Unpredictable behavior by contestants is the lifeblood of unscripted TV series, and producers are usually pretty happy to document it, edit it and show it to the viewing public, without intervening.
On the current edition of “The Amazing Race,” however, executive producer Bertram van Munster says he felt compelled to talk to contestant Jonathan Baker after an incident that shocked fans of the show and sent message boards buzzing.
During last week’s (Dec. 14) episode, Baker shoved his sobbing wife, Victoria Fuller, as they finished a leg of the race in second place, behind engaged couple Freddy and Kendra. He had dropped his backpack in an attempt to run faster, yelling at Victoria to do the same. Fearing the pack would be taken, she picked it up and carried them both to the finish line.
After host Phil Keoghan told them they had finished second, Fuller walked off camera, still crying. Keoghan told a still-fuming Baker to “go talk to your wife.” Message boards devoted to “The Amazing Race” lit up, with a number of posters calling for Baker to be disqualified (the show was taped earlier this year).
Van Munster also talked with Baker about his behavior. “I told him you’ve got to tone it down, you have to stop this kind of stuff, it’s not cool — until then, I’d never given advice to a reality show player before to chill out,” he tells the New York Post.
The producer says he told Baker, who owns a day spa in Los Angeles and is also credited as an executive producer of the popular “Dorf on Golf” video, “over and over again” that his actions — he and Fuller have also engaged in several shouting matches during the show — wouldn’t put him in a very positive light.
“[B]ut if he doesn’t want to listen, there’s nothing I can do about it,” van Munster says. “I told him the camera can be used in many ways — it’s a dangerous instrument, and there comes a point where you can’t change [what it sees]. I’ve been very fair with him.”
After the episode aired, Baker wrote an apology on his and Fuller’s website.
“I do not abuse Victoria. What you see is a heighten[ed] version of stress and obsession mix[ed] with medication for a sickness called Sarcoidosis. What was started as a Publicity Stunt turn[ed] in to an obsession to race and be first at any cost. This is a GAME and I set out to be the Villain to others not to Victoria. …
“I am deeply saddened by the storyline that CBS went with. I am sorry for my actions, I am sorry to Victoria. Most [of] all I am sorry to the fans.”
“Don’t worry, I am fine,” Fuller, an artist and former Playboy playmate, wrote a few days later. “It’s a TV show and not a true reflection of our relationship. We both over reacted.”
Van Munster says there were no more physical confrontations between Baker and Fuller after the Berlin incident. “I had a very firm talk with him that night,” he tells the Post. “But he keeps on being Jonathan.”
As usual, CBS ended the week ending Sunday, Dec. 19 atop the ratings charts. And as usual, the week’s top-rated show was a forensic procedural from Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. However, with the network’s Thursday dramas in repeats, it was spin-off “CSI: Miami” which paced yet another easy CBS win.
Overall, CBS averaged an 8.3 rating/14 share, hooking 12.58 million viewers per night in primetime. None of the other networks were even close. NBC was second with a 6.5/11 and 9.82 million viewers, followed closely by ABC’s 6.2/10 and 9.55 million viewers. Although FOX’s publicists put out a “Weekly Ratings Highlights” e-mail, there were few, as the network stumbled to a 3.7/6 in fourth. UPN took fifth for the frame with a 2.4/4, much better than The WB’s 2.0/3.
Among adults 18-49, CBS was again the winner, doing a 3.8 rating in the key demographic. NBC’s 3.6 rating followed in second, with ABC in third with a 3.4 rating. FOX was a somewhat more respectable fourth with a 2.5 rating. UPN stayed fifth with a 1.4 rating, topping the 1.2 rating for The WB.
“CSI: Miami” ruled the ratings with a 13.7/22 and fellow CBS Monday offerings “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Two and a Half Men” tied for No. 7 with a 10.5/16. Even without new episodes, CBS’ Thursday rotation placed episodes of “CSI: Crime Investigation” at No. 3 with a 13.0/20 and No. 13 with a 9.0/15 and an episode of “Without a Trace” at No. 5 with an 11.1/18. Sunday also produced a trio of Top 20 offerings with “60 Minutes” (11.7/19, 4th), “Cold Case” (9.4/14, 11th) and a reairing of the telefilm “Fallen Angel” (7.9/13, 16th).
Also proving listworthy for CBS were Wednesday’s “CSI: NY” (10.4/17, 9th) and Tuesday’s “NCIS” (9.4/15, 11th) and “Judging Amy” (7.9/13, 16th).
Although it was down dramatically from last season’s finale, the three-hour conclusion of “The Apprentice” led the way for NBC with a 10.8/17 at No. 6. NBC’s next best show was at No. 14, where “The West Wing” did an 8.2/13. Wednesday’s “Law & Order” and Tuesday’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” tied for No. 18 with a 7.6/13.
“CSI: Miami” may have been the week’s top rated show, but with 22.34 million viewers, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” was the most watched, doing a 13.1/20 for No. 2 and providing a strong lead-in for “Boston Legal” (8.0/13, 15th). The “Monday Night Football” game between the Chiefs and Titans was No. 10 with a 9.6/16 and an encore of “Lost” was No. 20 with a 7.4/12.
For the week, FOX could do no better than “Trading Spouses” at No. 42 with a 5.2/8. The network’s highest rated scripted show was a repeat of “The Simpsons” at No. 56 with a 4.6/7.
UPN’s finale of “America’s Next Top Model” did a solid 4.4/7 for No. 59, as The WB’s best was “7th Heaven” at No. 79 with a 2.7/4.
With “The Mountain” taking a week off, the title of network television’s lowest rated show went to The WB’s “Steve Harvey’s Big Time” and UPN’s “Enterprise,” which tied for No. 108 with a 1.2/2.
DeLisa Stiles won the reality television equivalent of the Most Improved Player award, receiving the crown as the second winner of FOX’s “The Swan.” Viewers, however, were unimpressed, yielding ratings far below those for the first “Swan” pageant.
During Monday’s (Dec. 20) two-hour event, the show’s judges, a group that included Carnie Wilson and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, rewarded Stiles for her beauty, poise and overall transformation inside and out. Second place went to Gina Bravata. Presumably is Stiles is incapable of performing her duties, Bravata will get to be the new Swan.
A psychologist and captain in the Army Reserves, Stiles came to “The Swan” because she wanted to feel more feminine. After therapy, exercise, life coaching and a 1,200 calorie-a-day Nutrisystem diet, as well as a brow lift, lower eye lift, mid-face lift, fat transfer to lips and cheek folds, fotofacials, tummy tuck, breast lift and liposuction of inner thighs and dental procedures including upper and lower retainers, Zoom bleaching and deep cleaning she has presumably reached her goal.
Over its two-hour running time, the finale of “The Swan” averaged 7.23 million viewers, roughly on par with the show’s average for the season. The pageant reached a peak of 8.09 million in its second hour. The concluding hour of the first “Swan” finale averaged just under 10.8 million viewers when it aired on May 24.
FOX has already begun casting on a third season of “The Swan,” though it’s unclear if the diminished returns for the second installment will impact those plans.
Credit: Zap2It
