Reality bites

A lot of people are getting exercised over the latest twist in the "Survivor" TV series, apparently believing it will set back efforts at "racial harmony through diversity" 100 years:

LOS ANGELES - Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.

The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show. Host Jeff Probst says the idea "actually came from the criticism that 'Survivor' was not ethnically diverse enough." He says the twist fits in perfectly with what "Survivor" does, saying the show is "a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment." Probst says contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divisions.

Actually, it was a brilliant public relations move, creating just the kind of buzz that will bring in viewers. If "Survivor" is any kind of "social experiment," it's one to attract millions of viewers, and thus advertising dollars, without having to incur a lot of expenses for sets, scripts and big-name stars.

And if the show were titled honestly, it would be called "Office Politics." The winner is determined as much by negotiating skills in building coalitions and stabbing each other in the back as it is by the ability to start a fire or build a shelter or find bugs to eat. This new version is perfectly in keeping with that. People will play the same game by the same rules toward the same goal, then go back to their separate tribes, just as, in real offices, they work together for eight hours before retreating to their separate residential enclaves.

What he have here is a "reality" show that might actually become that.