Celebrity Multimedia Works

Many shows are now directing its viewers to visit their websites for extra footage, behind the scenes sneak peaks, and the chances to comment about what they saw on that show for that particular evening. Television shows want to get people hooked to that particular show in as many ways as possible.

I listen to 1065thebeat.com at work everyday. On its broadcast the DJ's are constantly referring people to go to the website if they want to read more about a particular story or see pictures of a certain celebrity in the news. Each DJ for the station has their own website where you can specifically go to view the information that are talking about. The Internet is a very important tool, especially for radio stations because they lose out on the visible factor. The audience can only hear the DJ and not see what they are referring to. So radio stations definitely use multimedia journalism in reporting as much information as possible to its listeners. Below is a clip of House calls.

As if celebreality shows are not bombarding our television sets already, they now want us to go to their websites to get extra footage. One show, one if my favorites even goes as far as providing a 3 hour period on Cinemax to watch extra footage. Big Brother is a show where house guests are locked in a house and must compete for food and survival. Cameras are recording their every moves. The show airs on three nights out of the week. In addition they broadcast this show called Big Brother After Dark where you can watch what the house guests are doing everyday for 3 hours straight. Then Big Brother has a talk show that airs on the Internet 3 days out of the week. Viewers can also blog about the shows or anything Big Brother related.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Big Brother has definitely utilized many facets of multimedia reporting so viewers will always be in touch with what is going on.

Celebreality shows and their children

Some celebrities are very careful to make sure that their children are not in the public eye. They want their personal lives to remain as personal as possible. Some celebrities refrain from going out in public places where there will be large crowds that may recognize them. Others cover the identity of the child as much as possible with blankets and scarfs. Celebrities even goes as far as not taking their children out of the house and let nannies or babysitters watch their infants. Photographers have been dying to capture a photo of Halle Berry's new baby and still have not gotten a decent photo of the baby's face and Halle's child was born over five months ago.

But others find it appropriate to place their children into the direct range of the paparazzi camera lens and broadcasting television cameras. Some even go as far as creating a reality television show about their children and their parenting habits. Kimora Lee Simmons is a great example. She has two daughters Ming Lee (age 8) and Aoki Lee (age 5). Her show Life in the Fab Lane aired in August of 2007 when her daughters were only seven and four. Below is a clip showing Ming Lee making preparations for her birthday party.


Shows that incorporate their children has really grown within the last five years considering celebrities have been having children and in many cases their first child. For producers they feel that having a show which showcases the children will boost the celebrities careers. There has even been shows especially designed around celebrities when they or their spouse is pregnant to capture parenting before the child is even born. The child enters the world with cameras and television crews directly in their faces. Scott Baio is 46 & Pregnant is one of those shows when the pregnancy was recorded and the birth also. I think Scott Baio agreed to participate because he was (and still is) a recovering celebrity and he had recently finished a season with Vh1 entitled Scott Baio is 46 & Single so a show about his pregnancy was a great follow-up.

But is this too much?

I wonder what the motive is behind these celebrities wanting to publicize their parenting. But there are also people with miraculous stories about the hardships of parenting. The Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show about a couple with 8 young children. Through this show viewers witness how hard it is for a couple to handle 8 children. But still the children's lives are videotaped without the child's consent.

My feelings count 2!!!!!!!

We all watch some form of reality TV. But why do we watch it? Is it funny? Does it make the celebrities feel more like a person to us? Is it just pure entertainment? After we watch it does it make us feel good or bad about our lives? Do we feel sorry for them? Do we wish we were them? In this blog, I just want to know how you feel. Below are some random shows I picked and clips from that show. Below I commented on how I felt about the shows when I first saw them and after I saw a few episodes.

BIG BROTHER - CBS - 3 days out of the week - prime time - 10 seasons

Before: The previews really sold me with this show. I have been watching faithfully for 10 straight seasons. I thought the show would be fun and full of drama. I like the idea of the contestants competing in competitions.

Below is a clip of Big Brother and shows the backstabbing and deceit that show incorporates in each episode.

Watch CBS Videos Online

After: I enjoyed watching the scandal and the lies and deceit. The drama was definitely there and every show was different. The competitions were exciting. I could watch each episode until the last minute to figure out who was going home next. This show is basically about how people strategize to win the money in the end. They will backstab and cheat and lie which really makes the show interesting.



RUN'S HOUSE - MTV - new shows countless reruns

Before: I was not interested in this show because mainly I was not a fan of Run DMC. I don't know any of their music and did not relate to them because of the time difference of when their music came out and the type of music I listen to now.
Below is a clip of Run's House.


After: This family is truly entertaining. After watching this show I must say I do feel closer to this family. Almost to point I feel like I can relate to them. They have many of the family values that I possess. When I watch them it is for complete entertainment. They are funny and remind me of my own family.

THE WAY IT IS - KEISHA COLE - BET - off-air

Before: Before I watched this show I thought to myself that it may be extremely ghetto.
Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is.
After: It was extremely ghetto. I despised this only after watching one episode. Because of that show I vowed not to watch another black reality TV produced by BET and I haven't. I truly do not understand why BET would air such a show.


So what is the secret formula that gets so many of us hooked?

DRAMA + LAUGHTER + REALITY = SUCCESS!!!!!!

Why?
Drama is conflict. People like to see problems and how the particular person on TV is going to handle it.

Laughter is soothing to the soul. After a long day of work, people want to relax and laugh and forget about their problems.

Reality is what makes the viewer feel like they are part of the show. If a show has reality, then the viewer relates more to the characters and feels like they know the celebrity better.

Trying to Make A Comeback

Now let's discuss another reason why some celebrities feel they need to broadcast their lives to the world. One reason could be that a celebrity has been out of the television industry and wants to come back. They may need the money, want to reclaim their fame or prove that they are not a one hit wonder. VH1 is really advocate about trying to restore a celebrity's fame. Some shows that they have produced have been:

• Rock of Love (Bret Michaels)


• Flavor of Love (Flavor Flav)


• Breaking Bonaduce (Danny Bonaduce)


• Celebracadabra (various celebrities i.e. Kid from Kid -n- Play, C. Thomas Howell)


• Celebrity Fit Club (various celebrities i.e. Da Brat, Screech, Angie Stone)


• Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew (various celebrities i.e. Brigiette Nielsen, Seth Binzer)


• Hogan Knows Best (Hulk Hogan)


• My Fair Brady ( Chrodtopher Knight from The Brady Bunch)


• Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant


• The Salt-N-Pepa Show


• The Surreal Life (various celebrities i.e. MC Hammer, Verne Troyer, Vanilla Ice, Emmanuel Lewis)

Let's look at Flavor Flav a little closer. Flavor Flav was a rapper with the group Public Enemy starting in 1984. One of his biggest hit single was "Fight the Power." His last hit and potentially the end of his career was in the early 1990's. His reality TV show debut was in 2004 with The Surreal Life on VH1. A spin-off show then started to broadcast his love relationship with Brigitte Nielsen called Strange Love in 2005. In 2006 he stared in his own show to find the perfect his perfect love, Flavor of Love. Was he successful?

YES!! Flavor of Love had three seasons. And from that show, I Love New York and Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School debuted. He has blown up more now then probably of his whole career in the 80's and 90's. If I had to rate his comeback, I would give it an A.

Check out this video showcasing the best of Flavor of Love.