In addition to assuming responsibility for injuries that occur during filming, people on reality-based shows agree the producers can invade their privacy and libel them, meaning follow them everywhere with a camera and edit the tape to make them look stupid or mean or oversexed. In effect, people signing the release agree that CBS can use their face, voice, and name any time they want. If Dan Rather wants it playing behind him as he delivers the news, well that's the way it goes. Your life, liberty and happiness may be unalienable, but your identity isn't. Look, I could buy from you today the right to use your name and likeness on toilet paper for perpetuity.
Producers generally try to make more attractive offers.
You are not even a Ricky Martin. Open your mouth just once, entertainment attorneys say, and you'll be bounced right out of the producer's office. They're just cattle, just bodies. Obviously, the type of people dying to appear on these shows aren't likely to mull deeply the implications of signing the release. Getting in front of the camera eclipses giving up their day in court.