Now, watch layoffs on reality TV

Every aspect of one's personal life makes for reality television nowadays. But Fox Network's Someone's Gotta Go, in which employees of a recession-hit firm will vote each other out, takes things too far, believe professionals here. Famous for reality shows like Big Brother, TV production house Endemol is producing the show, which would showcase every week a new struggling company, which needs to cut jobs to remain afloat, and it would be its employees deciding on who gets the boot.

The US director of Endemol, David Goldberg says that the show would do a favour to the employers."For a lot of people, it takes the pressure off them. As a boss myself, I don't want to have to make those decisions. It's safe to say it hasn't been difficult to find companies willing to participate," he noted. "The global economic downturn has already seen millions of people losing their jobs at thousands of companies in countries ranging from the US to India. Workplace rivalry exists everywhere, but this show will make things vicious." says media professional Pallavi Walia.

Heather Gupta, business head, UTV Bindass, feels that getting sacked on prime time television will add to the pink slipped person's misery. "Even if you sack people, they must be treated with respect," Gupta says. Sumit Saxena, marketing head, Focus Brands India, a liquor firm, finds the idea "immoral and unjustifiable". He says, "If I have to give somebody the pink slip, I'll tell them the reasons first. On a TV show, a person cannot prove his caliber."

However, reality show veterans predict that voyeuristic viewers will buy the concept. Pankaj Saraswat, director, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, says the cruelty of the concept is precisely what could make it sell, because "people are sadists these days".
"The whole world will know you've been fired," exclaims NGO worker Aanchal Sapra, while banker Tanisha Singh, feels the show could lead to a mental collapse. But Sandhya Shadangi, employee at an IT company, does not think this show is any worse than others, as "all reality shows are about meanness and negativity."

The layoff show may also find its way in India, where a local version of Endemol's Big Brother show, titled Big Boss, has already completed two successful seasons on Sony and Colors. However, the format of the show could get altered, as regulations in the country, where actual layoffs are also generally a hush-hush affair, might not allow a totally real- life format on such an issue.

Courtesy - Televisionpoint.com