Fox Cable Networks announced the debut of Fox Reality--a network that provides 24/7 reality programming. Sound unique? No, there are already two other cable channels that provide 24/7 reality coverage, and the rest of the world has had it since 2003. Consider these programs:
Terrorism in the Grip of Justice (Iraq): Imprisoned terrorist suspects confess to the camera, discuss their motives (usually financial), and sometimes face the families of their victims. The show airs six nights a week on a state-run network.
Sperm Race (Germany): Samples of the contestants' frozen sperm are sent to a studio in Cologne, where they are placed in a petri dish and raced toward an egg. The winner receives a red Porsche and the title "Germany's Most Virile Man."
Spets (Russia): Produced by the real-life mobster Vitali "Spets" Dyomochka, who was irked by TV depictions of organized crime in Russia, the seven-part series portrays mafia life in Usssurisk, a city near Vladivostok. The gangsters play themselves.
Source: The Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2005, p. 36 (no link available).
Observation: All three of these shows highlight a problem in their particular country: terrorism in Iraq, lack of fertility in Germany, the mob in Russia. We wonder what that says about successful American reality shows? What does it say about American Idol, The Apprentice, and perhaps most intriguing, Fear Factor?
