All he wants, is a fair, um, hearing.

June 9, 2000 5:44 AM

All he wants, is a fair, um, hearing. When I first read this, I thought to myself, "It is beginning." Meaning that whenever something, or someone becomes really successful and makes lots of money, the lawyers smell the money, and want it. But after reading this, there are a few valid points. And it isn't as if the man is asking for Multi-Millions... He just wants to win the $1 million prize.
posted by da5id (15 comments total)

"I bet Mister Philbin doesn't know about this."

Did I miss a meeting where we all decided Regis Philbin wasn't an annoying simian pain in the ass whose sneering chimp-face and ranting asides didn't make us want to shoot him over and over and over again until his jellied corpse fell apart from lack of intact connective tissue?

Because that's what I thought the consensus was. If I'm alone on this one, I'd like to know.
posted by Ezrael at 5:54 AM on June 9, 2000

My my... such rage... tell us how you really feel! :-P

Nope, I agree... pretty soon people are gonna tire of "Who wants to..." and Regis.

In fact, with the the introduction of "Survivor" "Millionaire" is beginning to loose its viewers. I heard on the radio that "Survivor" increased its viewers by 12% from last week, while "Millionaire" lost 12% of its viewers from last week.

Could this be a trend? CBS's next "real-life" show is "Big Brother" where 10 strangers live in the same house full of cameras. This really sounds familiar... oh yeah, it was called the "Real World" by MTV. Somehow, I don't think CBS will get the 13-35 age range of viewers to watch what most of them have seen on MTV already.
posted by da5id at 6:07 AM on June 9, 2000

Now if CBS' Big Brother is the European Big Brother it's not even slightly like Real World: The Times talk Big Brother.

They can't leave the house; they aren't contacted from outside. Over the 100 days the contestants periodically put forward two of their own and the public has to vote for one of them to leave. The last person wins the money. This can get ugly. Oh, just read the article. I can't wait for it to start in the UK.
posted by mattw at 6:35 AM on June 9, 2000

Now that sounds interesting...

Oh course, the one who "acts" the best, meaning, who can influence how the audience votes by their actions...

but, you are right, it should get pretty nasty... I am not sure what the rules of "Big Brother" are, so I guess I will have to watch the first episode.
posted by da5id at 7:06 AM on June 9, 2000

I'm really glad my television is broken.
posted by elgoose at 8:43 AM on June 9, 2000

You guys should hear about the infrastructure it takes to drive Big Brother. A friend of mine worked for the company that had to re-write all the drivers and software controlling the 250+ cameras, centrally controlled 24hrs a day by a rotating group of producers who are there around the clock. This is a seriously wired house - like nothing else around.
posted by mikel at 8:48 AM on June 9, 2000

Of course that has nothing to do with anything. Sorry about the drift - I'm usually more careful.
posted by mikel at 8:50 AM on June 9, 2000

Actually, I find it amusing how one topic generally leads to another, and eventually strays away from the original entirely... Reminds me a lot of conversations in real life.
posted by da5id at 8:52 AM on June 9, 2000

I don't understand why anybody would want to live in a house that he or she cannot leave with ten strangers and have every last second of their lives broadcast to a television audience.

It's just so creepy.
posted by jennyb at 10:17 AM on June 9, 2000

Answer: money. People love money.
posted by hijinx at 10:23 AM on June 9, 2000

Money and fame. Can't forget the fame, although the money's by far the more compelling of the two.
posted by cCranium at 11:07 AM on June 9, 2000

I think ABC screwed up. The show's format sounds like its getting old. They need to do something different, and this gentlemen, if he had a vast knowledge of trivia, could have provided them with a great opportunity to boost their ratings.
posted by PaperCut at 6:24 PM on June 9, 2000

Who wants to yank Philbin's gibbering head off of his turkey-wattle neck and dance in the blood fountaining from his stump? could be a neat mid-season replacement.

Let's all throw rotten fruit at Congress has potential as well.

Say, if you're done with those kidneys... A gripping medical thriller. Which one of our three lucky contenstants will win the organ that will save their lives? Let's use the transplant lottery for entertainment, I say.

Idiotic Daredevils could combine the high-speed adrenaline junkie with the deep-seeded urge most of us have to watch that high speed adrenaline junkie get hurt very, very badly. Plus, since the contestants will be average audience members, the chances of a catastrophic injury will only increase?

Whose half-baby is it anyway? could take its inspiration from Court TV, which everyone seems to love, and the wisdom of King Solomon, as an actor in a fancy costume applies the famous Solomonic wisdom to Family Court. Shthunk!

Any other ideas?
posted by Ezrael at 7:02 PM on June 10, 2000

I would vote for Let's all throw rotten fruit at Congress, and I'd like to be a contestant too.
posted by hijinx at 10:52 PM on June 10, 2000

Yes, the Big Brother we'll see is done by the same producers. It was written up in Brill's Content.
posted by dhartung at 11:22 PM on June 10, 2000