#reality tv

[prokopetz]

The thing that gets me about a lot of reality television is that its horribleness isn't even novel. The greater part of these shows are just like let's take a totally conventional competition or game show format and go about producing it in the least ethical way possible. No, even more unethical than that. We need to figure out a way to make a baking show violate the Geneva Conventions.

[fans4wga]

SAG-AFTRA Takes Up Bethenny Frankel’s Fight To Unionize Reality Show Contestants & End “Exploitative Practices”

August 10, 2023

"SAG-AFTRA, which covers the hosts but not the contestants on reality TV competition shows, said today that it’s working “toward the protection of the reality performers” in an effort to end “the exploitative practices that have developed in this area” and “to engage in a new path to union coverage.”

“We are tired of studios and production companies trying to circumvent the union in order to exploit the talent that they rely upon to make their product,” the guild said.

The announcement comes after Bethenny Frankel, a former star of The Real Housewives of New York City, suggested that reality performers should go on strike in order to win residuals for their work and to combat abuses in the workplace. Reality show hosts, but not contestants, are covered by the guild’s Network Code, which is not part of its strike against films and scripted TV shows.

“Why isn’t reality TV on strike?” Frankel said in a recent TikTok video. “I got paid $7,250 for my first season of reality TV, and people are still watching those episodes.” Reality stars, she said, “are the stepchildren, the losers, the mules, the pack horses. The ones that the entertainment industry is going to rely on, right now, to carry the water and do the heavy lifting when real stars, real A-list Hollywood is on strike.”

She added, “Reality television exploits affairs, bankruptcy, falling off the wagon, not really having what you say you have, something inappropriate, risking cancellation every single time the camera goes on.”

To address the alleged abuse of reality stars, she’s engaged high-powered attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos to investigate the alleged abuse of reality stars.

In a statement today, SAG-AFTRA said that it “has engaged in discussions with Bryan Freedman at the Freedman + Taitelman, LLP law firm who has been retained by Bethenny Frankel around the subject of treatment of reality performers. SAG-AFTRA is the union that represents reality performers. Depending on the structure of the production and the performers involved, we can cover these performers under our Network Code Agreement.

“We stand ready to assist Bethenny Frankel, Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos along with reality performers and our members in the fight and are tired of studios and production companies trying to circumvent the Union in order to exploit the talent that they rely upon to make their product.

“We encourage any reality performers and/or members to reach out to SAG-AFTRA’s Entertainment Contracts Department so that we may work together toward the protection of the reality performers ending the exploitative practices that have developed in this area and to engage in a new path to union coverage.”

“Please be advised that the day of reckoning has arrived,” Freedman, working with Geragos, said in a letter sent to NBCUniversal on Aug. 3. “While our investigation is still ongoing, we have reason to believe that cast members and crewmembers on NBC reality TV shows have been subjected to disturbing mistreatment by NBCUniversal and/or its employees, contractors, and third-party affiliates.”

Building off Frankel’s union aims, the list of such mistreatment that Freedman lays out includes:

Deliberate attempts to manufacture mental instability by plying cast members with alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep.

Denying mental health treatment to cast members displaying obvious and alarming signs of mental deterioration.

Exploiting minors for uncompensated and sometimes long-term appearances on NBC reality TV shows.

Distributing and/or condoning the distribution of nonconsensual pornography.

Covering up acts of sexual violence.

Refusing to allow cast members the freedom to leave their shows, even under dire circumstances.

In response, an NBCUniversal spokesperson told Deadline that the company is “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows. At the outset, we require our third-party production partners to have appropriate workplace policies and training in place.  If complaints are brought to our attention, we work with our production partners to ensure that timely, appropriate action is or has been taken, including investigations, medical and/or psychological support, and other remedial action that may be warranted such as personnel changes.”

@bethennyfrankel on Tiktok: This is a union. I’ve defined fair & reasonable terms & consider those making $0 on the bachelor to a housewife making millions. This is a 1st pass & how I’d negotiate, w/ my institutional knowledge & wisdom in this industry w/ over a decade on 8 tv, w/ 10 books, 5 podcasts, multiple businesses & what was the fastest growing spirits business in history. I know a contract. Looking into traditional TV residuals is like looking inside “a beautiful mind.” Content used later with no profit sharing & l exploitation of hard working talent is as archaic as calling empowered independent women “housewives,” a term setting back women 100 years then using them for drama.

This is the REALITY RECKONING aka THE REALITY REVOLUTION. The is the new BETHENNY CLAUSE. Reality TV has existed for decades & sustained entertainment during the last strike & exploded. This isn’t for people like me, who have thrived & succeeded and clawed their way to the top despite the odds. This is for the next generation. These are broad stroke terms subject to modification. This fight is just getting started. We’re rogue & nimble & not entangled & unwieldy. The intention here is to affect change, get things done and make history.

I’ve listed some names who have contacted me & want to get involved. People not on this list are Vanderpump rules talent & the Kardashians, ironically the most powerful entities in entertainment right now, with the most leverage. They should fight for others who paved the way & for those after them. Shows like Summer House and others in production should stand down. Viewers should not watch this content. This paves the way for nurses and teachers, essential workers, production members & glam teams that will be inspired to create a model of their own reckoning.

Change takes courage. I’ve alienated this industry & burned bridges with the entire network and streaming community in one fell swoop. This is not for the faint of heart but it’s for the greater good. This is correct. We will be sending these terms by email with the subject line: “Reality Reckoning” starting emails with: imwithbethenny Who’s with me?"

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Have you ever considered one (probably Marco lol) or multiple of the animorphs post war on some kind of celebrity tv show (ie game shows for charity or something like dancing with the stars)?

Oh man, if you throw Marco's win-at-all-costs attitude in with his natural trollishness, and then you take into account the media landscape of the naughts... Hoo boy.

Survivor: In a rare unanimous outcome, Marco is voted off by complete consensus after the third incident where he gets his team disqualified from a challenge by turning into a chimpanzee to complete an obstacle course.

The Dating Game: Marco is supposed to be the third contestant to introduce himself to the bachelorette. Instead, he comes out of his booth directly after the second contestant is done speaking, declares "Well, that's me persuaded!" pulls out his bouquet, and presents it to the man next to him: "Wanna go on a date, handsome?" The second contestant, blushing but looking flattered, takes Marco's hand in his; they walk off the set together.

Crossfire: After public statements about "not too sure on this climate change," Marco is invited to oppose an ecologist as they debate the reality of global warming. During the episode Marco remains silent as the scientist presents her arguments, even when the host prompts him repeatedly to argue. The host starts arguing with the scientist, only to have Marco shush him and go "I'm trying to listen!" After filming 3 hours' footage, during which the climate scientist spoke for 2 hours 50 minutes, Marco goes "Gotta bounce — have fun editing that!" and disappears into an air vent.

The Apprentice: Honestly, we're not sure what happened here? The host, like, disappeared, directly after the end of the season Marco appeared in. He's not dead, we don't think — I guess he moved to Uzbekistan? But no one's heard from him since he donated all his real estate holdings to the American Cancer Society and fled the country. Go figure.

[m0neycanfixme]

[firedrills]

[sentimental-apathy]

"Queerbaiting"

[queerism1969]

[fanfrelon]

Peter Weber in The Traitors

[mlmsource]

JUANJO BONA & MARTIN URRITIA Operación Triunfo, Season 12 (2023-2024)

[exalt1ora]

does your hatchetfield fav watch reality TV?

currently watching love is blind and was inspired by the autism. tried to include like every character im sure i missed some 💐🫶

-

all the time, invested 100 percent: zoey chambers, linda monroe, ruth fleming, max jägerman (canon to me sorry abt it), prof. hidgens, jason jepson, sam sweetly, lucy stockworth, sylvia, eddie chiplucky

for shits and giggles: emma perkins, ethan green, ziggs, rose, donna daggit, brenda, jenny, sheila young, zach chambers

says it's 'ironically' but is actually into it: stephanie lauter, alice woodward, ted spankoffski, officer bailey, gerald monroe, gary goldstein, sophia 'spitfire'

watches only because someone they care about is into it: peter spankoffski, bill woodward, kyle clauger, deb

doesn't have time for that shit: becky barnes, lex foster, miss holloway, barry swift, greenpeace girl, wilbur cross, frank pricely, detective shapiro, jane perkins, mr. davidson, nora, paul 23, emdroid, kale

can't watch without getting sad cus of the fighting and drama: charlotte sweetly, duke keane, hannah foster, dan reynolds, stacy, girl jeri, thrash, daniel 'stopwatch'

actively hates reality tv: paul matthews, grace chasity, richie lipschitz, tom houston, general macnamara, melissa, mayor lauter, boy jerry, sherman young

[fortunelowtier]

I still 100% unironically wholeheartedly believe that this scuffed ass reality tv show from 2007 where CBS stranded 40 children in the middle of the NM desert a la Lord of the Flies is one of the most genuinely fascinating pieces of TV I've ever watched just because of how ABSURD it is on every level

-Their society is a bizarre Communism/Democracy hybrid whose entire economy is based on the barter system

-There is a set class system everyone is sorted into against their will who each get paid more or less money depending on how high or low they are on the ladder, and at the end of each episode they must compete in competitions to decide who gets to be at the top, with the "strongest" being able to get the esteemed title of "upper class"

-Every time they would complete a challenge, at the very end they were given a choice of 2 things that could be added to the town, to which the leaders of the teams would vote on which to get (For example, in one episode they had to choose between fresh produce or 50 pizzas). One of these things was letters from the children's parents, implying that the adults on site were receiving the mail from these kid's parents and deliberately withholding it from them

-In one episode the district leaders of each of the 4 teams (the classes) go out and find a chest full of buffalo nickels (the town's currency), they bring the chest to the town and naturally, this creates unprecedented inflation near instantly, as there's now a mass amount of currency that suddenly appeared in the economy

-Their entire society existed in relative stability until the moment religion was introduced in the form of various religious texts (Bibles, the Quran, etc), after which the town immediately started to go to shit. The Jewish kids and Christian kids were at each other's throats about which religion was """better""" (because they're children who had religion forced upon them at a young age before they were able to think for themselves but that's an entire can of worms I won't open), while the 1 (one) Hindu kid was trying to keep the peace

-At one point the kids start to crave meat, as their food up to that point was mostly canned goods and various produce, so one of the """eldest""" members of the group, (I say """eldest""" because he was still only like 14 or 15) who had worked as a butchers apprentice, took one of their chickens and lead the kids into the desert to where he then taught them how to decapitate, pluck, drain, and cook a chicken.

-One of the kids later did a Reddit AMA about his experience on the show, where he then disclosed various things that happened outside of the camera such as, but not limited to: Oil burns, a kid drinking bleach, scorpions, venomous snakes, an outbreak of herpes, the lack of showers, the lack of multiple toilets (up until I believe a few weeks in they only had one outhouse), etc etc etc

-The parents of these kids allegedly had to sign a 22 page waiver that was basically CBS going "If ur kids get hurt you can't sue us", specifically noting "acts of god" in the contract of things that they weren't to be held accountable for

-At the end of every week, the 4 leaders got together to choose which person would receive that week's "gold star", a star made out of 20,000 USD of solid gold (around 30k after adjusting for inflation), an unfathomable amount of money to give to kids who likely had no concept as to how much money 20 grand was

-The town used for Bonanza City is actually a ghost town/film set located just 20 miles from Santa Fe used as a filming location for movies like A Million Ways to Die In the West (2014) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981). The reason I bring this up is because it's the same film set in which 14 years later, Alec Baldwin would accidentally discharge a firearm on the set of Rust, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

To anyone asking where to watch this, I genuinely don't know. All of the 13 episodes used to be available on YouTube by someone who re-uploaded them in 2010, but the channel was terminated last year. I've heard that there are a few Google Drive folders floating around that have the raw MP4 files and you could watch them that way but you'd probably have to go digging for it

[multifanrae]

feeding the eye by binge watching reality tv

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I got to host a Survivor-style reality tv show and ended up getting mocked for having writer's block and not being able to come up with the challenge for one episode.

[noahselack]

but like imagine if canaan house was a reality tv show and had confessionals

[crackerjackalope]

The Real Housewives of Innsmouth

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