Unit 13

Part B

Reality TV Around the Globe

Reality TV shows have taken the world by storm. 'Survivor', 'Big Brother' and other shows have drawn hundreds of millions of viewers to the screen.

It was in Europe that all this started. The first series of this kind of show was called 'Expedition: Robinson'. It was shown in Sweden in 1997, and was soon a hit. That show placed young people in faraway places to compete against each other. The finale of the show was watched by half the Swedish population, making it one of the most popular programs in the country's history. Its success alerted TV bosses around the world to the potential of watching ordinary people try hard to survive in the wilderness.

Officials at the Columbia Broadcasting System in the United States decided to produce their own version of the show. This is how 'Survivor' came into existence. They chose 16 Americans of different ages and races to live on a South Pacific island in May 2000. The contestants on the island had some real problems to tackle. One of them was food, as they had to find and cook their own food. Sometimes, they were even forced to catch and eat rats and worms.

Experts say that 'Survivor' is popular because television viewers like to watch people in real situations where the final result is unknown. Viewers also like to watch other people's struggles and problems because it makes them feel better about their own lives.

'Big Brother' started in Holland. Nine volunteers took part in the show and were filmed 24 hours a day for 100 days. It became one of Holland's top-rated shows within a month, and drew 15 million viewers for its climax on New Year's Eve 1999. And its success prompted TV stations around the world to buy the idea.

Two months after the appearance of 'Survivor', the American version of 'Big Brother' was aired in the United States, involving ten participants who were filmed inside a house built on a California soundstage.

Winners of the two shows can walk away with a lot of money. 'Survivor's' prize was $1 million, whereas 'Big Brother' contestants could win $500,000, and 'Survivor' triumphed in the ratings.

Reality TV shows are also causing a big stir in France, Britain and many other countries. The French answer to 'Big Brother' is 'Loft Story', in which 11 contestants are locked up in an apartment in Paris. Protesters surrounded the apartment three times in one week. They complained that the show is sinking to new broadcasting lows. The protests, however, have fuelled public interest. And the show remains high in the ratings.

Britain started its reality shows later than some of its European and American counterparts. In fact, 'Survivor' was dreamed up by a Briton named Charlie Parsons, but the idea was not picked up in his home country until it had been a success in Scandinavia and America.

1. Which of the following reality TV shows are mentioned in the passage?

2. Who are the performers in reality TV shows?

3. What is the essence of a reality TV show?

4. Which of the following is true about 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' when shown in different countries?

5. What nationality is Charlie Parsons, who first got the idea of the reality TV show 'Survivor'?

6. What occurred to TV bosses around the globe after the success of the first series of 'Survivor'?

Part C

A Reality TV Show

Beginning February 28, 2002, on CBS, the world will watch the new series of the reality TV show 'Survivor'. Sixteen contestants will be stranded on the remote island of Nuku Hiva, a distant neighbor of Tahiti in the South Pacific. They will be forced to band together and carve out a new existence, using their collective wits to make surviving in their rugged and primitive environment a little easier. Day by day, the harsh elements and threatening indigenous animals will test the endurance of the Survivors. Each three days of life on the island will result in a one-hour 'Survivor' episode. The Survivors must form their own cooperative society, building shelter, gathering and cooking food, and participating in contests for rewards. Those who succeed in the day-to-day challenges will be rewarded with things to make life on the island more bearable. Those who fail must do without.

The contestants are divided into two tribes, which will compete with each other to get food, supply or immunity. On the last day of each three-day cycle, the Survivors must attend a Tribal Council. At this meeting, each person votes secretly to send one fellow Survivor home. The person with the most votes must leave their tribe immediately. Week by week, one by one, people are voted off, until at the end of the final episode, only two Survivors remain. At that point, the seven most recently eliminated Survivors will return to form the final Tribal Council and decide who will be the Sole Survivor -- and win one million dollars!

There are two kinds of challenge facing the Survivors. One is a Reward Challenge, in which Survivors compete for luxuries, such as a phone call home or a hot shower. The second is an Immunity Challenge, in which Survivors compete for the most valuable prize: immunity from being voted off the island at a Tribal Council. The team winning an Immunity Challenge does not have to vote one of its own members out at the end of a three-day period, whereas the losing team does. Occasionally, the Reward and Immunity challenges are combined: winners receive both a reward and immunity.

Usually when it comes down to 10 Survivors, the two teams merge. The remaining Survivors will come to live together and compete as individuals, not as members of opposing teams. At that point, the challenges become person against person, and only the winning individual will receive a reward and / or immunity.

After being voted out, the Survivor will make one final comment to the TV cameras. Even though the Survivor is no longer part of the show, he or she is at least able to take a shower and to get a hot meal right away.

Part D

Courtroom Reality TV

A Texas judge presiding over a murder trial has ruled that a crew can film the jury's private deliberations for a reality television show. The defendant, Cedric Harrison, is accused of killing a man in a carjacking. He could be facing the death penalty at 17. In allowing the Public Broadcasting Service to film jurors determining his fate the judge has broken ground in the long history of American jurisprudence. And the shorter history of reality television, which has given the world 'Big Brother' and 'Survivor', has won a major issue.

Judge Ted Poe's decision has met with fierce opposition from prosecutors, who fear that public exposure might make jurors more reluctant to sentence the defendant to death. But the judge said that it was healthy for the public to know and see as much as possible about the legal process.

Harrison and his mother signed waivers saying that they would not use the documentary on appeal, or seek a new trial. His lawyer said: "It can only help us. We want to make sure everything is done correctly. If the State of Texas wants to execute a 17-year-old, the world should be watching to make sure it is done right."

However, he revealed the defense's real motive for welcoming in the cameras when he said that the film would help his case because jurors would be more reluctant to sentence a defendant to death under such scrutiny. Opponents of the death penalty agree. "When the sunshine is let in, government tends to work better," David Elliot, of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said.

Fourteen of the 110 jurors initially called to serve were dismissed after they said that the camera might affect their decision-making.

The district attorney responsible for prosecuting Harrison has argued that the presence of cameras would violate Texas law requiring that jurors be "left alone, unobserved and unheard by others". In his appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals he wrote: "The desire to serve on a Survivor-style reality series should not be added to the qualifications for jury service."

Courts in Arizona and Wisconsin have allowed filming of deliberations in criminal cases for later broadcast, but never before have the cameras been allowed into a jury room in a capital case.

Judge Poe believes that he has the law on his side. He said that the prosecutors "hadn't provided any legal authority" to convince him that cameras were out of place.

If Judge Poe gets his wish, a new subject will be offered for the reality television shows that have become a standard part of American entertainment.

Statements:

1. The defendant has murdered a man, so he will be sentenced to death according to Texas law.

2. The judge decides to allow the jury's deliberations of the case to be filmed for a reality TV show out of sympathy for the young man.

3. The defendant and his mother signed an agreement stating that they would give up their right to appeal.

4. The defense lawyer said that his client would use the documentary on appeal because he believed public exposure of how members of the jury discuss the case would be favorable to him.

5. Fourteen jurors were dismissed because they did not agree to let their deliberations be shown on TV.

6. It can be learned from the passage that people who are against the death penalty strongly oppose the judge's decision.

7. The strongest opposition to the judge's decision came from the district attorney.

8. It can be inferred from the passage that TV cameras have been allowed to film jury's deliberations in non-criminal cases.

9. It can be concluded from the passage that the jury's deliberations will not be shown on TV as it is against Texas law.

10. If the judge's decision is approved, it will open a new field for reality TV shows.