LAST EDITED ON 08-26-03 AT 11:37 AM (EST)

I don't know about FCC violations or any laws governing these things, but pure logic tells me that outcome of these shows are definitely not predetermined. Reality TV shows are extremely popular with producers beacause they are cheap to make and if you have a hit on your hands the pay off can be huge. And the reason they are cheap to produce is because you don't have to pay out large salaries to actors to star in the show. You just get people off the street who want to win some money or be famous or both. Now if the outcomes are predetermined because you'd have to fork over mucho denero to ALL the participants to take a dive and keep their mouths shut. This totally defeats the purpose of producing a cheap tv show. And it's a huge gamble on show that may or may not work. Not to mention you'd have to deal with law suits from disgruntled participants who may later have regrets about taking a dive or eventually someone would blab for a better offer. And don't give me arguments about waivers and contracts because there is always some loop hole around those things and some slick lawyer with dollar signs in their eyes would definitely find one. So it just isn't economical to script the outcome of these things. May they subtly influence the action, but that is expected. You have to make the show interesting. But it's way too complicated to completely control everything that happens.