Ever wonder how they choose contestants for reality TV shows? Surely they don't just pull names out of a hat? "No, they don't," says Health24's Cybershrink, Professor Michael Simpson.

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"I have been asked whether a shrink's expertise could or should be used in the selection of contestants in Reality TV shows, and the answer, of course, is that this is exactly what happens," says Simpson.

The folks who produce Survivor and several other such shows, Mark Burnett Productions, apparently use a psychologist based in San Diego, to help pick the cast. He's a Dr Richard Levak, who we are told, uses " a series of sophisticated psychological and intelligence tests, interviews and questionnaires"to help cast a group who will prove to be an interesting mix of characters".

Psychologists also asked to predict developments
He was asked to predict how they might behave as the series develop, and also to provide support when they were voted off. Apparently those voted off early get rather excellent treatment, being stored on a cruise ship or other remote vacation. Apparently Levak, a clinical psychologist born in Britain, also does marital and "corporate counselling". Must be kind of hard to get the corporation to lie down on the couch, but it's probably very profitable.

He has worked on reality-TV casting since the 1990's, working also on Big Brother, The Amazing Race, and The Apprentice.

It has become customary to use psychologists in this regard since 1997, when there was general alarm when a contestant who had been banished from "Expedition Robinson" (a Swedish show precursor to Survivor) jumped under a train. Levak is quoted as saying that producers can be fooled by attractive people who would be psychologically unsuited for the challenges presented by such series. He looks for street smarts rather than IQ (Gee, I'd never have guessed!).

It seems that producers take out insurance for such shows, and the insurance companies want such expert input when assessing the likely risks. He has said that he thinks reality TV shows will become more intelligent and emotionally complex, attracting viewers who presently disdain them. We'll see if he's right. I agree that the genre has the potential for much more interesting variants, but wonder whether the networks will risk increasing the intelligence and complexity of such series. (Professor M.A. Simpson)
 

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