Din Ka Blog
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Former Reality TV king!
Mark Burnett maybe king of reality TV hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but when it comes to his latest creation, On The Lot and Pirate Master, he descents to the bottom of the ratings. One might ask how a successful reality TV producer with a positive reputation even has a show on the bubble? Is it the show or did Nielsen ratings just make a mistake computing the rating system. Indeed Nielsen did not make a mistake; the mistake lies with the producers of the show.
On The Lot, Steven Spielberg’s debut into the reality TV show realm seems to lack a missing element (which is not the viewers). First off, the target demographic should have been a dead give away. They may have thought they targeted a wide 18-49 demographic age range but instead they got the opposite, a niche demographic of audiences (Narrow casting), believing that it would appeal to the masses. I knew the show was going to suffer in the ratings department when the casting director came to my school (Cal State Fullerton) to speak on getting us students to submit are projects. When I first step foot into the auditorium to listen to the casting director, the first thing I notice was, where was everyone? It was posted all over the school, professors kept reminding us to attend and it was in the newspapers, but still it lack an audience. I immediately knew this show was going to be in trouble; the cascade of reasons was evident with legitimate concerns why the show would not be so successful. Any aspiring director does not want to see someone else’s work be shown when they feel that their work is better, it’s almost a conflict of interest in a way or should I more commonly put it, jealousy. If you want to be a director, go to film school, direct a short piece and enter it into film festivals or even put it on Youtube. People are just not accustomed to watching Spielberg on the big screen. He has a faithful fan base that would hop in their cars, drive to the movie theater and pay the ten dollars or so for a ticket to see his films, and now they could just tune in and invite him into there living room for free. Lets face it, Spielberg is not a reality TV show guy, he is a filmmaker.
In the real world you have more time to coordinate your shoots, storyboards and lighting, but in this reality show, it just seems fast pace and everyone is just pressed for time. The American Idol rip off theme also doesn’t seem to work so well in their
Mark’s other reality show Pirate Master is also on the same boat as On The Lot. Pirate Master is just basically a spin off of Survivor trying to capitalize on the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, it’s not an original content and CBS wasn’t fooling anyone. Viewers just can’t identify themselves with pirates. Not to mention What was CBS thinking when they put it head to head against other successful reality TV programs like, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, 30 rock, reruns of my name is Earl and Scripps National Spelling Bee, a bad part on their programming department. The show might of had a strong premise but it just seems that the show is about trying to create cliffhangers from episode to episode by giving off the impression of, if you keep watching, this is what’s going to happen in future episodes, which would indeed turn off viewers.
Mark’s successful reality TV show The Apprentice and Survivor was a hit in the reality TV market. The programs are “Format- dominant”, meaning the concept and premise of the show is what drives the show, unlike On The Lot and Pirate Master, the show is built around a specific theme or person. The Apprentice for example humiliates those who cannot live up to the daily regiments required to be a corporate executive. Viewers seem to enjoy the coined words, “You’re fired”, and hearing those harsh words being directed at another individual seems to have an euphoric affect. Survivor also proved to be successful cause at the time the show idea was original in nature and tested human feat, sacrifice and determination, with the end result of one person walking away with a million dollars. It put man against nature, with a simple concept of, “Living like cavemen”. The mixing of the race cause controversy but to me it seemed more of a publicity stunt (Hypoing) to attract more viewers; it got my friends interested who never even watched the show. Viewers made it an appointment show cause of the simple fact of, they like to see people suffer and humiliate themselves in problematic situations and the arid environment adds to the predicament. What they may lack in creativity they make up in drama.
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