CBS's "Survivor" may have invented the idea of reality television, but the genre is about to get invented all over again with the half-dozen new shows that will debut over the broadcast networks this summer.
    In the new order of things, reality has become a full-fledged TV genre, like dramas or sitcoms, replete with wide-ranging styles and subject matter.
    The very narrow definition of reality as established by "Survivor" is being expanded to include just about anything that is unscripted, creates the illusion of live action, and leaves viewers in suspense over the outcome.
    Unlike "Survivor" and other early reality series, many of the new shows will have rotating casts with each episode.
    Summer, of course, is an ideal time for the networks to experiment with reality shows. They have little to lose if a show bombs, and if it does even moderately well, a network stands to steal away viewers from cable as cable enters its peak season for original programming.
    And if the show is a hit it can be shuttled onto a network's regular season schedule, as were "Survivor" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," which both debuted during the summer.
    In all there will be seven reality series on the networks this summer. Some will focus on relationships, others on ingenuity, and others on courage. 
    In fact, the only thing these shows have in common is the "it could be you" feel of unscripted programming.
    NBC, this summer’s most prolific reality source, is diverging the most from the "Survivor" mold.
     Next Monday, "Fear Factor" will debut. This hour-long show has six contestants undergoing three challenges based on common fears, like heights or snakes. The one who completes the most challenges in the best manner wins, and the contestants change with each episode.
    In July, NBC has "spy tv," a new take on the "Candid Camera" format. This one could actually be the most "real" of the new reality shows, since the participants don’t know that they’re on camera. 
    Along with simple gags, the show promises to have more elaborate hoaxes specifically tailored for the victim by his or her so-called friends.
    Also in July, NBC will debut "The Downer Channel," a bizarre mix of reality and sketch comedy starring a regular troupe of improvisational actors. 
    Like ABC’s "The Wayne Brady Show," a variety show that will air in August, "The Downer Channel" is a reality show by only the loosest, unscripted definitions.
    Finally in September, NBC will show "Lost," its reality program that is most similar to what audiences expect from the post-"Survivor" world. 
    Sounding vaguely similar to CBS’s fall entry "The Amazing Race," "Lost" is a contest between pairs of strangers who are dropped off somewhere in the world with limited supplies. The first ones back to New York City win.
    On CBS, "Big Brother" returns in July, full of promises about how much cooler it’s going to be the second time around. 
    Unfortunately for the show, it’s a pre-"Survivor" dinosaur competing in a much savvier post-"Survivor" summer. And it’ll be up against a new edition of MTV’s "Real World," the show that "Big Brother" copied most blatantly.
    Fox kicks off "Love Cruise" in July, which might best be described as "Temptation Island" without those annoying couples. Eight single men and eight single women sail around Aruba together. 
    Then in each episode, the men vote one woman off, and the women vote one man off. The last two remaining win a trip around the world.
    Fox also has "Murder in Small Town X," another weird hybrid of reality and drama. Ten real strangers go to a real town to solve a fictional murder, dealing with a mix of both actors and real people to find clues. 
    At the end of each episode, the cast votes for two people to be sent away. One will return with a clue, and the other will be "killed"; the cast does not get to choose which.

June 6, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.

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