By Terry Tang and Brent Hopkins Daily Bruin Senior Staff When
Robert Redford made Demi Moore an indecent proposal back in 1993,
people at water coolers across the country asked each other what
they would do for a million dollars. Like the film’s box
office life, the question ignited interest but then faded from the
American consciousness. Now, fast-forward to the 21st century.
Thanks to a summer sleeper called “Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire,” television programming is riding a trend of not
just game shows, but of gimmicks. At this point, Americans are
probably wondering if there’s anything people won’t do
for money ““ at least when the cameras are rolling. But first,
let’s flashback four years and look at how ABC and other
networks coped in 1996 B.M. (Before “Millionaire”) and
on. Who entertained us, who appalled us, and who left an indelible
mark, good or bad, on our TV screens.
Naughty and Nice
In the summer of 1996, Rosie O’Donnell found success by
bringing some late-night flavor to a realm that was dominated by
the likes of Oprah and Jenny Jones. Her shameless gushing over
guests and absence of trash talk made Rosie the darling of daytime.
Other chat fests failed to duplicate the same rapport with
audiences. No doubt, the power of the Queen of Nice was confirmed
that December when she debuted Tickle Me Elmo on her show, turning
it into the hottest Christmas toy since the Cabbage Patch Kids.
Still, it became highly evident in 1997 that there were viewers
looking for the antithesis. And they found it in “Jerry
Springer.” With topics like “I Cut off My
Manhood,” the smarmy talk show host hit a ratings high in
1998, even besting Oprah, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Springer’s staged fighting and hair pulling proved prime
fodder for couch potatoes.
Girl power vs. muscle power
Back in fall of 1996, the WB and UPN were still struggling with
stale sitcoms like “Brotherly Love” and “Homeboys
in Outerspace.” Alas, little did we know that the WB would
dig itself out in the next two years by inadvertently becoming a
network of all-teen programming. Led by a slew of female-dominated
dramas like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,”
“Dawson’s Creek,” “Felicity” and
“Charmed,” the WB put itself on the map. UPN, however,
is currently slamming the competition with “WWF
Smackdown” with the brawn of the Rock and Stone Cold Steve
Austin.
Yep, she’s gay
Making TV history, ABC sitcom “Ellen” blew the
closet door wide open on April 30, 1997. In “The Puppy
Episode,” which probably had Dr. Laura steaming, Ellen
Degeneres and her onscreen ego came out. For the first time, a
popular series had a gay leading character. Though Degeneres show
evaporated from the line-up a year later, she paved the way for
sitcoms like “Will & Grace.”
Time to Sein off
There were several good-byes as well. For a show about nothing,
the series finale of “Seinfeld” was sure something to
talk about. Though it had a rough start taking over a time slot
previously owned by “Cheers,” “Seinfeld”
later captured mass viewer attention. On May 14, 1998, 76.3 million
people tuned in to watch Jerry and the gang get sentenced to jail,
as described in the Los Angeles Times. Though it was a sad day for
many loyal viewers, there was the comfort of syndication.
A Starr is Born
Reality took center stage in American living rooms in 1998. On
Jan. 26, during a speech about child care in the White House
Roosevelt Room, President Bill Clinton finally acknowledged a sex
scandal with former intern, Monica Lewinsky. Clinton shook his
finger at reporters and said “I did not have sexual relations
with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” As the truth of an improper
relationship between the Commander-in-Chief and the intern emerged
in Kenneth Starr’s report, the sordid case dominated every TV
newsmagazine. The scandal and its concomitant effects increased
ratings of shows like “Politically Incorrect” and gave
Letterman and Leno fresh material for their monologues. For
Americans, no soap opera or prime-time show had quite the impact of
this real life saga.
If I had a Million Dollars
But in the past year, much of the reality-TV talk has centered
around three indelibly linked programs: “Who Wants to be a
Millionaire,” FOX’s “Who Wants to Marry a
Multimillionaire?” and CBS’ “Survivor.” In
a span of less than nine months, each show has generated widespread
debate on the nature of televised entertainment today. Debuting
August 16, 1999, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” was
only supposed to fill the lazy days of summer. With
slickly-attired, charmingly innocent host Regis Philbin at the
helm, the game show operated on an extremely simple formula,
directly borrowed from the 1998 British program of the same name.
Contestants from across the nation were put on display opposite
Philbin, who asked a series of 15 multiple choice questions that
progressed from extraordinarily easy to excruciatingly difficult.
While the first question is worth a mere $100, the final one brings
the winner $1 million. Critics bashed the show for the elementary
nature of some queries (“_____ is thicker than water?”)
and snidely remarked that America is getting dumbed-down.
Regardless of the show’s reception, it was a phenomenal
success. No matter when it aired throughout the week, it easily
outdrew the competition, boasting an average upwards of 24 million,
according to 3BigShows.com.
ABC pulled ahead of its competition in the bitterly fought overall
ratings war. In an attempt to cash in on this lucrative game show
trend, FOX, NBC and CBS launched the rival “Greed,”
“Twenty One,” and “Winning Lines,”
respectively. None, however, were able to match the unabashed
success of “Millionaire.”
Love & money
Next up in the reality-based ratings war was the universally
panned “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire.” Airing
the day after Valentine’s Day, Feb. 15, 2000, the FOX show
was a ratings and publicity triumph, but was quickly stained by
numerous controversies. The network selected Rick Rockwell, wealthy
from real estate investments and a former standup comic, as its
multimillionaire of choice. He then chose Darva Conger, a nurse and
Air Force veteran, as his bride from a pool of 50 applicants in a
beauty-pageant fashion. The legally-sanctioned ceremony was watched
by more than 22 million viewers. But the marriage lasted only
marginally longer than the episode. Immediately after their fizzled
Caribbean honeymoon, Rockwell’s past came back to haunt him
as reports surfaced of a 1991 restraining order filed against him
by a former girlfriend. Though he denied the allegations, a
firestorm erupted in the press and FOX quickly dropped the show.
Conger filed for an annulment within a month. Soon, terms such as
“freak show” and “embarrassment” were
commonly linked to the program, and it became fodder for countless
comments on the declining morality of American society. Even David
Duchovny, one of the network’s biggest stars for his work on
“The X-Files,” publicly denounced the program as a
“travesty” in an Entertainment Tonight interview. Owing
to this, Fox took pains to distance itself from the show.
Once on this Island
The final chapter in the reality trio is CBS’
“Survivor.” Debuting opposite “Millionaire”
on March 31, “Survivor” is also based on a previously
tested show from Sweden. It melds the voyeuristic format of
“The Real World” with the financial gain factor of
“Millionaire.” Sixteen survivalists, of varying ages
and backgrounds, are pitted against each other for 40 days (13
episodes) in a competition for the hallowed sum of $1 million. They
are marooned on a “deserted” island, and have no
contact with the outside world, whatsoever. Except for the scores
of film crews and host Jeff Probst, that is. The 16 contestants are
divided into two “tribes,” and must pass a series of
pre-scripted challenges to stay alive. Though the show is still in
its early stages, unlucky participants have already dined on raw
fish and rat meat. In each episode, they also vote on which member
of the tribe will be exiled back to civilization. Whoever survives
longest will take home the million. So far, “Survivor”
has been a success, approaching the coveted ratings of
“Millionaire,” and winning praise from viewers for its
action movie-like cinematography and escapist nature. According to
the Los Angeles Times, though its first episode lost out to
Philbin’s juggernaut, 15.5 million viewers to 16.8 million,
“Survivor” tested well in the crucial 18-34 age range.
No consensus has been reached on all the reality-based efforts.
While some enjoy the opportunity to use the television as a gateway
to alternative ways of life, this is not the case across the board.
One thing is for certain, however: as long as the programs continue
to bring in viewers, and therefore advertisers, the networks will
have no qualms about burrowing further and further into other
peoples’ lives.