When TV Networks Attack

By now, everyone has an opinion about “Temptation Island.” Religious and family groups decry its glamorization of promiscuity and its compromising of relationships for the sake of entertainment. Most people though, echo one Pfohoser’s description: “Hideously awesome,” she wrote on the Pfoho-Open e-mail list. You can almost see the wry grin on her face.

The problem is that most of us can’t decide whether we’re really disgusted enough not to watch. “The producers of Temptation Island should be ashamed of themselves for trying to force the destruction of four relationships for the entertainment purposes of those low-lifes who consent to watch this trash,” commented Brent Bozell, founder of the Parents Television Council. Bozell’s view might reflect most of the country’s view, but for all his whining, it may be that half the country condemns the show’s immorality while three-fourths watch it.

In fact, only 12 million people tuned in Wednesday night to see the premiere of Fox’s newest attempt to capitalize on America’s covert voyeurism. But clearly voyeurism is no match for genuine innovation. As a point of comparison, 50 million viewers watched the final episode of Survivor, the now legendary benchmark for reality TV.

Survivor was cool, innovative and had character development. And it avoided the ethical dregs through which Fox is now trudging to attract viewers. While many people admired Survivor, most are just disgusted with Temptation Island, even though enough are surreptitiously intrigued with voyeuristic interest for the show to make a modest splash. But who’s committed to a show where there is no winner, no virtues and no survival skills to be valued?After missing the bandwagon on the first entrees into reality TV, Fox vowed a year ago to move away from “shockumentaries” like “When Animals Attack” and “World’s Scariest Police Shootouts.” In order to stay competitive, each time a new reality show came out, Fox tried to raise the bar of shock value. While “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” offered a look into a person’s thought process, “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?” tried to grab ratings with a sleazy twist on the same theme. And that’s all Temptation Island is—a sleazy twist on Survivor.

But baseness is no replacement for innovation. The difference between the real innovators and Fox’s knock-offs demonstrates the real flaw in voyeurism as a marketing scheme: it self-destructs. The rush of novelty quickly dissipates and the threshold of curiosity creeps higher. At some point, terminal apathy sets in and a viewer becomes unshockable. The resulting cynicism among viewers, and their disconcerting attempts to recreate fantasy in a now dissatisfying life, seem undesirable if not outright destructive to individuals and society.

Whether making the famous ordinary or the ordinary famous, the skill in entertainment is bringing reality to the viewer without airing the really dirty laundry—and without making more of it yourself.

—Benjamin D. Grizzle