Reality TV shows follow fad of demographic-based premises
By Devon McReynolds
April 21, 2010 9:30 p.m.
With all of its fist-pumping, hair-spiking, spray-tanning, dance-floor-battling glory, MTV’s “Jersey Shore” was an unparalleled success for the network. The season finale back in January tallied 4.8 million viewers, more than triple that of its season premiere in December. News of how hot Mike’s (“The Situation”) bod was spread faster than a case of herpes in an Atlantic City tanning bed.
And now, with an onslaught of casting calls for other social-demographic-specific reality shows, it seems that the format is being blatantly copied. And why shouldn’t it be? At this rate, no socioeconomic group will be left out of a contract with Bunim-Murray Productions.
The New York Times cleared up some confusion this week by reporting that MTV is not affiliated with any of these other shows, all of which appear to be in pre-production. But the same producer, Doron Ofir, was responsible for producing “Jersey Shore” and has two more reality shows that his “team” is in the process of casting, so if you’re a Bostonian or a Persian and want to be famous real quick, pay attention.
“Wicked Summer,” set to start filming in Massachusetts in July, is essentially the Boston version of “Jersey Shore.” The casting website reads that you must “share a love for muscle cahs, hair product, and little necks on the frickin half shell.” I have no idea what that last thing is, but who says television can’t be educational?
And what if you’re a genius mathematician janitor who works at Harvard, or rather, “Hahvahd”? Surely Will Hunting is just as beer-blooded of a Bostonian, but he’s not the type Ofir would be looking for. Is it because he didn’t use hair product?
There’s also “Persian Version,” something the UCLA community might be able to relate to a little bit more. The casting website reads: “Two thousand years ago the Persian Empire ruled the ancient world … but they didn’t have your sound track, your style or your swagger!” Try out for the show if you’ve “got the means, the money and the motivation to cut through the velvet rope and rule the VIP! For you life is all about Gucci, Gabbana, Cavalli and Cristal. From BMWs and Bugatis, to Mercedes and Movado and money is no object.” Apparently, these things are what it means to be “living the true American dream … a lifestyle most people only wish they could.” News to me!
While Ofir may be the puppet master, another show of this kind recently caught my attention.
The diabolical masterminds behind “The Real Hipsters of Silver Lake” advertised their casting calls on Craigslist in January, seeking “rich, wealthy, hipster GUYS and GIRLS 21-30 whose personal style is homeless chic: Guys with beards, ratty hair and raggedy yet stylish clothing ““ and Girls dressed in fashionable, vintage hippie-type garb accessorized with large sunglasses and oversized tote bags.” This was in addition to hanging with a “racially diverse, intriguing group of friends” who all live in the neighborhood.
I’m predicting right now that “The Real Hipsters of Silver Lake” will be the most boring by a long shot. I’m just not that interested in hearing about quinoa recipes.
As funny as “Jersey Shore” was, I hope this trend doesn’t last. It’s one thing to expose a stereotype for its truths, because it’s these very truths that are hilarious and entertaining. Snooki herself told Wendy Williams, “Guidos and guidettes are good-looking people that like to make a scene, like to be center of attention and like to take care of themselves. … It’s kind of a compliment.”
But I feel like we’re reaching a point where these stereotypes are just being treated as inherent ethnic qualities, when clearly they’re not. (This argument exempts the Silver Lake hipster show, which, as previously noted, demands racial diversity.) I know plenty of Persian Americans whose lives are about more than “Gucci, Gabbana, Cavalli and Cristal.” And yet they don’t fit the criteria to be characters on a TV show that claims to be about their own ethnicity.
Still, what makes a television show distinct is a specific theme, so why not capitalize on a little-known social demographic like “Jersey Shore” did and play into the stereotypes that set them apart? Television is a business, and this model more than just “worked” last time; it was a massive hit.
Will the other shows be as successful as “Jersey Shore”? Four months removed from the season finale in January, the cast hasn’t left the public spotlight. The three “guidettes” ““ J-WOWW, Snooki and Sammi “Sweetheart” appear in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar, made over from bronzer-shellacked bimbos into glamorous ladies. Also this month, the guido boys are featured in Interview Magazine, shot by photographer Terry Richardson.
No matter which social demographic these shows profile, and no matter how offensively they do it, they’ll still capture viewers, because they’re easy to watch. But I don’t think such laissez-faire consumption can be validated in these cases. We’ve bashfully justified trash TV as something we hate to love, but by now, shouldn’t we just hate it?
“Tuned in” runs every other Thursday. E-mail McReynolds at [email protected].
