Chris Abrego began his career working on the "Real World" and "Road Rules" reality shows. He then worked as a producer on MTV’s "Fear" and "Making the Band." His production company, "51 pictures" was created to foster independent reality television. Marc Cronin worked as a staff writer for the Howard Stern show until 1997, when he founded his production company: "Mindless Entertainment." As its namesake suggests, the company was fortified behind a mission statement of providing mind numbing reality entertainment to the masses. The two companies merged to become 51 Minds. This company is responsible for the three rings circus that is VH1 reality television; Chris and Marc are the lion tamers of that circus. The shows is produced by the tandem have been met with repeated success. An examination of the inventive methodology of Marc and Chris yields the reason for their good fortune: solicited internet interaction between producer and audience is creating a new formula for producing televised entertainment. Through the feedback via internet blogging, the audience is providing vital insight into the minds of the supposed target audience. The result: is an accurate reflection of the racist, sexist, materialist collective ideologies of a budding American adolescence. Through a system of audience approval and synthetic celebrity, VH1 has initiated a domino effect of reality T.V. spinoffs. The star of your next favorite show was your favorite contestant of your last favorite show. The result: VH1 celebrity reality game shows are the pioneers of a new generation of television genres.
51 Minds' catalogue of reality titles is quite notorious. “The Surreal Life,” “My Fair Brady,” “Flavor of Love,” “I Love New York,” “Rock of Love,” “I Love Money,” “Real Chance at Love,” and “Daisy of Love”. VH1 has been met with harsh criticism, from marginalized groups (blacks and women) for its peddling of sickening drivel and irresponsible pollution of national airwaves with hegemonic entertainment; issues erect around the exploitation of women, minorities, and even celebrities. Flavor Flav was aired for three seasons featuring 65 women vying for Flav’s attention. Despite the offensive nature of the show, no one could turn away. Fan favorite contestant New York did not win Flav’s affection, but she certainly peaked America’s interest. She was so highly searched on the internet that Marc and Chris decided to give her two seasons of the show for herself. In the “I Love New York” spinoff, men are now the over-anxious crabs in the bucket; climbing toward the wondrous clamoring pearl that is New York. Contestant brothers Real and Chance from the New York series were next in line. Two black recording artists with long stallion straight hair, cowboy hats and the disposition of children; for America, it was love of objectification at first sight. Following the trend of internet celebrity, the brothers were given two seasons of the same show. And so it was that VH1 digressed into a downward spiral of nostalgia for America’s past love of bojangling minstrel jesters. Amusingly, VH1 made a season of “Charm School” to educate the bimbos from Flav’s season one on how to be ladies.
This isn’t an argument over the misrepresentaion of values in reality T.V.; it is an illumination of the construction of celebrity. These shows are creating icons whom are icons solely because they are on T.V. In an attempt to reconnect with the characters they met on the last show, the audience feels obligated to watch an endless series of spinoffs. It’s pure genius.
Using solicited internet buzz to recreate the same show, over and over again is a formula that isn’t going anywhere. Everything today is interactive, customizable, and hands on. Video games, pornography, music and television; the novel devices that offer customization in already established industries are going to dominate the near future. Interactive pornography, at home music and video editing software, and now controllable Television. Imagine, every contestant on that reality show you watch is pitching a pilot. If the most charismatic character is always given a reality show based on audience appeal, it is a recipe for guaranteed success. A reality love drama based around the most beguiling drama queen or a reality romantic comedy built around the clown. No matter how slanderous, demoralizing, or offensive these shows may be, if they are constructed around quotas of audience approval, then they are exactly what America wants to see.
If the spin-off formula is going to reach any snags in its quest for air-time dominance, it will be the assertion that artists/ producers must possess some moral fiber. That is to say, there exists universal distinctions between what is entertaining, offensive, and obscene. VH1 programming executive Michael Hirschorn said “When it comes to television, the only sin is to be boring.” In today’s world, it is much easier to find the remote than to find moral fiber. The Romans watched people fight to the death as well as watching them being fed to the lions in the Colloseum. They were an empire based on imperialism and conquest through violence; their entertainment reflected their ideology. This isn’t an argument as to whether or not Marc and Chris are racist, misogynistic pricks looking to make millions through exploitation. This isn’t an argument about VH1’s peddling of hegemonic values and their defilement of accurate representation. This is an advocacy of the research the two have done of their target audience who want to see the racist, sexist, and consumerist insecurities lurking in the subconscious of American society acted out in a surreal simulation. Although love is present in the titles of all these series, love has never made an appearance in these shows. Recurring themes include the commoditization of women, the perpetuation of black stereotypes, and the sythesization of celebrity. Audiences are able to explore new personalities season by season, and inadvertently end up bonding with certain character archetypes. What is continuously reproduced is a value and a yearning to see these characters on their next adventure. The audience is tuning in to a new drug they are already partially hooked on. A new show for an established character or an established show full of new characters. Love is conditional and not conducive to the deficit attention span of Americans between the ages 15-35 flipping through channels. However, VH1 certainly caught America’s attention with “Flavor of Love”. There is no great accomplishment in the exploitation of the washed up, fizzled out, hot blooded piece of charcoal that is Flavor Flav. However, no body should undermine the success the internet approval spin-off system has wrought in such a small period of time. This formula has produced ratings hit after hit on a seemingly unrelated and otherwise monotone musical network.
The drama of reality TV has quickly overtaken your grandmother’s soap opera; your father’s sitcoms are soon to follow. There is something entirely hypnotic about the reality TV aesthetic and the train wreck larger than life casts we can not look away from. The addition of audience input is the catalyst that will cement this genre as a television staple. The approval of internet consensus removes the magnifying glass from its focus on producer and diverts its gaze over to its target audience. It shifts blame from the producers of misrepresentation to the audience asking to consume it. VH1 is giving its audience exactly what it wants without regard to moral obligation. Its ratings are reaping the benefits of a complete success. VH1’s brand of interactive celebrity game shows are pioneers in a new generation of television genres.
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