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Reality Insurance
Tuesday
August 14, 2001
They jump off tall buildings in a single bound and treat their bodies worse than rented mules. This new smorgasbord of "video voyeurism" has networks keeping things real and risky.
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Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly says, “A show like 'Fear Factor' has to carry a lot of insurance. An estimated 5% of the entire budget is spent on insuring itself."
Karger says insurance on these shows is a cold hard reality strapped to an "adult size" safety seat. The key to keeping ratings sky high and the risk factor relatively low, is deception: making stunts that are safe look extremely dangerous.
Insurance expert Candysse Miller says, "These are not professionals. This is a stockbroker jumping out of a window, not a stunt professional."
But surprisingly, Miller says risking life and limb is not a networks number one fear. She says, “They're more likely at this point to get sued for copy right infringement or defamation of character."
On rare occasions we've seen reality TV go really bad. In non-orchestrated stunts, a contestant suffered serious burns on “Survivor 2.” And recently on "Big Brother's" sequel nobody was hurt, but one player was kicked off following that infamous "knife incident."
NBC’s president of entertainment Jeff Zucker "There are no guarantees in life, but we've taken every imaginable precaution."
Riding reality success, NBC will add more this fall, building on the success of breakout hits "Spy TV" and "Fear Factor."
After signing a long list of waivers, Jon Kelley jumped into the mix at "Fear Factor." And despite looking like a crash-test dummy, danger or fear never factored in.
And even with TV trying to push the limits, “Fear Factor's” host Joe Rogan assures no insurance company would touch his idea for the prefect stunt. He says, "Naked shark tank, that's my idea. Shark tank naked, see who stays in the longest before you panic."
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Fear Factor open calls