Friday, December 22, 2000

'Cheaters' continues viewers' affair with reality TV

Reality TV. It's like a crusty rubber band that keeps getting manhandled by different networks. Each time, someone stretches its ethical limits and public shelf-life a little bit farther. Eventually, the reality TV trend will snap, and it's going to leave a mark.
   It's no surprise that reality TV has little flexibility. Done poorly, it's already worn out its welcome and novelty. But for those networks who know their market and release a quality product, there's still a small audience out there.
   Most of the time, the shows aren't as entertaining as watching how far into the pit the networks will delve in search of the next "Survivor."
   The WB will premiere its manufactured-girl-band drama "Popstars" in January. NBC ditched its plans for "Chains of Love," which chains four bachelors to one woman for multiple days, but UPN picked it up. ABC is still running with the mystery-driven "The Mole," and producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have given thumbs up to the making-a-film HBO reality show "Greenlight." Not that you need reminding, but "Survivor: The Australian Outback" starts Jan. 28 after the Super Bowl as part of CBS's plan for world ratings domination.
   Watch out, womanizers
   Meanwhile, on the dingy underbelly of reality TV lurks some late Saturday night entertainment that's turning heads and making philandering men and women take notice. It's "Cheaters" (12:05 a.m. Sunday on KIII) and it takes you into out-of-the-way hotel rooms where it finds its prey: the philanderers.
   For example, if a woman suspects that she's being duped by her husband or boyfriend, she can tell her story by calling (214-421-4550) or e-mailing (www.cheaterstv.com) the "Cheaters" crew, which includes Corpus Christi native Tommy Habeeb. If they choose to take her case, they'll arrange to pounce on the philandering man - while he's in the act - with cameras and bodyguards. This arrangement affords the cheatee the opportunity to speak her mind to her former love (who, by this time, is most likely wrapped up in hotel bed sheets) and his barely-dressed accomplice.
   Watching "Cheaters" is like seeing a police car approaching in your rearview mirror, but the guy next to you gets pulled over. Better them than you. Even if you're not speeding (or cheating), seeing others punished and embarrassed is yet another reward for your law-abiding fidelity. It's a guilty pleasure no doubt - something you watch out of morbid curiosity and cover your mouth as "Jerry Springer"-like fights emerge.
   The content screams tabloid and is maliciously salacious at times. In one show, Dustin goes to "Cheaters" because he's worried about his girlfriend Paula. "Cheaters" tapes a phone conversation in which Paula tells Dustin she was going to see her mom when instead she was getting down and dirty with another man. The next segment features Dustin confronting Paula at a coffee shop with her newfound love - Dustin's brother.
   It's similar to "Melrose Place," only not everybody on this show has perfect teeth.
   Dreams become reality TV
   If you're wondering how anyone could dream up such a show, ask yourself this question: What if you were sitting in a restaurant one day and you saw a friend of yours smooching on someone that wasn't her husband? That actually happened to "Cheaters" creator Bobby Goldstein in 1995, but even though that occasion turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, he took that hypothetical situation one step further.
   "The notion came to my mind: What could I do with confronting people with a TV camera in public when they're doing something they shouldn't be doing?" said Goldstein in a telephone interview from Dallas.
   And he ran with that question by copyrighting his idea, sharing it with friends and enrolling in film school at Southern Methodist University. He met Habeeb through a mutual friend, and Habeeb took to "Cheaters" immediately. He told Goldstein: "Don't go back to college; I'll be your education."
   After the duo found financial backing, the networks started to sign and now viewers in 10 countries are hungry for more "Cheaters." Production crews have already finished 26 episodes and they're starting filming for next season.
   Voyeur viewers
   The show is attaining impressive ratings in some tough time slots. In New Orleans. it airs after "Saturday Night Live" and once achieved 8.9 rating points (a "West Wing"-like rating), and in Chicago, where it airs at 4 a.m., it once received 3.1 rating points.
   So the demand is there, but is the supply? Goldstein and his group receive about 1,000 e-mails a week from befuddled spouses and lovers. With a peeping tom show about widespread problems such as cheating and corruption, Goldstein's well of victims won't ever run dry.
   But is this a good thing to bring to TV? The producers are taking a high-stress, highly personal situation and tackling it with lights, cameras and a Puffy-like entourage of bodyguards. In the mix you have Habeeb (who uses the name Tommy Gunn in the show) fueling the fire with questions like "How does this make you feel?"
   Goldstein was a lawyer for 12 years, so he knows how to guide the show around possible legal problems. But new legal issues have arisen around a 1999 Jenny Jones episode that Goldstein should be careful of. "Jenny Jones" was ordered to pay $25 million to the family of a gay man who was shot to death after going on the show and revealing a crush he had on another man. Are shows like these responsible for prodding that irritation to the point of violence?
   As Habeeb said in a recent interview: "The newspaper says: 'How can you this to people?' The fact is, all we're doing is documenting what somebody else is doing. We're not out there doing the cheating."
   True, unless you consider what the show is doing to the IQ of its television audience.
  
  

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