Reality TV taken to extremes

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Reality television has been popular for a decade now, so producers are bending over backwards to keep viewers interested in the now overly familiar format and program type. For instance, "Fear Factor" has thought up challenges that have sometimes gone from shock to shlock, from yucky to downright gruesome.

Other reality programs that have occasionally taken their challenges to extremes to keep couch potatoes viewing and "entertained" include:

"The Girls Next Door" (Fridays, 10:30 p.m., ETC channel), which chronicles the day-to-day (and night-to-night) activities of octogenarian stud Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends. The harem-like atmosphere titillates playboy wannabes into a stupefied state of ogling ardor.

'Auditionings' suitor


  • The modern-day seraglio constantly threatens to turn into a bordello, but just as the Jacuzzi action gets bawdy, the show takes a radical change of pace like, would you believe?, the pneumatic girls painting eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt! That douses male viewers' macho fires, that's for sure.

    Another reality show, "Date My Mom" (Mondays to Fridays, 6:30 p.m., ETC), isn't usually extreme in its thrust. Most of the time, it involves mothers who "audition" suitors for their daughters, so they can get the sons-in-law of their choice. In the end, however, it's the guys who do the choosing.

  • One time, however, the show decided to shift gears and make the contenders mothers of gay boys, looking for suitable partners for their sons.

  • The suitors were also gay, so the "special" episode turned out to be quite a romp, with the "searchers" and "searchees" flirting "shamelessly" with each other as their "consenting" mothers egged them on.

  • On a more serious note, "30 Days" is a reality challenge that requires an adventurous soul to spend an entire month in an environment completely different from his own work or lifestyle.

  • In the episode we viewed, a Christian American immersed himself in a Muslim community-living, eating and praying with its members. Since some Americans are distrustful of Muslims, the month-long "immersion" went a long way in clarifying a lot of controversial issues and soothing a number of doubts and fears.

  • The 30-day challenge was extreme not in a physical sense but in a psychological sense, because it put its protagonist at the very storm center of the complex Christian-Muslim conflict exacerbated by the 9-11 tragedy.

  • In another reality challenge, "Keys to the VIP" (MAXXX channel, Mondays, 11 p.m.), the bone of contention is male-female relations-specifically singles-bar seduction and "sexual politics." Male contenders are judged on how effective they are at picking up women and getting to date them, with the most "convincing" stud getting top marks.

  • The challenge is extreme because it blithely ignores traditional conventions and niceties and focuses on male conquest at its most elemental and expedient level.

  • Finally, "Maximum Exposure" (ABC-5, Mondays, 8 p.m.), is a compilation of weird displays of "talent" from all over the world, like a man pulling a car with his extra-strong hair, a "talented" gent who charges his body full of electricity and performs bizarre tricks, and a third "extreme athlete" who loves to ingest all sorts of sharp objects.

  • This emphasis on crazy tricks and bizarre behavior (children, do not try this at home) quickly gets to be more than a bit much. Hey, guys, get a life.




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Fear Factor Philippines - ABS-CBN

After GMA 7 acquired the local franchise of "Survivor", ABS-CBN will not be left behind with its copyright of "Fear Factor," a stunt and dare reality game show.

The show was originally created by Endemol Netherlands titled "Now or Neverland." When it was adapted in the US in 2001, its name was changed to "Fear Factor." Fear Factor dares its contestants to undertake challenges (eating disgusting things and undertaking dangerous stunts) in the battle for being named "Fear Factor champion" and for the prize money. Reports say that Ryan Agoncillo, Derek Ramsey, or Edu Manzano are among those being considered for the position of host and local counterpart of Joe Rogan.



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Fear Factor Philippines vs. Survivor Philippines

Nagtatanong ang Kapuso fans kung ano ang ipantatapat ng ABS-CBN sa Survivor Philippines. Well, nabalitaan naming ang Kapamilya channel naman ang nakakuha ng rights ng Fear Factor.

Maganda sanang pagtapatin ang Pinoy version ng Survivor at Fear Factor, pero parang mauuna ang Survivor Philippines, dahil wala pang plugging ang Channel 2 at 'di pa naghahanap ng contestants.

Ang tsika, nag-i-scout na ng maghu-host sa Fear Factor Philippines at may names na raw na isinabmit. Hintayin natin ang official announcement ng Dos sa pagkakakuha nila sa rights ng reality show at kung kailan ito sisimulan.




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