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Celebrity TV a crazy venture?

Posted in Media, Mel Varley, Latest reporters' blogs February 20th, 2008 by Melinda Varley

Last week’s ABC results proved that celebrity is still a hot market in the magazine world, but does it carry through to television? The makers of Kerry Katona’s latest tell-all show must think so. But why?

The world of celebrity TV is suffering somewhat of a bad reputation following a disastrous run of D-list celebrities thinking their ‘real’ lives are interesting enough to broadcast.

No one can forget Jade Goody’s disastrous Jade’s PA, or even Pete Burn’s PA. How about Katie and Peter or even more so disastrous, Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, which got such a bad response the series was crammed into a one hour ‘special’.

The celebrity reality TV craze seems to have been inspired by Jessica and Nick Lachey’s Newlyweds. The show did quiet well, but unfortunately the couple didn’t and blamed the constant presence of TV cameras for their marriage breakdown.

Kerry Katona, however, is a completely different kettle of fish. I seriously don’t think many people have much of an interest in these celebrity true life shows, much less an interest in an ex-coke addict has been and her drug dealer boyfriend.

Kerry’s problem is probably the fact she’s had too much publicity. There really isn’t an awful lot that fans (if there are any) would get out of watching her show. She’s done the biography, she’s got the column in OK! Magazine and she’s been on the 3AM pages more than enough for the whole of the UK to have somewhat of a grasp on her off-screen activities.

Surprisingly, MTV has picked up the show and has advertised it by showing he and her husband Mark bound together by straight jackets – how fitting?

I honestly don’t see the appeal of this TV show and predict that it will bomb, so why has MTV, such a well respected brand, chosen to run it? Same could be asked for Snoop Dog’s ‘reality show’ Fatherhood – a much lesser version of the been-and-gone The Osborne’s.  Celebrity reality shows do not work – or do they?