This is an idea for a television format where eight or ten celebrities are interned in a 'big brother' style house, full of fun interior design and bristling with television cameras. Each celeb is interviewed on film, psychologically checked-out and generally prepared just as big brother contestants commonly are. One by one they enter the house on the grand opening night. Davina introduces each one in front of the screaming fans, and they all wave and smile before the hundreds of paparazzi cameras that flash in a constant dazzling starlight.
Once all are inside and introduced to one another, the TV coverage stops and does not start again until the first hapless chump is 'evicted' two weeks later.
Believing themselves to have been voted-out by the public, it is explained during their exit interview that, in fact, not one second of their preening, pointless arguing and sloth has been broadcast. Not a moment. Nobody has seen any of it, save for a skeleton crew of TV company staff who watch-over to preserve the illusion and to ensure that they're not all ripping each other apart.
I'd watch that 'reality television', as each narcisist is released week after week, and I get to see their faces when they discover that all the time they were off the air. Superb.-- theNakedApiarist, Jul 03 2007 This is the greatest reality TV idea I've ever seen! [+]
BB is a mixture of vanity (on the part of the contestants) and voyerism (on the part of the audience) - neither of which are particularly healthy urges to base an entire tv series on.-- zen_tom, Jul 03 2007 What [zen_tom] said. Perhaps, though, the post-eviction contestant could, after having the reveal pulled, fall down a hatch into a wooden crate. The crate is then nailed shut and transported to the top of a very high and steep hill. And then the crate is kicked into rolling down the hill. This process is repeated until my - sorry, the public's - fury is extinguished.-- calum, Jul 03 2007 I dunno about the crates and hills and punishment. Isn't just allowing them to go home a greater punishment to the person who craves attention? Judging by the rope-swinging, critter-eating antics of those on 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here' it seems that being beaten on camera is preferrable to comfort out of the public eye.-- theNakedApiarist, Jul 03 2007 Maybe as a small start in the right direction we could ensure that when contestants are released from Big Brother they are informed about the 20m people who have been watching their tedious antics, and also about the 6bn or so who didn't see it and really couldn't care less. After all, that's the reality.-- wagster, Jul 03 2007 The reality is that advertisers pay millions to produce such crap, passing the cost on to consumers who couldn't care less about either the "reality" show or the celebrities who are simply playing a role for which they are unbelievably overpaid.-- nuclear hobo, Jul 03 2007 you are a better (wo)man than I [BrauBeaton].-- theNakedApiarist, Jul 05 2007 I thought this was going to be a service to help guys pick up chicks in bars by hiring a celebrity impersonator to pretend to be their brother.-- craigts, Jul 06 2007 Wow, it's like the Truman Show turned completely up-side-down in every way. I like it.-- RayfordSteele, Jul 09 2007 random, halfbakery