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American Morning
Lauren Hunter Reports From Los Angeles; Interview With Robert Thompson
Aired October 23, 2001 - 09:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: All of the news developments we have been living with for over a month now have certainly changed our appetite for reality TV as recent ratings show strong competition from traditional scripted shows like sitcoms and dramas.
And CNN's Lauren Hunter has more now from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The competition on "Survivor Africa" is tough. But it is nothing compared to what the show faces in the prime-time ratings game. For two weeks, CBS's "Survivor" has been beaten by NBC's "Friends" in one of this season's fiercest network battles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC "FRIENDS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I'm not freaked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WOLF, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": We're seeing a resurgence in basic safe, conservative thinking. We don't want to run into sensibility issues, and we don't want to embarrass ourselves. And then also we don't want to lose money, because we don't know what is going to happen.
HUNTER: Reality shows in general haven't performed well this season. The "Amazing Race" on CBS has had less than amazing ratings along with Fox's "Love Cruise," and NBC's "Lost" hasn't been found by many viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC "THE MOLE")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Top secret: Property of the mall is found destroyed...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER: ABC benched "The Mole II" after three low-rated outings, though it's expected to continue production and re-launch in the spring. The network pulled the much-anticipated Matt Damon/Ben Affleck produced reality show "The Runner," saying a show about a nationwide manhunt isn't appropriate now.
BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR/PRODUCER: All of us kind of look at entertainment and the world through the prism of a new set of experiences and a new kind of worldview. I think collectively we sort of felt like now is not the right time to do this show.
HUNTER: So what happened to TV's reality revolution?
BRYCE ZABEL, CHAIRMAN, TELEVISION ACADEMY: Reality is not what it used to be. It's clear that the reality shows weren't that much about reality, and that the real reality is on our television sets on the nightly news at this point. And in some respects, that may weaken the overall sense of why one watches a so-called "reality show."
HUNTER: The creator of "Survivor" agrees that the country is in the midst of terrible times, but believes there's still an appetite for entertainment: even the win-at-all cost philosophy of reality shows.
MARK BURNETT, CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "SURVIVOR": And it's the same in a scripted shows. There's dramatic incidents and character (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with protagonists and antagonists. And it's the same thing in reality. I think there's always a need for good entertainment, equally in hard times and good times.
HUNTER: But the question remains whether prime-time's unscripted shows can outplay and outlast the competition in this fall's ratings race or whether real life is enough reality for TV audiences.
Lauren Hunter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Well, those are certainly questions we're all thinking about. For some thoughts on all of that, we turn now to Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. He is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
Good morning, welcome.
ROBERT THOMPSON, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POPULAR TELEVISION, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Good morning.
ZAHN: So based on what happened on September 11th, do you think it is over for reality TV?
THOMPSON: Well, I think reality TV was due for a shakedown anyway. Network television had kind of strip mined this genre, and there was just too much of it.
You know, the first time you see someone eat a maggot it's really interesting. The 20th time it's not so interesting. On the other hand, I think what happened on September 11th, there are certain types of shows that are more vulnerable to that, and reality TV is one of those types.
You know, reality TV was this perfect kind of program where you manufacturer fear and danger and all of the rest of it in a time of peace, when in fact we don't have that kind of fear and danger in our regular lives. Now, of course, after September 11th, all of that has changed. Do we need to have people swinging from bungee cords between moving trucks? Do we need to have people on islands and in the outback when in fact we've got plenty of fear and danger right here on the news?
ZAHN: Well, you raise an interesting point, because ABC now said it's already canceling its plans to introduce a new reality program called "The Runner," and then we heard in that previous piece leading into you about the numbers being way down for "The Mole" and for "Survivor" and for "Big Brother" and "Fear Factor." So what is your analysis? In the end, which one of those -- which ones of those make it?
THOMPSON: Yeah, and you know, this is big story, too, because networks lost a lot of money during the coverage of the terrorist attacks, because of course they had no commercial stream coming in. And the networks this year put an awful lot of eggs in the basket of reality TV. There were a lot of these shows out there. This was supposed to be the next big idea, and it was supposed to have legs.
Now with "The Mole" being taken off the air midway through, "The Runner," which was a very hyped show, now it appears may be scrapped, and a recent survey that says 83 percent of people polled are not as interested in reality TV now as they were before September 11th -- this is a big story for network television.
My guess is, though, that the ones that were the gold standard before will still survive. "Survivor's" numbers are way down, but it was still the No. 2 show in America last week and only second to "Friends." So I think a show like "Survivor," which already had this kind of brand identification, people were interested in watching it, I don't think it's going to go away.
But this idea that we're going to have 10, 12 of these on at the same time, I think that's not going to happen.
ZAHN: So what are people watching? We know they're watching the news. And we hope they're watching, you know, watching CNN all day long. But other than that, what are people gravitating toward?
THOMPSON: Well, they are watching a lot of CNN and 24-hour news services, and that's what's making a lot of the second-tier shows suffer, because people who would have normally been bouncing from sitcom to sitcom to drama are now going from their favorite shows and then they're putting the 24-hour news services into their mix.
"Friends," of course, was the big success story of the post- September 11th period. And I think it was because it's just so easy to watch. After all of those horrible colossal images, sitcoms, comedies, shows like "Friends" provide almost a cultural sorbet to clear our palates from that awful imagery that we've been seeing. And I think comedies will continue to do very well through these hard times.
ZAHN: Long-term impact of September 11th on political humor on TV?
THOMPSON: I think we're surprised to see how quickly it came back to normal. Jay Leno is doing Taliban jokes now as much as he would have done jokes on other kinds of stories. Even the ironic stance that people thought was really going to take a hit from these attacks is really much up and running again on Comedy Central and David Letterman and all the rest of it.
Clearly, the most obvious thing we're going to see is that in times of peace you go after your internal domestic leaders. In time of war, you go after your external threats. And that's why I think most of the humor now is going to be directed outward as opposed to inward.
ZAHN: Hey, Robert, how much television do you watch a day?
THOMPSON: Well, it's my job. So...
ZAHN: I know it is. You've got a good excuse.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: And from 9:00-5:00 I watch TV.
ZAHN: Wow, and you're still a thinking man. We like that. No, I think your insights are really fascinating and we appreciate your dropping by to share them with us this morning.
THOMPSON: Well, thank you for having me.
ZAHN: But you didn't mention the 7:00-9:00 period. You said 9:00-5:00. You've got to be watching us from 7:00-9:00, OK. So just...
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: Oh, well, I just keep...
ZAHN: ... that television viewing.
THOMPSON: Oh, I keep five tape recorders going, and then I just go to work with a sack full of tapes. I can think of worse ways to make a living, although have you seen some of these new shows this season. Sometimes I really think I'm working.
ZAHN: Yeah, exactly. I'll let you make the editorial comments on those new shows. Thank you very much, and good luck in the classroom as well.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
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