Cold Reality Is Setting In

A clearer picture is emerging of the tangled web of relationships and miscalculation that resulted in the debacle surrounding the Fox TV special “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?,” still the subject of an internal review by the network and a cautionary tale for upcoming programs planning to delve into the lives of ordinary people.

Industry sources say Fox went ahead with a concept built around a one-note joke--prompted by the ratings success of ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”--that some producers had warned was unmanageable. The network then handed the reins of the offbeat pageant format--in which 50 women competed for the right to marry an unidentified multimillionaire on live TV--to a relatively inexperienced production team, due in part, sources contend, to its association with the Fox executive overseeing the project, Mike Darnell, executive vice president of specials.

Darnell came up with the idea for “Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” and gave the assignment to producer Mike Fleiss and his company, Next Entertainment. Fleiss’ partners on the project included Don Weiner and Mark Thompson, the weatherman at local Fox station KTTV and one of Darnell’s closest friends.

Fleiss and Weiner previously worked for Bruce Nash on Fox’s high-rated “Breaking the Magicians Code” specials, featuring the Masked Magician. The relationship between Nash and Darnell soured, however, when the producer sold the series “World’s Most Amazing Videos” to NBC. Fleiss, meanwhile, after his own falling out with Nash, broke away to become an independent supplier.

Darnell denied that his friendship with Thompson or ill feelings toward Nash played a role in the decision to choose Fleiss’ company, saying any acrimony with Nash had been smoothed over long before.

“I thought these guys could put together a good show for me,” Darnell said.

The executive limited his comments, citing the investigation Fox is conducting to determine why the network didn’t uncover certain facts about would-be groom Rick Rockwell, who in addition to allegations of threatening a former girlfriend may have misrepresented aspects of his financial and employment history.

A Major Source of Embarrassment for Fox

Indeed, even bride Darva Conger has been accused of fudging her resume. Identified on “Who Wants to Marry” as a Gulf War “veteran,” the tabloid TV magazine “Inside Edition” reported military records show Conger was stationed in Illinois and never left the U.S. during the conflict. (Conger told “Inside Edition” that anyone who serves during the war is a “veteran,” which was disputed by military officials.)

In announcing the investigation, Fox stated the producers’ background check was inadequate. When the controversy surfaced, Next issued a statement saying Rockwell had misled the producers, who have since refused to comment.

Fox has yet to affix any blame internally, including the decision to sign off on Rockwell, who was deemed the most telegenic candidate. Weeks before the “Multi-Millionaire?” broadcast, Fox Television Group Chairman Sandy Grushow vowed to cut back on reality programs, a pledge he has reiterated in the wake of the scandal.

The story has become a major source of embarrassment for Fox--providing fodder for everything from newsmagazines to talk-show monologues to Nick at Nite, which will run a collection of “The Beverly Hillbillies” episodes this weekend under the heading “Who Wants to Marry a Mega-Millionaire?” Sources say Fox’s “Mad TV” was even contemplating its own parody of the program, and Fox executives asked the producers not to do so.

While impossible to anticipate every pothole when following such a course, other producers of reality fare say those responsible for “Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” were less than thorough in checking out Rockwell (a onetime comedian born Richard Balkey) and that Fox’s zeal for a big sweeps stunt allowed them to cut corners.

“This was rookies playing in the big leagues,” noted one producer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Next is still developing projects for Fox, including a special tentatively titled “World’s Wildest Web Sites.” The company also produced “Secrets of Street Magic Revealed,” which aired on Fox last week and resembled earlier Fox specials that generated howls of protests from magicians for exposing how illusions are created.

The publicity wave generated by the “Multi-Millionaire?” special has renewed attention on other TV programs placing ordinary people in bizarre fish-bowl settings, including CBS’ plan to air two series this summer, “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” mixing voyeurism with a game-show component.

Additional cinema verite programs, set in a high school and chronicling the exploits of a youthful rock band, are slated to air later this year on Fox and ABC, respectively.

CBS officials acknowledge Fox’s public-relations woes heightened awareness regarding risks associated with such staged events and competitions.

“That’s made all of us very cautious about what we do,” CBS Television President Leslie Moonves said during a conference call Tuesday. “After this happened, I said go back and do a triple and a quadruple check [on] these people. I want grade-school diplomas.”

Based on European properties, each CBS show will situate a small group in a confined area and allow viewers to observe them. “Big Brother” will sequester 10 people in a house for 100 days, gradually removing “contestants,” while “Survivor” will do the same with 16 strangers on an island near Borneo. Those remaining at the end receive lavish prizes.

Both projects will employ exhaustive screening procedures. “Survivor,” which will unveil its contestants in a few weeks, began with 6,000 applicants, using a lengthy questionnaire to thin the herd down to 800. Interviews pared the pool to 48 finalists, who, according to CBS, were subjected to extensive physical and psychological evaluations as well as a security check that included credit history and criminal record.

Consequences of Reality Programming

“Casting” has yet to begin on “Big Brother,” but the original show, broadcast in Holland, employed similar procedures that also involved talking to candidates’ friends and family. Any irregularity was deemed cause for removal, and during the screening two people who misrepresented background information were summarily rejected.

Moonves conceded such projects are perilous. The British incarnation has experienced numerous unforeseen problems (see related story), and a contestant from the first Swedish version of the show in 1997 committed suicide a month after being voted off the island.

Paul Romer, the international producer of “Big Brother,” called Fox’s recent experience “a producer’s nightmare” but insisted his program has more elaborate safeguards in place.

“We told our applicants from the start that we wouldn’t allow any lies,” he said. “We told them that for our and their security, it’s very important we know everything about them.”