In about 6 weeks, I'll be a "regular" on a new TV series, a "character" on a new docu-reality program called "Bought & Sold." Brought to you by those house-hungry people at HGTV, this was pitched to us as a cutting-edge look at a group of normal real estate agents who happen to work just outside of NYC, in some of the wealthier suburban communities in Essex County, NJ. The told us we'd be portrayed as hardworking, sensitive professionals, though we haven't seen any of the footage and, I'm guessing, won't until it airs nationally on April 29,
We were told the production company, UK's Granada TV, interviewed hundreds of agents last spring before focusing on a group of us from RE/MAX Village Square, a 5-office franchise. I spent all last summer worrying about being chosen. With so many derogatory stereotypes in my profession, I wondered how realistic it was to believe I would come through such a project in one piece. A relative who is actually in the reality-TV biz actually told me not to get involved. It wasn't in the nature of this particular beast to be nice, she said. Why risk it?
But the producers were persuasive: Roberta, they said, you're our "teacher character," the one with the wisdom. In the end, thinking that was as decent as projection as any of my personality, I couldn't refuse my potential moment-of-fame. I told them if, at any point during the shoot that I felt abused or embarrassed, I'd quit. In fact, that never happened. Everyone was unfailingly polite through endless footage (yes, reality TV isn't done in one take!) and lots of hurry up and wait on the "set."
The big thing about reality TV, though, is that it's fame in the raw. No stylist, no makeup, bad hair days, being shot from awful angles while driving the car; foul weather, fatigue, lots of smiling into the camera, very little coaching about how good or bad you are in a "scene." All this and more, I suppose, will be will be repeated ad infinitum and ad nauseum through time and space as the years go by. I know this because my appearance as a talking head a couple of years ago on the Lionel and Nicole Richie bio on E!Entertainment Television (in my previous life I had written a biography of Lionel), has been replayed on numerous continents and has been seen by virtually every person I have ever known.
Last month, HGTV invited the "cast" for a promotional shoot in a big house in South Orange, NJ. I was late because I had been to my own "hair and makeup"; At least I could control the way I looked that day. In frigid temperatures, we posed without coats for a very hip group shot on the front lawn; then, for individual portraits inside.
The rest is still to come. Only our broker has seen the episodes and he has pronounced them wonderful, compelling, moving, and sympathetic to Realtors. Let's hope.
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