March 1, 2001: CBS Big Brother | Reality TV - Brittany Petros & Burt Kearns
Brittany reflects on the emotional dynamics inside the house, her complicated relationship with fellow houseguest Josh, and the frustrations of being edited for television while millions watched unfiltered feeds online. Art reveals that he and his wife watched obsessively on the Internet, recalling moments Brittany herself had forgotten. She offers candid assessments of housemates including Jamie and Karen, and discusses how the American public consistently voted out the most interesting contestants.
In the second half, veteran television producer Burt Kearns joins to discuss his book Tabloid Baby and the evolution of reality TV. He traces the genre from the wild early days of A Current Affair through Survivor and Temptation Island, examining how Australian newspapermen reinvented American television and how the line between news and entertainment dissolved permanently during the O.J. Simpson trial.
Key Moments
The Salt Lake City 'Sky Ring' photos arrive five minutes before air: Art reads a fax from a Salt Lake City truck driver who, while driving north on Beck Street toward Woods Cross, saw something flash across his windshield and photographed a strange ring in the sky he calls a 'Sky Ring.'
Petros: I almost ditched a sales conference for the Big Brother semifinal: Brittany Petros tells Art she answered a tiny newspaper ad asking if she could live with nine strangers on camera for $500,000, then nearly missed the Big Brother semifinal interview because her pharmaceutical-sales company had her in Arizona learning a new drug called Celebrex.
Petros on Karen: 'I think she totally lost it': Petros tells Art that fellow houseguest Karen, who broke down on national television describing her failing marriage, did not just come close to losing it inside the Big Brother house, she fully lost it, and that leaving the house probably saved her.
Petros: cast feared the show would chop up days and put words in our mouths: Asked how she would change Big Brother 2, Petros says producers should let houseguests watch episodes; the cast was so paranoid about editing they thought producers would splice sentences and days together, and the more reserved they got, the harder producers pushed them to attack each other.
Kearns: when does someone on Survivor get seriously hurt?: Tabloid TV producer Burt Kearns asks where reality TV is headed after Temptation Island, points to the night's Survivor episode where a contestant's hands were badly burned and the camera lingered on peeling skin, and warns the next escalation will be a serious on-camera injury.