|
|
American Candidate
From The Showtime Site:
"Unscripted and unprecedented, American Candidate is a reality series in which the viewing public will select a People's Candidate who will then have the chance to run for president of the United States."
From The RTVC Site:
The fix is in.
|
|
The show will debut in August 1st at 10pm e/p with 12 contestants from all walks of life. Over the course of the series, those 12 will face off against each other and will be narrowed down through audience participation. The final episode will be a showdown among the remaining contestants, and one person will emerge victorious – the "American Candidate."
American Candidate News:
June 9, 2004
Fixing The Election
If you thought voting on Showtime's American Candidate site had anything to do with who the 12 finalists would be .... your wrong. The only question is - was the fix in from the beginning or after the producers decided they did not like the results of the election. Are you getting as tired as I am of the media telling us we voted wrong? Joe Caulfied of Missouri received the most votes on the Showtime web site.. But he's not one of the final 12. Does that strike you as strange? Not only is the guy who got the most votes not the candidate, he's not even in the final 12? If that's Showtime and the producers view of how America works we have reason to be afraid.
Here's a look at some of the candidates who the producers selected to be in the final 12. There is lesbian Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of presidential candidate Richard Gephardt. Chrissy's distinction in this process is that she did not even participate. She was simply cast by the producers, then her page turned up on the Showtime site. Nice to have an important Daddy isn't it Chrissy? Other candidates include PETA's director of vegan campaigns Bruce Friedrich; former Libertarian candidate for governor of Utah Richard Mack; Lisa Witter, who "runs the country's largest public interest strategy and media firm"; "Black gay activist and author" Keith Boykin; and Arkansas resident Joyce Riley. It's becoming obvious that Showtime and the producers intend to give us a "Jerry Springer" campaign.
The show was bounced from two networks before it landed on Showtime, maybe those network execs had some ethics. The show is produced by R.J. Cutler who defends himself by telling us that it does not say on the Showtime web site that the votes will mean anything. However it does say, "American Candidate is a ground-breaking television series in which the American people will identify a People's Candidate that they would like to see run for President of the United States." I guess we get to "identify" based on who R.J. Cutler approves for us. The contempt Mr. Cutler demonstrates for the American electoral process is beyond sad. Some people, including a few in the media, have been calling for a boycott of Showtime and American Candidate. We will not call for that. Doing so would be to sink to Showtime and Cutler's level.
Everybody involved with this should be ashamed of themselves.
June 4, 2004
Politics As Usual Has Come To RTV
Reality TV will take a look at the world of politics through the eyes of Showtime's American Candidate this summer. It appears that the RTV show will have the same lack of integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness as the political process it is portraying. Citizens who are disillusioned with America's political process will see the choices made by the producers of American Candidate as further proof that it's all smoke and mirrors and the average person's efforts to participate in the process are a waste of time.
Here is a quote from the Showtime website: "Coming on Showtime in Summer 2004, American Candidate is a ground-breaking television series in which the American people will identify a People's Candidate that they would like to see run for President of the United States."
Here's the truth: The twelve so called candidates are in fact simply twelve people who have been cast by the producers. This despite the so called "support" voting that has been taking place on the show's web site for months.
People who thought they were to be "candidates" applied on the web site and then sought support through posts on the site. The support that each candidate sought on the site and the subsequent voting meant nothing. The producers interviewed 24 "semifinalists" and then selected the 12 they wanted to cast.
SF Weekly's Matt Smith writes that "the 'candidates' were tricked into pointlessly promoting the show, which will be cast like any other TV program -- with a casting call." Smith calls for a boycott of the show and showtime's parent company Viacom.
The show which was bounced from two other networks before landing at Showtime, is produced by R.J. Cutler who was responisble for "The War Room" and "A Perfect Candidate."
It is Cutler who announced that all of the campagining that the applicants on the show's web site have done and all of the voting via the web site was meaningless. In fact it was a sham to hype the show and build a following before it aired. According to Cutler: "You won't be able to find anywhere that anyone associated with the show that says Web site support has any direct impact on somebody getting on the show. The decisions as to who gets on the show are made by producers of the show -- by me -- and by Showtime working together. I take full responsibility for that. The online support is a way of building a community of people in common with American Candidate and support a forum for ideas outside the two-party process." It seems Mr. Cutler's wants a one-party system, leadership "by me".
I don't fault anybody for wanting to make decisions and have controll over their project. Nor do I fault anybody for making a buck in the entertainment industry. I do find fault with R.J. Cutler because what he and Showtime did was wrong. They mislead people for their own purpose. They were dishonest, unethical and demonstrated a lack of character. And that's politics as usual. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Do don't be fooled. There are no candidates in this show, not even for a meaningless election.
Nobody expected a TV show to produce an "American Candiate" that would actually seek and have a chance of election to public office. But it was expected to be an interesting look at alternatives and what the public might want. Instead it is just one more instance where producers promise the viewing public one thing and deliver another. What we have here is both politics and TV as usual. To bad, it could have been real.
May 19, 2004
RTVC Staff Writer Kelley Rhodes will be picking up the recap duties for Showtime's American Candidate. Kelley is a journalism school graduate who describes herself as both a Reality TV and a Politics junky. Kelley has been writing our Bachelor recaps and will be doing Big Brother as well.
May 11, 2004
American Candidate will film it's first episode in New Hampshire during June with 12 finalists. The names have not yet been announced, presumably to save the cost of secret service protection. Keene, NH is the target for the 12 wannabe leaders. They will invade the small town between June 10th and the 15th. While there they will try to convice the people to "vote" to keep them on the program. AP is reporting the show will feature "10 hour-long episodes -- each filmed in a different location -- [during which] contestants will be eliminated through audience participation and polling." New Hampshire did nothing wrong to be chosen, they just happen to have the first primary.
As a resident of small town America, and if you held a gun to my head, I would go with the Beverly Hills Brats and even the Pee-Wee impressionist before the politicians. You got to have some scruples.
May 10, 2004
Showtime's summer Reality TV series "The American Candidate" is attracting a lot of wannabe leaders, and a few of them have some series experience. Some people will do anything for another soundbite. If you are a beltway inhabitant you'll probably recoginize the names. If you don't, consider yourself normal and lucky. Those trying for a slot on American Candidate include: Gary J. Caruso, the Clinton administration's Congressional and public affairs director, and a former House of Representatives staffer; John Hlinko of the Wesley Clark campaign; Howard Dean supporter Chris Cooper; The Cato Institute's chairman Bill Niskanen; Cato communications assistant Mathew S. Klokel. If Showtime goes with these people and allows them to push their agendas, then all the promise that was held by this program will be lost.
Click Here to Visit The Official Site
|
RTV Calendar | RTV Store | RTV Links | Casting | Contact Us | Advertise With Us
All listings are subject to change.
Site Design and Programing Copyright 2003 - 2006© Lemon Toupin, all rights reserved.
All articles are the intellectual property of and copyrighted by the individual authors. By submitting an article to Reality TV Calendar you are granting Reality TV Calendar permission to display the article in perpetuity.
|
|
