Reality TV - Is FOX stealing reality show ideas?

mh67511 · 07-22-2004, 07:52 PM

http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/...ory.php?s=2746

Quote:

FOX idea theft controversy continues, with NBC and ABC throwing barbs and FOX crying foul
By Steve Rogers, 07/19/2004

FOX's ongoing reality show theft controversy roared to new levels during last week's Television Critics Association summer press tour, with both NBC and ABC chiefs lobbing fresh allegations of creative theft at the Rupert Murdoch-owned network and FOX charging back by calling the accusations "baseless" and "unacceptable." Meanwhile, during its own weekend conferences, a gleeful CBS chief admitted to enjoying just sitting on the sidelines and watching the ruckus.

The current allegations of creative theft against Fox trace back to a skirmish that began with reality uber-producer Mark Burnett, when soon after his The Apprentice hit series debuted on NBC, Fox announced plans for its own billionaire-led reality series starring UK entrepreneur Richard Branson. Burnett, who was already working with Fox for his then-upcoming The Casino series, appeared to take the news largely in stride and made no public criticism of the Fox announcement.

The situation changed quickly however, when only a few weeks after the April announcement of the Branson deal and a less than two months after losing out to NBC on the bidding for the rights to Burnett's new The Contender reality boxing series, Fox announced plans for its own The Next Great Champ boxing series -- and an intention to premiere it three months before Contender's then-intended January 2005 debut.

Both Burnett and his production partner Jeffrey Katzenberg were quick to chastise the network's announcement, with Burnett stating "Fox lost out fair and square, and it's hard to believe they'd do something substantially similar. If we feel they've stepped over the line, it's creatively outrageous... we take legal action." Oscar de la Hoya, host and co-producer of The Next Great Champ who Burnett had previously approached to appear on his series, fired back at Burnett, denigrating The Contender and saying that it was a "(glorified) tough-man contest."

Particularly upsetting to both The Contender's producers and NBC was Fox's intention that by debuting The Next Great Champ before The Contender, audiences would assume that Contender was the knockoff series and Champ was the original concept, or, failing that, at least damage Contender's own ratings chances.

The controversy died down for a couple of months until Burnett announced his next planned reality series, a worldwide search for a new lead singer for Australian band INXS. Tentatively titled Rock Star, speculation quickly began circulating that Burnett had created the American Idol-inspired series as revenge for what he saw as the theft of his Contender intellectual property. Fox however wasted no time firing back, quickly announcing its own plans for a lead singer search for TLC, the all-girl soul/rap group formerly led by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in a 2002 car crash.

Then, only days later, Fox also announced plans for Trading Spouses, a series with the same premise as ABC's fall-premiering (and critically-lauded) Wife Swap -- and an intention to premiere Trading Spouses well before the ABC series.

With all the back story leading up to last week's Television Critics Association summer press tour, the fireworks immediately began flying, with NBC chief Jeff Zucker taking Fox to task for its "bad practices" during his opening day presentation. "Quite frankly, they used to be innovators and now they're imitators," Zucker told the assembled press. "I think that it's not right what they're doing and I think frankly that they should be called on it."

Additionally Zucker announced that NBC's The Contender would now have a new premiere date, November 2003, which would put it in line with Fox's previously announced Next Great Champ debut (however, in a curious move, Fox failed to reveal a Champ premiere date in the fall schedule that it debuted late last week.)

ABC followed NBC's lead a couple of days later, with ABC Primetime President Stephen McPherson saying that producers should be wary of pitching ideas to Fox. "They will steal it, plain and simple," he told the audience. McPherson also called Fox's revelation of its intention to beat ABC's Wife Swap to the airwaves "upsetting" but stated that his network had no plans to change the premiere date of its own series -- although ABC did begin running network promos featuring a voiceover that sought to poke a jab at the Fox series.

Fox finally responded to its critics at its own presentation on Thursday, with Gail Berman, the network's president of entertainment, claiming what some may term the "everyone does it" defense and stating that her network was not doing anything unusual. "Just like scripted programming, the unscripted world has reached a point where multiple projects with similar themes are being pitched simultaneously," Berman said. "There is no need to defend ourselves. The baseless allegations of theft and extortion are outrageous and unacceptable."

Responding to Burnett's Contender claims, Berman said, "I think it's important that you know there were five other boxing shows pitched around town after they pitched their show." "This is the way television works. There's nothing new about this. This is a competitive business."

As for the criticism of its Trading Spouses series, which the network announced will be premiering tomorrow, July 20, Berman explained that since ABC's Wife Swap had already been in development for more than a year and had been reported as being scheduled for Summer 2004, Fox simply expected that the ABC series would have already long-since hit the airwaves.

Capping off the week-long tour, on Saturday CBS president Les Moonves -- who's recently faced his share of controversy on topics ranging from the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident to the network's handling of The Reagans movie to his UPN network's upcoming Amish In The City series -- confessed to just sitting back and enjoying the show.

"You know what's great? There's a controversy that CBS is not in the middle of," said Moonves. "We've been taking out our popcorn and enjoying the fight going on, going back and forth. I hope they all kill each other," he joked to the group of weary television reporters.

Commenting on NBC's previously announced plans to air The Contender directly against Fox's American Idol titan (similar to the strategy NBC employed last season in positioning Burnett's The Apprentice versus CBS's top-ranked CSI series), Moonves mused that "maybe Fox picked up the boxing show truly to hurt the NBC boxing show because they didn't want it to hurt American Idol.

In perhaps the understatement of the year, Moonves also added that, "this is a very tough, competitive game out there." "The Marquis of Queensbury rules went out the window a long time ago."

I think FOX is definitely taking some cheap shots here. But then again didn't NBC do a child American Idol type show after American Idol has started?

As far as I'm concerned, FOX will do anything for ratings and is one reason I think reality TV often gets a bad rap. They have shown some of (IMO) the worst/trashiest reality shows: Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, Forever Eden, Paradise Hotel, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, etc. American Idol is obviously their big hit and I think it's a good show and The Simple Like is hilarious, but other than that I think they are striking out. I will admit I love The Casino. It's a pretty sleazy show, but at the same time I find it really interesting.

ms_me · 07-22-2004, 09:05 PM

I think that Fox should put its energy toward creating new, original shows instead of producing duplicates of what's already out there. Obviously there will be some differences between their shows and those of the other networks, but since the basic idea is the same, it may possibly split the viewers causing both shows to do badly.

BabyJ · 07-22-2004, 09:15 PM

Quote:

The controversy died down for a couple of months until Burnett announced his next planned reality series, a worldwide search for a new lead singer for Australian band INXS. Tentatively titled Rock Star, speculation quickly began circulating that Burnett had created the American Idol-inspired series as revenge for what he saw as the theft of his Contender intellectual property. Fox however wasted no time firing back, quickly announcing its own plans for a lead singer search for TLC, the all-girl soul/rap group formerly led by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in a 2002 car crash.

Was that not a Mark Wahlberg/Jennifer Aniston movie? It was something along those lines...

As for TLC, eh. I know there comes a time to move on, but another member.... Plus I've always thought Chilli was the lead. Eh. :

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UnsilentMajorty · 07-23-2004, 12:22 PM

I think this is pure desperation on the part of FOX and ALL the networks because as the article stated...

Reality TV is finally at a point to where scripted drams were a few years ago: Everything that has been done HAS been done... So, what's next?

I told you (in the general sense) that this was going to happen sooner or later and I actually predicted (in general) this process wouldn't take as long as all the networks all thought ("We have reality TV shows ideas that will last for years...").

Also, if you notice, FOX is trying to get back its reputation for being the innovative network by scheduling wall-to-wall... SCRIPTED DRAMAS like "North Shore" and others for this Fall when only a year ago it was nothing but wall-to-wall reality shows.

Reality TV is fading.

I, for one, don't have anything against reality TV (as a genre), or those who watch it as I watch some shows (Newlyweds and others)...

But again, they are fading and I feel this is good for fans like myself who were originally fans of scripted shows -- Good, QUALITY shows like Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Wonderfalls, etc. -- In that I am hoping these kind of shows will come BACK to the networks instead of being "banished" to cable TV.

Also, I realize that scripted dramas can be as derivitive and cliched as any other genre...

But at least in this area, they aren't dependent on the "reality" -- no pun intended -- Of what happened during the filming process as a lot of these so-called "unscripted" (and the debate on that is still out in my opinion) shows because that is the beauty of scripted, fictionalized TV:

Anything can happen and it is not limited to how an actual contest or real life drama played itself out.

And if it is executed well and is entertaining... Audiences WILL suspend their disbelief and enjoy it like they always have.

Marissa · 07-23-2004, 01:31 PM

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Originally posted by BabyJ

As for TLC, eh. I know there comes a time to move on, but another member.... Plus I've always thought Chilli was the lead. Eh. ::

Ha - after quickly scanning the article that was the only thing I was left thinking about, too.


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