The producers of this show have demonstrated their crafty contempt for EVERYONE involved ... contestants and viewers alike. The "twist" of bringing back the eliminated former guests
so they can batter and assault whomever they like in the name of "confrontation" to keep the audience "entertained" is disturbingly sadistic. Furthermore, the producers ignore or abandon their own "rules" at their whim. For example, Zack should have been removed from the premises ASAP when he threatened Keith with bodily harm, but instead he is slapped on the wrist with "disqualification." Obviously the producers covet the "entertainment potential" of the artificially pumped up
tension produced by Zack's adolescent volatile presence
more than concern over the potential for damage. Of course, maybe the whole thing is a put-on, so they know there was no real risk. Furthermore, the producers have shown cynical contempt for their
audience by attempting to deceive us. Clearly the dramatic line
uttered by the hostess when guests were eliminated, "You
must leave Paradise forever" (I might be paraphrasing
here)was baloney . . . hey, I know, we're all shocked, shocked!
Paradise Hotel's producers may have managed what mamy
imagined was impossible -- surpassing tawdry Temptation Island in
setting up emotional bloodbaths -- in their compulsive
pursuit of ratings. The producers' attorneys were
probably the only force that stopped them and Fox from subjecting
us to, "Tune in next week as Zack and Keith beat each other
to bloody pulps with fresh coconuts from room service, and
don't miss Charla being carted off to the local mental
ward as she babbles, 'I just want to be a butterfly,'
while Dave jumps off the cliff while holding Alex in a
headlock and screams 'Want to see me flap my ears now,
buster.'!!!!"
Rather than simply keeping the show from being predictable,
this show's ballyhooed "twists" are merely twisted. But then, the Fox-y producers are just playing the game too . . . they Hollywood career game. They were probably sitting around some hotel bar in Palm Springs when they came up with a pitch for some derivative of Temptation Island -- instead of committed couples at a dream resort lolling away on someone else's tab acting out their sexual fantasies at the risk of juicy relationship conflicts, let's have uncommitted singles in a similar setting bedroom swapping themselves into juicy relationship conflicts. They screwed up when the show veered off from the planned theme into the petty personality conflicts and simplistic bloc/clique voting strategies of the feeble original contestants who turned out to be somehow even more neurotic than even the producers counted on. To salvage the deal, mid-way through the "game" the producers fell back on the so-called twists to try to manipulate P-Ho back into shape, and failing that, cleverly shifting the story lines from the Green Eyed Monster (meaning jealousy, not Zack) Runs Amok to Originals vs. Barbies as if that was their idea all along . . . arrogantly (and probably mostly accurately) assuming the audience would be none the wiser. Hey, if you can't go with sex, go with (emotional) violence and humiliation!!!
. . . It's only TV, It's only TV, It's only TV, It's only TV, It's only TV . . .