I'm now convinced. It's possible to produce almost anything for radio or television, and once you've produced it, no matter how pointless, tasteless or mindless it is, there is someone out there who will give you airtime for it.

Every week there's new proof. Of course we all remember Richard Hatch scheming and manipulating his way to victory and wealth in the game of Survivor. But that's not what I'm talking about. Critics called it the worst of television...I think I did too, six months ago, in a prior guest post...but in retrospect they, and I, missed the point. Hatch made it into a mind game. It worked for him. He won. He's a media star with a whole world of possibilities open to him. And he did inject intellectual content into what could have been a deadly bore (as we saw from Big Brother).

No, I'm talking about programming that, as you are seeing it, has a paradoxical effect--you know it's terrible, you know it's pointless, but your disbelief rivets you to the channel nonetheless, for at least one showing. And it's programming WITHOUT any compelling character or plot line to redeem it like Richard Hatch redeemed "Survivor." Two recent examples, one national, one local, convinced me that anything you can imagine will one day wind up on TV.

The first example is a notorious national one, Temptation Island, on Fox. We know the premise...four "committed", but unmarried, couples put to the test of being tempted by seductive singles to see which one will be the first to do the nasty with one of the seducers, and which cheated-on partner can be humiliated the first and the most. Ewwww....haven't seen a stronger mix of sadism (from the producers) and masochism (on the part of the contestants) since "Let's Make A Deal", though this time a lot more is at stake than what's behind Door #3. One couple has already been kicked out of the contest because they didn't tell the production company they had a child. (The lawyers stepped in when they realized busting that couple up would have HUGE financial and legal ramifications for the network.) As for the rest of them, TV must have some kind of power over people if they're willing to roll the dice and risk total humiliation and the destruction of their lives in exchange for 13 weeks' national exposure in prime time.

The other program which convinced me anyone can become a TV performer, at least once, aired locally just this past Sunday morning on the UPN affiliate in my town. Tuning across the dial, I came across the cold start of a jerky, Blair-Witch look video which began with no opening credits or theme, just a jumpcut from station ID to two guys with guns (one holding the camera) getting into a minivan with a Bush sticker on it, toting rifles and ammo. What you saw next...well, I'll describe exactly what you'd have seen, in sequence. The camera was pointed out the windshield of the van and caught some recognizable local traffic scenes in the southern suburbs of my town (obviously taken recently, because the streets had their current blanket of snow). The driver stopped at a mini-mart and got some coffee for himself and his cameraman/passenger...then they proceeded out to the countryside, saying hardly a word to each other along the way. The driver got out of the van in a wooded area, with his gun, and crouched down to sit in the snow. Which he proceeded to do. For the next 15 minutes. Every once in a while you'd hear a gunshot from someplace else nearby, but our intrepid protagonist just sat, holding his gun. And sat. And sat. Eventually he got up, shouldered his gun, went back to the car, and drove off. End of show. No credits, no titles, no introduction. But then it just started all over again, proceeded to the same finish...and then started AGAIN. I have no idea who the people on screen were, why they did it, what the point of it was; it was just two guys saying virtually nothing, driving out into the woods on a winter's day, and hunting...while taping it all in a manner that Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez might have admired. Although Myrick and Sanchez would have included some mayhem and tight facial closeups.

When you turn on your radio or TV and wonder, "how did THAT get on the air?" it may puzzle you...but I THINK I know the answer. It used to be that radio stations signed off the air between midnight and dawn, and TV stations wouldn't go on the air in most cities until late morning or early afternoon. And there were only a few stations needing programming. Today a typical large metro area has 40 radio stations, a half-dozen TV stations and dozens of cable channels and satellite feeds...not to mention connections to dozens of national and global channels. TV and radio are now omnipresent and insatiable, they have to be fed with SOMETHING 24/7. There are so many signals chasing so little good stuff, that sometime, somewhere, no matter how pointless or mindless the program someone produces, there is someone else desperate enough to buy it and air it.

And maybe that explains how I've been able to make a good living in the business since I was 21. ;-)

'Till next time...

Bob