 |
| 'Busted on the Job': A new meaning to the question 'Real or fake?'
|
Inside Edition recently accused Fox's World's Wildest Police Videos, and some similar programs, of staging the action in certain segments. Reality based programs are typically supposed to notify viewers when a segment is a reenactment, training video, or a dramatization. Not that viewers of the shows with their room temperature IQ's could tell the difference.
Network policy remains to clearly identify all re-creations, reenactments and training video within any reality program,'' Fox said in a statement. "Producers must adhere to this policy, as Fox does not intend to mislead its viewers or misrepresent footage.'' Oopsy! Did we say "real"?
A prime example of such a violation of policy reportedly occurred during an episode of World's Wildest Police Videos. The show's host started the segment by saying "our cameras were there when the call came in." Too bad they would have had to use a time machine for that statement to be true.
This particular segment, which showed a woman freaking out, using pepper spray on an officer, then leading them on a high-speed car chase, was little more than a staged re-creation of a chase that took place nearly 10 years earlier. Look, Fox, if you're going to show us boring pepper spray, at least make the pain real, okay?
Inside Edition also alleges similar staging in episodes of Fox's When Animals Attack and Busted on the Job. The segments in question were the infamous rampaging elephant and the woman urinating on her boss's furniture, respectively. Although, really, the two sound like they could be interchangeable.
Fox said that in the future, any video that does not reflect reality would be clearly identified as such by a text message appearing on the screen. If only swimsuit models were made to adhere to similar standards.
