The effect is akin to a public relations assault course. Watching how they all interacted, who were the natural leaders, how they coped with the nominations. Indeed talk-shows are among the closest relatives of reality TV, allowing ordinary people to thrash out their most intimate troubles under the glare of studio lights. But the new genre has a different focus. Cameras are mounted on an island or in a house, and a mini-society is invited in.
Viewers pry on events, monitor reactions, assess behaviour.
The best mixture of fiction and reality that has existed until now, insists Elizabeth Lopez, producer of Gran Hermano for Spain s Tele5. For many viewers, the struggle is all too recognizable. It is a script that the modern workplace and family are founded upon battling to be first but staying popular. Contestants are not just playing with each other, but with the very nature of living in a world dominated by the emotions, language and images coined by the mass media. With it has come a new kind of celebrity.