The dirty secrets of reality TV
How do you ask Mariah Carey to leave a live broadcast? What do you do when Sacha Baron Cohen dumps an urnful of ashes onto your tuxedo? How much Kourtney Kardashian birthing footage is too much? The top names in the business share all that and more (and f-bombs galore) at THR's reality TV roundtable.
"Are we allowed to swear?" asked producer Craig Piligian upon gathering for a conversation with his reality TV cohorts at Milk Studios in Hollywood on June 2. Sure, why not? Television's most freewheeling format lends itself so well to a no-holds-barred discussion about its most zeitgeisty programs. Ryan Seacrest (American Idol, Keeping Up With the Kardashians), 37; Thom Beers (Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers), 54; Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance), 35; Alison Sweeney (The Biggest Loser), 35; Craig Piligian (Dirty Jobs, American Chopper), 54; and Carson Daly (The Voice), 38, come clean about the perils of hosting and producing unscripted series, from the Kardashians to weirdest fan moments to their own guilty pleasures.
The Hollywood Reporter: What's the toughest decision you've had to make on live TV?
Carson Daly: For me it was: Do I ask Mariah Carey to leave the MTV studios one July afternoon in 2001 when she came in without being booked on the show? Normally when Mariah came on Total Request Live, it was very regimented. In this case, she came out pushing an ice cream cart, in short-shorts, reading poetry.
Cat Deeley: I do that every weekend. (laughter)
Carson Daly: It was like, at what expense are you getting good live TV? (excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter)
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