1 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: From The Australian. This is the weekend edition of the 2 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: Front Unclaire Harvey. Reality TV is a phenomenon that can 3 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: be traced back to the late nineteen forties, as the 4 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: genre evolved from the award winning Up Series to the 5 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: Jersey Shore via Sylvania Waters and Fuck Boy Island. The 6 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: constants have been real people, real lives. In twenty fifteen, 7 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: Alone premiered on the History Channel in the United States. 8 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: If reality TV up to this point had been a 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: social experiment, Alone was a solitary experiment where time slowed 10 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: down and contestants had to rely on ten items and 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: bush savvy to do one thing survive in the wild. Alone. 12 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: Now it's a top rating staple of Australian TV today. 13 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: Why Alone speaks to our primal instincts and why it's 14 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: on SBS. Since that first season in twenty fifteen, Alone 15 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: has become an international hit, with seasons now filming in 16 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: nine countries, including here Alone Australia now just having wrapped 17 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: its third season. Whether in British Columbia, Norway or the 18 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: rugged West Coast of Tasmania, the format is the same. 19 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: Ten contestants are dropped in separate remote locations with ten 20 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: personal items. 21 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 2: The acts PHARAOHAHD, two court, pot, belt, npe, heap. 22 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: And a case of cameras to self document every high 23 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: and low. Gradually, the Wild whittles down the field of contestants. Oh, 24 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: I don't want to tap but I don't want to 25 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: die either, for the isolation proves too much for many. 26 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: I do need people. I just didn't realize that I 27 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: needed people. Frostbite, starvation and injury force contestants to tap out. 28 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: Make a call using a satellite phone to be extracted. Hey, 29 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: it's Tamaka. 30 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 2: I'm officially tapping out. 31 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: It's a game of survival and the last person standing 32 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: gets a hefty prize, a cool quarter of a million dollars. 33 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Here in Australia. In today's episode, we speak to our 34 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: media editor James Madden about this TV phenomenon. I'm also 35 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: joined by the fronts Jasper League, who happens to be 36 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: an Alone super fan. Jasper, I'm new to a Lone 37 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: Australia and I've binged it, but you're a superfan. Tell 38 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: me about season three Alone Australia. Who was your favorite character. 39 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 3: I'd say it was a dead heat between Kaylee and 40 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 3: mother Kaylee was so industrious, she was so likable. I'm 41 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 3: not ashamed to admit that I cried when Kaylee was 42 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 3: eliminated because she got a uti. Kaylee's story is amazing. 43 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 3: She's a disability advocate. She's hearing impaired herself, she has 44 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 3: been since birth. And she talked a lot about the 45 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 3: fact that her father told her never to let her 46 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 3: impairment be a crutch, and you never got the sense 47 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 3: that that was outside of a bit of fear at 48 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 3: the very beginning. 49 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a moving moment where there was a 50 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: big storm raging outside her shelter and she turned off 51 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: her cochlear implant. Let me know, there's an animal out there, 52 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: screech in a way turning it off, there's complete silence, 53 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: care nothing. 54 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 3: I thought there was such a great move on the 55 00:03:57,920 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 3: editor's part two to just kill the sound in that moment. 56 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 3: So we really got a sense of what it would 57 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 3: be like to be in that environment and not be able. 58 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 2: To hear anything. 59 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: Okay, so tell me about mother. 60 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 3: Mazza's the oldest contestant that alone Australia's had. He's sixty 61 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 3: three years old. He's got a foul mouth on him, 62 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 3: he's got a lot of incredible turns of phrase. 63 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 2: That's the first brown trap. Not big, but I do 64 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 2: feel like I've been kissed on the deck by firing. 65 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 3: I found myself just smiling every time he was on 66 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 3: the screen, and I was sad to see him be 67 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 3: medically extracted as well. In his case, he was pretty 68 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 3: beaten up. His blood pressure was really low, so he 69 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 3: was having these dizziness spells. He was starting to fall over. 70 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 3: He had gout in his left ankle. From memory, but 71 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 3: mentally he could have won. 72 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: Mather is a retired kangaroo shooter, so a professional bushman really. 73 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: He was one of the last two standing, along with 74 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: a thirty year old called Shay, a New Zealander who 75 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: works as a possum trapper. Two expert outdoorsmen, and they 76 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: really both struggled, didn't they. 77 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 3: They definitely did. Maybe the trait that they both shared 78 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 3: was come hell or high water. They were never going 79 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 3: to give up. 80 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: In the finale, we saw Shay catch for the first 81 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: time mammal. He caught a patty mellon, yes, and then 82 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: he slaughtered it and ate every part of it, he said, 83 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: to honor the animal. It was confronting watching that happen, 84 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: wasn't it. 85 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, it's a big part of the show. I 86 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 3: remember when I first started watching it six or seven 87 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 3: years ago, I found the hunting components of the show 88 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,239 Speaker 3: really confronting, but it is a necessary part of the show. 89 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 3: There is no survival without killing, and I think that 90 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 3: it's a good reminder for people, especially I think the 91 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 3: meat eaters of the world, to come to grips with 92 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 3: the reality of that relationship that we have with food. 93 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: James, thanks for joining us. Like all reality television shows, 94 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: Below in Australia is a masterpiece of editing. They take 95 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: thous hours of footage and condense them down to a 96 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: narrative for each character and a narrative with in each episode. 97 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: But one thing that the participants don't have as a gripe, 98 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: which we've become used to from other reality TV shows 99 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: like say Big Brother or The Bachelor, there's no villain edit. 100 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: Nobody is complaining that they've been misrepresented in a loane. 101 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: Does that mean it's more kind of virtuous as reality 102 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: television than other forms of the genre that we've seen. 103 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 4: I would say that I suppose it's stripped back to 104 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 4: what reality TV was, possibly always meant to be insofar 105 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 4: as being a fly on the wall. Look at people 106 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 4: living there, quote real life, even though they're being placed 107 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 4: in extraordinary circumstances. As the series goes on, you can 108 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 4: obviously see in a way that the contestants almost forget 109 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 4: that they're part of a television show and their real 110 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 4: selves are and exposed and authentic. 111 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety two, Sylvania Warters Deadboot on Australian screens, 112 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: which was really one of the first reality television shows 113 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: that I was aware of made here in Australia that 114 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: was made as a co production by the ABC and 115 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: the BBC, and it followed a kind of a nuva 116 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: resh Sydney family through their domestic dramas. 117 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 4: For God's sake, he can have a bloody birthday came, 118 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 4: but he's just saying it. They're all going to bring 119 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 4: friends and the gony Buddy a million people. 120 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: We haven't got the room, of course, we haven't got 121 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: the stupid How do you think reality TV has kind 122 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: of evolved from there? Has it got any better? 123 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 4: Well, it's really interesting the Sylvania Waters point you make. 124 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 4: I think the strength of Sylvania Waters even at the time, 125 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 4: was that there was no Polish to it. These were 126 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 4: people who were unashamedly themselves and there was no attempt 127 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 4: to make them more impressive, if I can use that term. 128 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 4: It was just supposed to be. This is the way 129 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 4: this family lived their lives. And what you've seen the 130 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 4: past few decades is that reality TV has morphed into fakery. 131 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 4: Really it's not reality at all. Shows like Big Brother, 132 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 4: even honestly Get Me out of Here, which is I 133 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 4: supposed a similar concept. In a way, there's intervention from 134 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 4: the producers which remove the truth of reality. So looking 135 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 4: back to Savoni Waters and then looking where we are 136 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 4: now with The Lone Australia, there are comparisons and in 137 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 4: a way these shows are far more interesting and watchable 138 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 4: given that the viewer knows that I suppose they're not 139 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 4: being tricked. 140 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: Of course, as the media editor of The Australian, you 141 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: have to just look at all the media with an 142 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: impartial eye. But do you have feelings about the other 143 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: kinds of TV shows that we see, the more contrived 144 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: ones that might be a talent quest like The Voice 145 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: or Married at First Sight, where there's an immense amount 146 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: of conflict introduced to a group of people. Does that 147 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:10,839 Speaker 1: make you despair about television, doesn't. 148 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 4: Make me despair. My personal view is that most of 149 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 4: these shows are harmless and good fun. The other thing 150 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 4: I'd say is, of course, in terms of content on 151 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 4: Australian television, particularly free to wear television, now, unscripted drama 152 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 4: is what they call reality TV shows, that genre has 153 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 4: completely overwhelmed scripted drama, and I don't think that is 154 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,719 Speaker 4: a particularly good thing. 155 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: More of my chat with James Madden and Jasper Leiku 156 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:43,719 Speaker 1: after the. 157 00:09:43,640 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 2: Break ah part of the funny talk about it. 158 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: I really felt an affinity with the contestants who tapped 159 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: out early. 160 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 2: Physically, I've got a lot more in me. 161 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,719 Speaker 4: I've got a lot more in me physically, Emotionally, I 162 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 4: can't that one of. 163 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 2: You cry on every day. 164 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: I appreciated the different kind of courage they showed in 165 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: admitting to themselves that they weren't coping. What is it 166 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: about the people who prosper and who. 167 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 3: Win the winners Their family becomes this sort of deep 168 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 3: source of strength for them to actually stay, as opposed 169 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 3: to a sense of yearning that makes them want. 170 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 2: To tap out. 171 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 3: These are the people who have deep fortitude and self reliance. Interestingly, 172 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 3: self Reliance, written by Ralph wado Emerson, was quoted by 173 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 3: Allen in season one. The winners all seem to cross 174 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 3: this threshold where they seem to tap into some other 175 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 3: gear and they actually begin to thrive in these incredibly 176 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 3: hostile environments. Solitude does this really interesting thing to them mentally, 177 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 3: they become more philosophical, they become so thoughtful. Maybe at 178 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 3: its core alone is about meaning or finding meaning. 179 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: What's in it for a broadcaster like SBS to make 180 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: this show. 181 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 4: I think a couple of points. It's showcasing one of 182 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 4: the most remote and beautiful parts of Australia, a part 183 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 4: of Australia that most Australians a will never go to 184 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 4: be have never seen on the screen. And it's featuring 185 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 4: Australians and New Zealanders participating in something that ordinary Australians 186 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 4: will never be exposed to or never experienced, in a 187 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 4: way that commercial reality shows can't do. I don't think 188 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 4: there's any issue with a broadcaster like SBS going above 189 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 4: and beyond and stretching the boundaries of their charter to 190 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 4: make a show such as A Lone Australia, which is 191 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 4: perhaps outside their normal realm. 192 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: James Madden is the Media editor of The Australian and 193 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: his Unmissible section is in print every Monday and online 194 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: all the time at the Australian dot com dot a you. 195 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: This episode of the Front was hosted by me Claire 196 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: Harvey and co produced with Jasper Leek, who edited the 197 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: episode and also wrote our theme. Thanks for joining us 198 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: on the Front this week. Our team also includes Kristin Amiot, 199 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: leat Zamaglue, Tiffany Dimac, Josh Burton and Stephanie Coombs.