There’s a new reality show coming to Fox that attempts to capitalize on the bad economy while broadcasting poor souls’ pain at being told they’re out of a job. Called “Someone’s Gotta Go,” the show will let real small business employees see their coworkers salaries and vote on who will be laid off. It’s like “Survivor” meets “The Office.”
The series, “Someone’s Gotta Go,” is in production, but Fox wouldn’t say on Wednesday when it would go on the air.
Each episode will feature a company with about 15 or 20 employees that needs to cut costs because of the economy. Instead of the boss deciding who is fired, the company will open its books to show everyone’s salaries and let the employees make the call.
In an inverse to “The Apprentice,” the chosen one loses, instead of gets, a job.
Fox says the laid-off worker will get a small severance, but isn’t saying whether the network or producers are paying the participants in anything beyond the chance for prime-time fame. Fox is developing the show with Endemol USA, the company behind “Big Brother,” “Deal or No Deal” and “Fear Factor.”
Tory Johnson, founder and chief executive of Women For Hire, which organizes job fairs and advises women seeking work, said she wonders whether “Someone’s Gotta Go” is a good idea at a time so many people are out of work.
“For most people who are concerned about job security or are desperate to get hired, I don’t think there’s much to laugh at in terms of watching someone else’s pain and misery,” said Johnson, a regular contributor to ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
But Mike Darnell, chief of alternative programming at Fox, said everyone who participates in the show knows fully what they are doing.
[From AP via Huffington Post]
All participants have to sign off on reality shows in order to proceed, but what employee afraid of losing their job is going to say no to their boss on something like this? This can be humiliating for the people involved, not only the ones voted out of a job but the people who have to make those difficult decisions and have that aired to the world. The head of Fox’s “alternative programming,” Mike Darnell, claims this concept is “no worse than watching the news every night,” and tells us that if we don’t want to see this, we don’t have to: “To be frank, like all these shows, if you don’t want to watch, don’t watch it.” Many people will take Darnell’s advice, I’m sure.
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This is all leading up to Fox’s inevitable reality show – “Live or Die” – in which contestants are given the choice between life and death. I hear they’ll have fabuous parting gifts.
Sounds like they’re running out of ideas for realty shows!
The same network that exposed Obama’s secret plan to kill and eat our kids is still relevant? AWESOME !! 🙄
Please, please, please, tell me this is not true. I can hardly imagine a worse idea for a show. This idea is reprehensible and Fox should be ashamed it is even a consideration.
How much more money is Fox going to make off of intentionally making people suffer?
They’ve always been blatantly vile, but this is just out of control. This network is so over due for karmic justice it’s rediculous.
just when you think fox couldn’t go any lower, lol!
This is out of line, and very different then the news. People dieing, divorcing, losing their job: there are things we don’t need to be a part of as much as we love watching human drama unfold.
As noted, employees really don’t have a true “at will” choice to participate. The reason you don’t know your co-workers salaries is because you are a poor judge of what people are worth when it compares to yourself (everyone has personal attribution error, they believe they are better or worse then they really are).
The stupid bosses who agreed to this will get theirs in the form of their business failing, because even though they’ll lay off one person, their corporate culture and reputation will be affected so deeply there will be no recovery, and no ability for the remaining employees to work together.
Hopefully their reputations will be damaged to the point that no one will want to work for them again either.
Yeah. They’re all jerks – what kind of an idea for a show is this? I hope no one watches it – and when the ratings decrease miserably, we can all have a good laugh about it on CeleBitchy.