Casting of Reality Shows - An Assessment

Cafe Society
1

I’m trying to get a feel for how good a job people think reality shows are casted, based upon some obvious (to me) selection criteria.

I leave out 1) dating and 2) Big Brother-type shows, because in the case of 1) several categories don’t apply, and in 2) the point is to create conflict, so the most extreme examples of each category are chosen. Plus, I don’t watch them.

The Shows -

Survivor
Amazing Race
Apprentice
The Categories -

a) The Homosexuals
b) The old people
c) The “Characters”
d) African-Americans

The judging criteria is only one thing - competence. Which means, the contestant(s) actual chance of winning the game.

Starting with Survivor

a) Good to great job of casting. Richard Hatch set the tone, obviously, but I also can think of Ami and a guy from the one where Tom won. All smart, cunning, and good players. I can’t think of a single flamboyant gay man of stereotypical butch woman, certainly not by name. Even those closeted or in denial :cough:Colby:cough: are good.

b) Good. Although the oldest person to win was in his mid 40’s (I think), older people have consistently performed well in this show. One guy got cut by a purple rock near the end, the astronaut from the current show certainly had the ability to last, Rudy, others. They are not an automatic early cut.

c) OK. Some have lasted pretty far - Rupert and Johnny Fairplay come to mind, while at least one (Crazy song-singing woman) didn’t even make it on shore.

d) Pathetic. Makes you wonder if Burnett is some kind of Aryan Nations guy. Quitters, whiners, midnight dumpers and food/drink theives. I know that Vecepia won, but she is regarded as the least worthy of all the winners and her strategy of flying under the radar is now widely despised. That being said, I have a sneaking suspicion about Cirie this season. She’s got a lot going on in her head. She wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Amazing Race

a) Horrible. The most stereotypical bunch of fairies, drama queens, and givver-uppers ever seen. Seem to be included only for comic relief.

b) Bad. Even when they are presented in the best light, they prove themselves to be weak and error-prone right from the start. Didn’t one guy need stiches not 50 feet from the starting line?

c) Jury is out. Some really bad (Guido), some middling (Jonathon and his victim). This year has the extremes - The hippies, who could easily win it, and the incontinent screeching women, who were only not last because of a).

d) Very good. At least one (two?) team has won and this seasons team looks formidible. The family team may have been the most likeable team ever, even though they finished last.

The Apprentice

a) I can only remember one openly gay contestant, and he was only OK. So, only OK.

b) n/a

c) Awful. They are so obviously inserted only for dramatic effect. The guitar guy, the freaking-out Subway shop owner, Brent was completely useless. Omarosa.

d) Outstanding. Randal was, if not the best candidate ever, certainly the most qualified. There has almost always been a fully qualified African-American finalist. Omarosa and Subway girl fall first into c).

This is not a comprehensive list, obviously. Feel free to add your own shows or categories - some that might work are:

The Nerds
The Hardbodies
The New Agers

2

“Survivor” is nothing but a “Big-Brother type show” set in a remote location.

The Amazing Race

a) Generally a good job on the male teams. Chip and Reichen won a season. Team Guido came in third in season one and made for good villains. Lynn and Alex lasted quite late in the competition, as did Oswald and Danny. This season’s gay team didn’t fare well, being eliminated on the first leg, but the one overcame a strong fear of flying. There have been some gay team halves and they’ve generally been decent. There was the gay liberal brother of the straight conservative and the cheerleader and they were both fun. The only real sour single was Patrick, who was obsessed with hoping Boston Rob would crash and burn, but he was hardly alone in that season in hoping Boston Rob would crash and burn (Lynn and Alex made some poor decisions on that basis). To my knowledge, there have been no openly lesbian women on TAR. Whether that’s a function of casting, editing or general lack of interest among lesbians I have no idea.

b) Generally the weakest casting area. Even when they do well and last late into the race, they’re irritating. Gretchen and Meredith come to mind as having been fairly successful racers while complaining about it the whole time. The “gutsy grannies” were atrocious and the current oldsters, Fran and Barry, are dreadful and I count the minutes until they’re eliminated. Invariably the old team comes in saying that they won’t be able to keep up with the younger teams in physical contests so they’re going with their mental strengths, and then they cock up the mental tasks and generally make bad decisions.

c) TAR has been, compared to some shows, blessedly free of this type. For the most part when someone’s fallen into the “character” role they’ve been fun. Drew and Boyd from season one come to mind. Those teams who’ve tried for that role have been extremely irritating. Team Thud or Clunk or whatever it was that TWoP called them, the Woody Allen look-a-like and the bald guy were horrifying. Team Hippie from this season are just profoundly irritating. The clowns were an exception to the rule. They tried for the “character” role and got it without being awful about it.

d) They’ve done pretty well in this department. Uchenna and Joyce won it all. Ray and, his partner whose name escapes me, from this season, seem to be in it for the long haul. Team Firecop probably did more following than they should have but lasted pretty long. There was a brother/sister team and a couple of twins but I don’t have a strong impression of them.

3

Two African-American teams have won the Amazing Race so far, Joyce & Uchenna and Chip & Kim.