In Gold Derby’s latest roundtable group panel, leading TV reality storytellers discuss why their genre continues to connect with viewers at home as it seemingly gets more popular every year. The four panelists are all eligible at the 2024 Emmy Awards: Ken Fuchs (“The Golden Bachelor” director), Tom Campbell (“RuPaul’s Drag Race” executive producer), Stephen Lambert (“Squid Game: The Challenge” executive producer) and Toni Ireland (“The Traitors” executive producer). Watch our exclusive video interviews above. Click each name above to watch that person’s individual webchat.
Fuchs responds to the group question by saying audiences simply “relate” to reality shows, in his case “The Golden Bachelor.” He notes, “It was just so relatable, and they saw people they recognize in their real lives. They saw character traits that they recognize in themselves. And we throw around that word ‘authenticity’ a lot, but really the shows that are successful and that last — shows that are represented here today — captured something there that viewers just can really relate to.”
Campbell chimes in, “I know with ‘Drag Race’ we say this very pompous thing, but it’s about the tenacity of the human spirit. There’s real joy, there’s real triumph.” He adds, “It’s hard to capture something that is as authentic. As much as we create this sort of board game and this format, it’s really there to help them tell their stories, to share their art, and I think that’s thrilling to people. And joy is a big thing. That’s always been a part of our DNA. Now more than ever, people are looking for happiness and joy, which is unique to a lot of these shows.”
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Lambert agrees, suggesting, “If a show is well-designed, you are putting real people into a situation that generates a lot of drama.” The “Squid Game: The Challenge” producer notes, “Brilliant actors with brilliant lines can be very convincing, but they’re not real. I think the audience is aware of that. And I think that the extent to which it seems to matter to people if you’ve got the right kind of show is so important. They invite the viewer to feel all the time, ‘I wonder what it would be like for me to be in that situation.’ If I’m watching a big drama, I’m less likely to do that.”
Ireland wraps up that topic of discussion by declaring, “I think there’s been a slight shift in reality as well, away from mean and more into warmth and into success. As everyone’s saying, you’d like to see the human spirit and people succeeding at things. And I think all of these shows have that.” Even though “The Traitors” features a celebrity cast, she still highlights “the representation on screen” with viewers “potentially seeing” themselves. “I love that all of these shows include older contestants as well, and I think that’s a real thing for us,” she states.
Also in our exclusive video interview, the four artisans talk about whether they secretly root for their favorite contestants each season, and what they would consider to be their proudest moments working in the industry so far.
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