A TV Addict's Must-Read: Chart Throb

Written by Tashi from the blog Tashi's TV on 23 Jan 2007
Favourite this post

On Friday night I caught a re-broadcast of two episodes of Parkinson and among the people interviewed was comedian and writer Ben Elton (writer of Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line).

He was the most interesting guest 'cos he spoke about Reality TV and the new book he's written about talent shows like Idols and Simon Cowell's latest hit show The X Factor.

The book's called Chart Throb and it's about a season of a talent reality show in which events spiral out of the judges' control. The story centres around media mogul Calvin Simms (who's supposed to be Simon Cowell) and follows a season of his show, from the wannabee auditions to the finals.

All of the judges and presenters in the story are satirical commentaries on personalities from popular reality shows, for instance one of them is an American judge who's high on plastic surgery and a take on Sharon Osbourne who's an X Factor judge.

Here's the official blurb for the book:

"Chart Throb is the ultimate pop quest. Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner. And that's Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show. Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing.

The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Calvin and his fellow judges are about to become ex-factors themselves."

Ben told Parky that the book's both a witty comedic story as well as a commentary on Reality TV and the impact it's had on pop culture and society. He explained that he enjoys watching the shows while having gripes with them.

When asked by Parky what was wrong with Reality TV Ben spoke about three specific things he thinks are a problem:

1. The focus on and mocking of useless contestants who don't realise how bad they are. He likened this to medieval times when people put their most vulnerable citizens on the village square and got to them do tricks so they could laugh at them.

2. The way reality shows encourage a desperate need for everyone to be famous no matter what and how this has impacted on people's aspirations when deciding what to do with their lives.

He spoke about how more and more kids regard being a celebrity as the ultimate thing to be, without knowing why or what they want to be famous for. He expressed concern that being a doctor, teacher, lawyer etc is no longer seen as being a valuable and worthwhile thing to become.

3. The impact on privacy and how it's regarded as a negative thing to need and respect privacy. The example he used was of Big Brother and the fact that when it first started we were all freaked out by the idea that cameras would be watching people 24/7 and how it's changed to being such a natural thing that having your privacy invaded is seen as the right way of things.

I agree with points 2 and 3 most defs. Reality TV in combo with the technology explosion has had a massive impact on our attitudes towards privacy. Everyone can be contacted 24/7 via cellphones and SMS, people look into other people's homes through webcams and can film whoever they want, whenever they want with their phones.

Add to this the Big Brother crime cams in shops and cities and we've lost the space (and right) to live lives that aren't everyone's business.

I don't agree with number 1 though. To me it's based on too many iffy assumptions that presume people are too thick to know what they're doing when they enter a show.

Like Jade Goody in Big Brother UK where people have argued that she's not bright and therefore been exploited. I don't buy this for a moment and reckon she's simply a lunatic, nasty Pig.

I reckon that factor 2 is much more at play with her and that she simply buys the hype completely and refuses to do otherwise.

That said, it is related to one of the mega problems I have with talk and reality shows that get people to bare their deepest emotions and most painful experiences for entertainment, so maybe I do agree with it.

As you can see, if you lurve TV, reality TV espesh and all the conflicting aspects of it - this is a book for you.

The great thing about it is that it'll be a groovy mix of a cynical take on things with lots of dark humour. I've read his first reality themed book called Dead Famous and it was excellent. It's a 'thriller' about murders that happen in a Big Brother show - one of the contestants manages to deceive the cameras and kills off their fellow housemates.

The reviews I've read for Chart Throb have been mixed. Some say it's not up to his usual standard whereas others say it's very funny and freaked their brains. Either way it 'll be a good read.

I see Take2 has it stock so here's a link to both it, as well as Dead Famous: