The Final Frontier of Prank Television

Scott Hardie | November 19, 2005
Is it just me, or is prank TV getting meaner as it gets more successful? Today the London Times reported (link) on a new British "reality" series that will follow nine contest winners as they undergo weeks of preparation in a Soviet cosmonaut training facility, then blast off for a week in Earth's orbit as actual astronauts. When they get back to Earth at the end of the series, the ruse is revealed: They never left Britain the whole time, and were in a motion simulator during the actual "low orbit, non-weightless" flight. Ha ha.

Like Tom Coates (link) I'm flabbergasted by the idea. This goes well beyond a two-minute prank by Allen Funt. If I were selected for such a program, I would rightfully spend those weeks in "Russia" thinking that I was about to undergo the most profound experience of my life, which is the very mindset that could radically alter these nine people's personalities for the worse when they find out they been betrayed and are a laughingstock for millions of viewers. I'm sure the producers have protected themselves from lawsuits, and wisely so, because this is just plain evil. Agree or disagree?

Amy Austin | November 21, 2005
Hahaaaa...

Yeah, I'm with you, Scott -- it's interesting (in a sick & twisted way) how humor has become more & more based in the mental anguish & suffering of others! What IS that -- are we so bored and jaded as a society that the only way we can get a good laugh on is by watching an elaborately protracted creation of a psychic torment that will culminate in five or ten minutes of total and final devastation of another's spirit when the big "joke" is revealed??? I thought it was pushing it when they did "the Joe Schmoe Show", but after falling prey to its appeal, I also decided that they had screened carefully for just the right sort of guy to participate... and one who would still be taking home the prize that he thought he was there to try and win -- so no big harm or foul there, I thought. But, of course, I think that everyone involved starting seeing it as a bit of a cruelty as the prank wore on -- with many evaluation points at which they considered ending the big game. And that was just a "reality TV" gig... this space mission, I agree, is OVER THE TOP!!! And I would become so embittered by the discovery that I wasn't going on a space launch that they would have to pay me a SHIT-TON of money to compensate! You know that they even have a psychological crew on hand when each "Survivor" candidate gets eliminated/"kicked off the island" -- how can they possibly be prepared for the mental consequences of THIS?!?! Actually... I kind of hope that they AREN'T! ;-D

Scott Hardie | November 22, 2005
I've heard it suggested that the entire show is a prank on the audience, and that the contestants really are going into space. That's not cruel at least, but it is pretty frickin' lame.

Kris Weberg | November 23, 2005
Considering Channel 4's budget, I can all but guarantee they're not shelling out for a space flight.

Hell, I can't believe they scraped up the funds for a motion chamber.

Amy Austin | November 23, 2005
Yeah, right?! That was kind of what I was thinking, too...