Jump
In
By
Mark Burnett
Ballantine
Books, $34.95, 272 pages
When
the television show Survivor premiered in the summer of 2000, it was
wildly different and broke all the usual rules of programming. You might
recognize the predictable formula by now: sixteen
oddball castaways are taken out of their homes and comfort zones, and marooned
on a deserted island. By conspiring and conniving, they work to eliminate each
other, one by one, until only two remain. Despite the hurtful backstabbing
and lying, the eliminated tribe members all come together in one more friendly
meeting at the end to financially reward the person who they think played
the game with the most chutzpa. In barely five years, ten versions of Survivor
have been filmed, and it has become a huge cash cow for its North
American producer Mark Burnett, and of course for the CBS Television Network.
In
many ways Burnett typifies the American Dream of the penniless immigrant who
made a fortune. A former British paratrooper who saw military action in Ireland
and the Falklands before coming to L.A., Mark Burnett arrived from England at
age 22 with only $600 in his pocket, then sold T-shirts on Venice Beach and took
temporary work as a rich family’s nanny to make ends meet. In
addition to the ten Survivor programs he has produced, his list of
credits includes three of the Donald Trump series “The Apprentice,”
and nine versions of Eco-Challenge. His show, The Contender, about
up and coming boxers, is just getting underway on TV. He and Martha Stewart have
a deal that will see Burnett take on production for Martha’s daytime shows
later this year.
In
Jump In, Burnett shows why the business side of television is truly a
game of “Outwit, Outplay and Outlast” among network executives. For example,
after the huge success of Survivor 1, the president of CBS Television sent over
a personal note of congratulations, a fruit basket, and a champagne colored
Mercedes 500 SL. However, four days after the 9-11 calamity, that same CBS
president called Burnett to say that preparations for Survivor 4 had to continue
because advertisers had committed over $100 million to sponsor the program.
Ironically, version 4 had been planned for the Arab Emirates, and was to be
called “Survivor: Arabia.” Given the tension between the U.S. and the Arab
world at that time, and despite the personal intervention of Jordan’s King
Abdullah II, who promised things would go smoothly, it was hurriedly changed to
“Survivor: Marquesas” and 50 containers of cameras and production gear were
diverted en route from the middle east to the French Polynesian Island.
Jump
In
contains some interesting tid-bits about the world of television, such as those
mentioned above, but on the whole, it is hugely disappointing. First of all,
Burnett takes himself way too seriously. He fills the book with some of his
principles for success, many of which sound like they came from the Homer
Simpson School of Business: “Start small and build,” “Choose teammates who
possess greater skills than you,” “Stay calm under pressure,” “Recognize
when its time to move on,” and “Never quit.” Secondly, in total he tells
us two new things about the behind-the-scenes efforts of Survivor: there is a
production crew of about 400 who video tape the 16 contestants and edit the
proceedings into a 13 week television show, and the best way to get on the show
is to be wildly flamboyant on the audition tape.
Burnett
comes across here as just another egotistical producer from ‘LALA’ land. He
crows about his successes, but glosses over some of his TV ventures that have
not worked well. He hardly mentions The Commando Nanny, for example,
which was based on his own early experiences in Hollywood and was cancelled
almost as soon as the pilot was filmed. Also swept aside here is the short-lived
NBC show The Restaurant, which was based on a talented New York chef who
lacked entrepreneurial acumen. Because
of its much too quirky and blatantly obvious product placement, it proved to be
distasteful to critics and audiences alike and was quickly yanked by NBC
executives.
Ultimately,
Jump In is a lot like the Survivor series itself: it is shallow and
self-serving, and filled with stuff that will be quickly forgotten.
Mike
Gange teaches media studies and journalism at Fredericton High.