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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Mark Peyser

Aired April 26, 2003 - 08:47   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A new reality movie, "The Real Cancun," released just yesterday is hoping to turn spring break into big money at the box office. Believe it or not, the question is, is reality TV hot enough to make it on the big screen? And will the success of this movie, if it is successful, mean more of the same, or is the reality genre a bit played out?
For some answers to these burning questions, we turn to Mark Peyser. He's "Newsweek" magazine's senior writer for arts and entertainment. He joins us from New York. Mark, thanks for being with us this morning.

We both have not seen "The Real Cancun," though I both sense we are going to get there as soon as we can. Do you think this thing is going to be a big hit?

MARK PEYSER, NEWSWEEK: Probably not. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would sustain a whole 90-minute presentation. As you say, we've all seen "Spring Break" on MTV. This feels like a dragged-out version of that, see if we could get people to pay $10 for a little bit more sexuality and nudity. But you never know. No one really thought "Survivor" was going to become the thing that it became. It launched this whole genre. But I would wait until Monday morning before I make any real predictions.

COOPER: Yes, I would actually disagree with you. I sit there like a moron watching MTV's "The Real World," and after about an hour, you suddenly realize, I'm listening to idiots and yet you continue to watch week after week after week. Even though they say the most moronic things, you know, it's very easy on the eyes, I guess. I guess a lot of Hollywood executives are watching this movie very closely, because it was shot on a shoestring. I think it cost like $4 million. They finished shooting it March 22, and already it's hitting theaters. So this could change the genre, or change at least what we see in the multiplex, couldn't it?

PEYSER: Yes, I mean, look, Hollywood, the TV side of Hollywood is completely scared about reality TV. I mean, for some of the same reasons, it can be done very quickly, very cheaply and people are watching it, it is a total guilty pleasure. So clearly if this makes any kind of money, I imagine someone will try it again, but you know, it remains to be seen. I don't know. I like to watch this stuff in my living room, too, but I'm not sure that I really want to go out of my house and sit in the dark for an hour and a half with bad popcorn. It might not be worth it for that. COOPER: And just to give audiences who have not been following this very closely -- "The Real Cancun" is basically made by the same people, Dana Murray (ph), who make "The Real World" on MTV, and they basically did a casting call, they got a bunch of people, they put them up in a hotel in spring break, and mayhem resulted. A lot of it, I guess, manufactured. Let's talk about reality TV. This week, "Mr. Personality," there is "The Bachelor." These shows are still coming out. Have they lost some of their luster?

PEYSER: I guess you could say they have lost a little bit of their luster, in that they broke so big and everyone seemed to be a bigger and bigger hit. There are so many of them now that they could never sustain that kind of momentum. That being said, "American Idol" is the number one show in the country. "Survivor" is a top 10 show. They seem to come up with new permutations of this all the time. "Mr. Personality" is a show that people tuned into the first week, and it has some buzz attached to it. So clearly, reality is not going away.

COOPER: "Mr. Personality" being basically "The Bachelor" but sort of with these creepy weird masks, right?

PEYSER: And Monica Lewinsky.

COOPER: Right, which is not to be underestimated there. What do you think makes -- I mean, it's interesting, "The Bachelor," which has been a huge hit for ABC, is really only one of the only hits they have of recent times. They tried a lot of things recently -- "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," all these other shows that just did not take off. Did they try to do too much too quickly?

PEYSER: Well, just like anything else with television, people are not very creative in Hollywood. They have about three good ideas at one time, and when something hits, everybody rushes to imitate it. So clearly they rushed a lot of things into production, and some of those, like "Are You Hot," possibly the worst show ever on television, so it's not surprising that that sank quickly. But there is still a lot of momentum, there is still a lot of people out there making this stuff. Some of it is going to hit, some of it's going to fail, just like a sitcom or a drama.

COOPER: Mark, I have got to confess something to you. I kind of liked "Are You Hot?"

PEYSER: Oh, no. Why?

COOPER: Just on several levels -- one, the purely gratuitous level; two, how sleazy is Lorenzo Lamas?

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Fascinating to watch. And three, just the whole (UNINTELLIGIBLE) element of it, watching these people who wouldn't give you the time of day be crushed on national television and weep during the credits because they're not hot enough. Wish they did more of that.

PEYSER: They needed more weeping to make me want to watch it more.

COOPER: More weeping. All right. You're right. They didn't have enough weeping. It was just pushed into the credits. All right, I'll write a note to ABC executives. Mark Peyser, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks.

PEYSER: Sure, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 26, 2003 - 08:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: A new reality movie, "The Real Cancun," released just yesterday is hoping to turn spring break into big money at the box office. Believe it or not, the question is, is reality TV hot enough to make it on the big screen? And will the success of this movie, if it is successful, mean more of the same, or is the reality genre a bit played out?
For some answers to these burning questions, we turn to Mark Peyser. He's "Newsweek" magazine's senior writer for arts and entertainment. He joins us from New York. Mark, thanks for being with us this morning.

We both have not seen "The Real Cancun," though I both sense we are going to get there as soon as we can. Do you think this thing is going to be a big hit?

MARK PEYSER, NEWSWEEK: Probably not. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would sustain a whole 90-minute presentation. As you say, we've all seen "Spring Break" on MTV. This feels like a dragged-out version of that, see if we could get people to pay $10 for a little bit more sexuality and nudity. But you never know. No one really thought "Survivor" was going to become the thing that it became. It launched this whole genre. But I would wait until Monday morning before I make any real predictions.

COOPER: Yes, I would actually disagree with you. I sit there like a moron watching MTV's "The Real World," and after about an hour, you suddenly realize, I'm listening to idiots and yet you continue to watch week after week after week. Even though they say the most moronic things, you know, it's very easy on the eyes, I guess. I guess a lot of Hollywood executives are watching this movie very closely, because it was shot on a shoestring. I think it cost like $4 million. They finished shooting it March 22, and already it's hitting theaters. So this could change the genre, or change at least what we see in the multiplex, couldn't it?

PEYSER: Yes, I mean, look, Hollywood, the TV side of Hollywood is completely scared about reality TV. I mean, for some of the same reasons, it can be done very quickly, very cheaply and people are watching it, it is a total guilty pleasure. So clearly if this makes any kind of money, I imagine someone will try it again, but you know, it remains to be seen. I don't know. I like to watch this stuff in my living room, too, but I'm not sure that I really want to go out of my house and sit in the dark for an hour and a half with bad popcorn. It might not be worth it for that. COOPER: And just to give audiences who have not been following this very closely -- "The Real Cancun" is basically made by the same people, Dana Murray (ph), who make "The Real World" on MTV, and they basically did a casting call, they got a bunch of people, they put them up in a hotel in spring break, and mayhem resulted. A lot of it, I guess, manufactured. Let's talk about reality TV. This week, "Mr. Personality," there is "The Bachelor." These shows are still coming out. Have they lost some of their luster?

PEYSER: I guess you could say they have lost a little bit of their luster, in that they broke so big and everyone seemed to be a bigger and bigger hit. There are so many of them now that they could never sustain that kind of momentum. That being said, "American Idol" is the number one show in the country. "Survivor" is a top 10 show. They seem to come up with new permutations of this all the time. "Mr. Personality" is a show that people tuned into the first week, and it has some buzz attached to it. So clearly, reality is not going away.

COOPER: "Mr. Personality" being basically "The Bachelor" but sort of with these creepy weird masks, right?

PEYSER: And Monica Lewinsky.

COOPER: Right, which is not to be underestimated there. What do you think makes -- I mean, it's interesting, "The Bachelor," which has been a huge hit for ABC, is really only one of the only hits they have of recent times. They tried a lot of things recently -- "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," all these other shows that just did not take off. Did they try to do too much too quickly?

PEYSER: Well, just like anything else with television, people are not very creative in Hollywood. They have about three good ideas at one time, and when something hits, everybody rushes to imitate it. So clearly they rushed a lot of things into production, and some of those, like "Are You Hot," possibly the worst show ever on television, so it's not surprising that that sank quickly. But there is still a lot of momentum, there is still a lot of people out there making this stuff. Some of it is going to hit, some of it's going to fail, just like a sitcom or a drama.

COOPER: Mark, I have got to confess something to you. I kind of liked "Are You Hot?"

PEYSER: Oh, no. Why?

COOPER: Just on several levels -- one, the purely gratuitous level; two, how sleazy is Lorenzo Lamas?

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Fascinating to watch. And three, just the whole (UNINTELLIGIBLE) element of it, watching these people who wouldn't give you the time of day be crushed on national television and weep during the credits because they're not hot enough. Wish they did more of that.

PEYSER: They needed more weeping to make me want to watch it more.

COOPER: More weeping. All right. You're right. They didn't have enough weeping. It was just pushed into the credits. All right, I'll write a note to ABC executives. Mark Peyser, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks.

PEYSER: Sure, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com