September 21, 2009

Mis-Cast: A TV Article by Bill Kunkel

No Reality Show Survivors Here!

It was the most shocking TV news since WWE wrestler Chris Benoit went nuts, killed his wife and son and then hung himself. And while pro wrestling isn't exactly "reality TV" it was close enough to bring back bad memories

When word broke last week that Ryan Jenkins (reality show "star" of "I Love Money 3" and "Megan Wants a Millionaire") was accused of murdering his wife Jasmine Fiore (a fairly prominent model), chopping her up and leaving her body in a garbage can in LA.

After being named the prime suspect in the crime, however, Jenkins cancelled the possibility of a court trial sequel by fleeing to his home in Canada and hanging himself in a motel room. (To give matters an even more surreal quality, UFC MMA icon Chuck Liddell had just recently walked the red carpet accompanied by his old friend Fiore just a week or two before her murder.)

The event has taken the subject of how well reality shows vet their participants and brought it to a boil – especially once it was revealed that Jenkins had a criminal record based on an assault of another female in Canada two years ago. After all, we've already seen "The Real World: San Diego" participants (I'm sorry, I can't call these people "stars" even if I put it in quotes) Robin Hibbard (no relation to The Simpsons' Dr. Hibbard) plead no contest to misdemeanor battery after beating up a US Marine on camera while a female member of the show's cast filed charges that she was drugged and sexually assaulted in a bathroom by a buddy of another cast member.

Then there's Justin Sebik, who was tossed off Big Brother 2 after literally holding a knife to the throat of a female castmate (later revelations showed that Sebik had previously been busted three times for assault and twice for robbery). Or how about infamous "Flavor of Love 2" cast member Becky "Buck Wild" Johnston who had actually done time for ADW and "Charm School with Rikki Lake" participant Britt O'Campo who was cut loose from jail mere days before she began filming the low rent reality show. (The show even used her court appearance to fill out an episode of "Charm School"!)

So is it possible that the casting agents for these shows have already run out of straight up cast members willing to humiliate themselves on camera? Or are they just taking the term "reality" to the Next Level?

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