaps 8 teams.

In 2009, the Boise State Football team was undefeated, and they went 13-0 through the season. However, Boise State’s biggest weakness was their strength of schedule, but that was largely only because they were part of the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) so their schedule was not as difficult as the two teams playing in the BCS Championship – Florida and Oklahoma. I believe that Boise State should have had the opportunity to compete for the BCS Championship but because of the lack of a playoff system, they had to settle for winning the Fiesta Bowl against another undefeated team, TCU.

This year, the BCS championship was Alabama vs. LSU, a rematch of their regular season game. A playoff system would have been much more interesting since it would’ve allowed similar caliber teams like Oklahoma State and Oregon for the opportunity to win the national title. 

            There is a playoff system for football at the high school level and there’s one that exists in the NFL, yet there are only a series of bowl games for the college level. Personally, I think that a playoff system is much fairer for all college teams because they will have a much greater opportunity to compete for a playoff spot rather than a #1 or #2 seed to compete for the title in the current NCAA football “post-season” structure. Similarly, competition would increase because of the greater potential for playing for the national title rather settling for a lesser bowl game. What do you think? Should there be a playoff system for college football, or is the current system sufficient?

Lack of Competitive Balance?

One of the main criticisms of the NBA in recent years is that the league lacks competitive balance. The 2008 Boston Celtics won the NBA title with star players Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and a fast-maturing Rajon Rondo. Ever since then, superstars seem to want to pair up or triple up on a single team to have the best chance to win the championship.  For instance, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade all joined the Miami Heat, and they each took a $15 million pay cut so the finances would work out.

James and Bosh left their respective cities Cleveland and Toronto because they wanted to win a championship and they wanted the bigger Miami market. Recently, we’ve seen all over ESPN that more and more star players aren’t happy with were they are, or where they were before being traded. Multiple top fifteen players have been traded to teams that already had another star player – Chris Paul to the L.A. Clippers with Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks with Amare Stoudemire. Before Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers, he mentioned a possibility of teaming up with Stoudemire and Anthony in New York City and forming their own “Big Three” to compete with the Miami Heat. Additionally, before Dwight Howard decided to stay in Orlando for another year, he had a wish list of teams that consisted of the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks, all of which already have at least one other star player and play in big markets.

            Of course, there are teams that have drafted exceptionally well and can compete with the big market teams such as the Thunder. However, it seems that these types of teams are becoming exceedingly rare with the type of recognition that NBA players are seeking. It seems the majority of players would prefer to play in bigger markets to receive more recognition and fame, which could potentially lead to more money from endorsement deals.

With so many star players trying to leave their smaller market teams for the bigger markets that already have a star player, the competitive balance in the NBA is seemingly declining. Most people believe there are perhaps only 3-4 teams in each division (out of 15 each) that actually have a chance to compete for the NBA title. Do you think that the NBA’s competitive balance is out of order, and if so, what can be done to fix it? 

So I walked into my friend's room the other day and I saw she was playing Second Life. I was shocked to see someone playing the virtual world for real when I only looked at the game for the class. She loves the game and constantly plays. I could barely work it but she really got the hang of it.

When I asked her about it, she really went into detail about what it has been like. It is as if she is living in an alternate reality; living by different rules of society. What she likes about this idea of a virtual world is that she can do what she wants without a care in the world about what other people think. My friend loves to be able to take a break from her life and do other things. With Second Life, she can go to the beach even when it is cold outside. The game is set by rules where she shops but needs money. She gets to take a getaway by going on vacation. She has the ability to dress strange and not worry about what others are saying because she doesn't personally know them and doesn't have to play by the rules of society.

This idea reminds me of what we read last night for the quiz about free will. Like we discussed, free will is no longer truly free. Now, people's decisions are made to bend in the direction society demands. No one can make their own decisions truly anymore because they don't do everything they want.  People constantly hide their true desires because they fear they will become social outcasts. I think this is truly tragic. No one should be afraid to do what they want and be who they are just because society tells them so.