peacepoint.tv

by Amber Dowling
TVGuide.ca, September 3, 2008

Murtz Jaffer, the man who patented the term "World’s Foremost Reality TV Expert," has a point. After eight years of researching and writing about the genre, after many long months rubbing elbows and schmoozing with the fiercest of reality competitors, he’s coming out with his very own reality show about … what else? Reality TV.

In each episode of Reality Obsessed Jaffer asks a long-burning question about the genre, goes about researching it, and comes to some sort of conclusion. It’s a simple enough format, but one he feels some might mooch off.

We caught up with Murtz to get the scoop before tonight’s première.

TVGuide.ca: How did a reporter get to have his own reality show about reality TV?
Murtz Jaffer: I always felt like reality TV was missing something. I’d get emails from people asking if [things] really happened. And I just knew that the adventures that I go on on an almost monthly basis are pretty funny. It was just an idea I was conceptualizing for a while. When TVtropolis invited me to participate on their Inside the Box game show. I was in the box first, and my question was about The Brady Bunch — not a subject that's my forte.

And then Steve [TV Stevie] goes in there and gets a question about The Amazing Race, and I got all upset. I was thinking about not even going to the wrap party because I was so upset that I’d lost. But when I went there I ended up meeting some executives and they had heard about what I did and I was talking to them about the idea for the show. Maybe losing that show turned out to be a good thing.

TVG: In the first episode we see you tackling the myth of why girls throw themselves at a guy on TV, but what other questions will we see you address?
MJ: The hot tub episode was funny but there are so many that I love. My favourite is one called “Dance Obsessed,” and this is an idea that I’ve had for years. I do not understand how somebody like Jerry Springer or Mark Cuban can learn to salsa in a week. It seems like they’re learning two dances a week and they’ve never danced before. There’s something suspect here. So I decided to test it out and see whether it’s possible for someone with no dance experience to learn how to dance in five days. So I called Lauren Gottlieb, who was in a final four of So You Think You Can Dance and it was totally like the show — we had a dance studio and I would go in there for four- or five-hour sessions with her.

Another one that I’m really excited about is the “All-Star Fantasy League.” One thing that’s been absent on reality TV is an all-star competition that will determine who is the most entertaining of all-time. We have one person from Survivor, one from TAR, one from Big Brother and one from The Apprentice, two guys and two girls. The challenges that I put the players through really will spell out who is the best of the best.

TVG: How did you get the reality celebs onto the show?
MJ: I’m friends pretty much with anybody who's ever been on reality TV. Over the last eight years I’ve gone to parties with them — I throw a lot of parties now myself. I’ve invited these people, I hang out with these them, even if I wanted to go and see a movie, I would call up Kasia from Big Brother or play pool with Michelle from Survivor. That sort of network really helped out this show. They were all really willing to help.

TVG: Don’t you think it’s a little ironic to have a reality show about reality TV?
MJ: Ironic is a great way of describing it. It’s been a long time coming. I cannot believe Canada is the first to do this. Even when I was conceptualizing the show, my greatest fear was that somebody else would do it first. I really believe there’s going to be a lot of copycat versions after.

TVG: If you do a second season how are you going to come up with more questions, do you have any in the bag for now?
MJ: That’s what I’m doing now — the first season was to introduce me, who I am, why I’m the guide for all of this. The second season, if we get one, is going to be an advantage. Now we can really tackle to more in-depth questions. You have to make the show appeal not only to reality fans but to casual fans as well. In the second season we can really push the envelope. I’d like to make it a little bit more specific.

TVG: Why do you think people will watch the first season? How are you going to get an audience?
MJ: The story, at its root level is one people will be interested in. I’ve been very critical [of reality TV] these past eight years. And for a fan to now sort of be enveloped into this world is a completely different experience. I look at all the shows now with a very different eye. There’s a lot of footage that we shoot on every show and only certain elements of it get used.

TVG: You’ve told me before that the producers would do things like take your cell phone away to irk you during shooting. Were there other incidents like that?
MJ: The cell phone thing … I mean come on. I was not down with that at all. Both sides have a point here — if we really want to experience reality TV we have to have elements that I don’t know about. In one episode I become a casting agent for the day, and I have to find a girl for Beauty and the Geek. I got advice from casting agents and in that episode all I knew was that I was going to talk to Nadia Underwood. I didn’t know where the interview would take place. And I was in the van going to the location and we parked in front of a gym. I’ve never even been to a gym. So Nadia’s on a treadmill, and she’s got this treadmill set up beside her for me. I don’t even know how to turn the friggin' machine on.

TVG: How did you get so into reality television?
MJ: It’s a sort of symbol for the way life works, but on a faster time scale. That’s why I love Survivor so much. That’s how the world works — when you start a new job or you go to college for the first time and you’re in your first class, everybody is really nice to you. Your co-worker will buy you a cup of coffee. Now after you’ve been in that company and your boss comes in with a promotion available, that same guy that bought you a cup of coffee on your first day is now your mortal enemy. I think a lot of the times that person will sabotage you. What rivets me about reality TV is that they can’t hide the fact that they’re being duplicitous.

TVG: You’re obviously a reality purist, and your show seems to follow that belief. But with Pamela Anderson, Denise Richards, Flava Flav's shows … would you not say that reality is evolving?
MJ: That was difficult for me. Admittedly I’ve seen Flavor of Love, but it’s not my bread-and-butter type show — I had to do a lot of research. To me, it’s a good thing. We’ve moved into the next phase. It pains me to say this, but in the next few years there will be no more Survivor. Is it evolving for the better? I think we’re moving away from competitive shows. Now the focus is going to be on the way they make people look — how crazy they will be to get on TV. It’s definitely not pure reality, which made fans out of all us.