Has Fox TV Gone Too Far?
Into this new world of reality TV, comes a new venture sure to raise the bar. (Or lower standards.) It's called “Who Wants To Strip Search a Female Executive?” The title is a mouthful, but it is precisely what the show is about. One lucky male, picked from millions of Internet entries, each costing ten bucks a pop, will get the opportunity to do just what the show's title suggests.
I put on my best suit and met with the producer of the show in his Vermont offices. Jeff Webber used to work a dead end job, until he pitched his concept to Fox TV. Now he lives a life of luxury (and has worn his last suit.) He got the idea from reading this very newspaper. (Vermont is the only state that still allows men to strip search females.)
He wasn't really surprised that the network rejected him repeatedly, until they saw the buy-in rate (each paying $19.99) on his web site for a cheap pilot episode -- and the show hadn't even been picked up yet.
“It's funny how money talks,” Jeff said, when I first brought up Fox. “And I'm glad we signed the deal before Janet and her nipple star.”
The money Fox supplied allowed Jeff to re-shoot his pilot episode (in which he used paid strippers) into a thirteen week series. It is scheduled to air in the fall -- only this time using real female executives.
I wondered how this came about.
“At first it was difficult,” Jeff said, before lighting up a large cigar. “But once we got one exec to sign, it just snowballed. I really couldn't believe how competitive these companies were with each other. For example, we have three female lawyers from three of the largest law firms in the country. Funny, the lawyer who signed up first never even made the final cut. We also have two advertising execs from rival companies, and a couple of VPs...all of them successful and powerful.”
One of the keys in picking contestants seems to be that each company can choose only one executive to represent it. Jeff laughed out loud, almost choking on his cigar.
“Yeah, and I've heard some stories about various company auditions that make my show seem tame. I don't think they wanted to be 'embarrassed' if their female had to strip to the skin.”
I told him I heard that the company name and its logo always appear on the screen with their employee.
“Right! It's free advertising. And what company doesn't like that? I heard they even offered their executives perks, which had nothing to do with us, to try out. Things like a new office or that coveted parking space...things that might make you and me laugh, but to them....”
It could be one of the reasons the line up was filled with exceptionally beautiful women who really took care of their bodies.
“They were smoking, but they were also real women with important jobs. And unlike, say, 'Playboy,' we did research to make sure they were real executives and not part time workers or just glorified secretaries,” Jeff noted. “I was really happy with the ten women that were chosen (with the help of our consultant) to be on the show.”
The show's consultant was kept anonymous. (But he was rumored to work for the great state of Vermont.)
“I will tell you he was very well-schooled in the art of the strip search,” Jeff said, with a million-dollar smile. “And he helped pick the final ten for the show at the try out, along with me and a couple of old Fox executives.”
Jeff wouldn't say how many women were sent to try out for the show, but he chuckled and said, “If you only knew! Let's just say a lot of fancy women's wear hit the tile floor that day. And this gave us the chance to eliminate anyone who was, let's say, a little to happy to get naked. We didn't want exhibitionists.”
The secret consultant also played a major roll in training the lucky, and as of yet, unnamed winner of the drawing.
“That was key too,” Jeff said, with another puff. “You see, each of the women had already been strip searched once by a professional, so they knew what to expect when the cameras rolled. We couldn't have them freaking out national TV, now could we? But we also needed our winner to act professional, too.”
Since no preview footage was provided, despite my continual requests, I had to quiz Jeff about the show's scenario.
I asked him about the male winner.
“The identity of the male winner is never revealed. This allows him to act in total anonymity. If he is seen by the execs or on-screen, he is wearing a mask. It also makes him look a little more imposing. This also let him ask more risqué questions in the question-and-answer part of the show -- you know, 'spit or swallow?' type of questions.”
He was briefly interrupted by a phone call, but soon returned to the interview.
“But as you can imagine, much of the show's focus is on the female execs. At first, the ten women were followed for a few days at work, with interviews from co-workers interwoven in. And then we moved to Vermont. The ten women were housed in a ski lodge for two weeks, and of course we had the whole lodge wired (a fact that we kept concealed from them). We also built a small studio (complete with mock processing room) to hold our show”
