Take the worldwide obsession with reality shows, mix in extra sex and a healthy dose of controversy, and export the whole thing to France. The result is the phenomenal success of Loft Story.
It sticks out on the Lycos 50 like a sore thumb. What is a French television show doing getting more searches than tattoos or Napster? The show debuted last week at #7 on the Lycos 50 and rose to #4 this week. It is also #1 on the French Canadian Lycos 50.
We know that Big Brother is so successful worldwide that international versions often turn up on the Lycos 50. Back in March a celebrity version from England made the list, and the Australian version has been on the Lycos 50 for three weeks running (#42 this week).
But Loft Story is really a breed apart. The show's first episode on April 24 drew an audience of 6 million, and last Thursday's episode had an audience of 7.7 million. That's roughly 13 percent of the entire population of France.
Loft Story started out a bit different from the other worldwide versions of Big Brother. The cast is six men and five women, all in their twenties, sharing a house north of Paris. Unlike Big Brother, the point isn't to be the last person left, but to be one of the last two. At the end one man and one woman will get to share a $400,000 home -- as long as they live together for six months.
So, in a way it is Big Brother crossed with Temptation Island, except without those annoying couples and concepts of morality (or the even more annoying Mark Wahlberg). Activities are arranged in order to encourage the loft's inhabitants to get it on.
Sounds a bit shocking, I suppose, but not when you consider the relaxed rules of European television. After all, French networks show X-rated movies late at night, and half the commercials in prime time use topless women to sell products.
And yet, the show has created a hue and cry over in Europe. As Slate magazine asked, when did the French become prudes?
The show doesn't even show much skin. The show's breakout star is a former stripper named Loana, and in the first episode she doffed her top while making out with a fellow cast member in the often-filmed swimming pool. But, as Slate pointed out, the camera coyly turned away at that point, as it's obliged to do if things on Loft Story get beyond what we Americans call first base. If you want to see all the skin, you have to pay for it, with a pay-cable network and a website showing 24 hour, uncensored feeds for a fee.
So you have a bunch of people, who willingly subjected themselves to television cameras, showing much less skin than average French television programming, and yet the controversy makes Temptation Island look like Touched By An Angel. French critics say the program's contestants resemble guinea pigs whose mating for money degrades everyone's dignity. So, the citizens have rioted.
Saturday, demonstrators dumped garbage in front of the offices of television station M6. Later that day protestors staged a raid to ''liberate'' the contestants from the show's headquarters in the north of Paris, but were pushed back by a contingent of riot police and security guards lobbing tear gas.
Then Tuesday, the French government, citing the need to preserve human dignity, ordered changes in the show. These included daily timeouts for contestants as well as changing the game's rules to ease the "psychological burden" on contestants.
By government order, instead of voting on who to kick off, the public must now vote on who to keep on the show. Read that sentence again, and think about how strange it would be if our government passed laws changing game show provisions.
"Today, the U.S. Congress put off votes on energy policy and national missile defense in order to pass regulation ensuring that Family Feud contestants now be allowed four strikes."
This is the second set of changes the government has forced Loft Story to make. In the show's first week, the CSA forced the show to stop directing viewers to the pay cable station and Internet site that aired the uncensored feed. The government also warned the M6 network about contestants' excessive use of tobacco and alcohol. (Wait a second, French people smoke? We had no idea.)
So far none of these changes have dented Loft Story's immense popularity. We'll have to wait and see if the show can maintain its international success. In the meantime, we have two suggestions for here in the States. First, for CBS, if you want Big Brother to approach Loft Story's ratings, cast some strippers and give them a pool. Second, for Congress, if you feel like playing regulator, don't touch Big Brother. Instead, put the Real World/Road Rules Challenge out of its misery. Your constituents will thank you.
