In the wake of the writers' strike, in the absence of scripted TV, what is America watching? Reality, of course. So far this winter, we've had dueling choirs, growling gladiators, and scheming beauty-pageant contestants. But the best reality show of all has been the 2008 presidential campaign.
For proof, just look to the viewers. No, campaign coverage still can't compete with a megahit like "American Idol." But across the networks, Nielsen ratings have been consistently high, far eclipsing ratings for the 2004 race. Among 25-to-54-year-olds, New Hampshire primary returns on MSNBC drew 210 percent more viewers than in 2004, and 397 percent more than in 2000. November's CNN/YouTube Republican debate drew 4.5 million viewers, making it the top-rated debate in cable history. ABC's four-hour debate marathon, days before the New Hampshire primary, drew 8 million viewers on a Saturday night. And Fox News Channel, the sixth-most-popular basic cable channel this time last year, was the third rated channel the week of the New Hampshire primary.
Cable news channels are filling demand by increasing election programming. CNN has launched a weekend "Ballot Bowl" show and recently added another hour of primetime election coverage. Fox News announced that it will air three hours of political coverage on its sister broadcast network on Super Bowl morning, which happens to come three days before Super Tuesday.
It's proof that producers are bullish on campaign coverage, especially in the absence of new "Grey's Anatomy" episodes. And why shouldn't they be? There are high-minded reasons that viewers are tuned in, after all: As CNN Washington bureau chief David Borhman points out, voters this year are engaged: They've seen close contests and tense recounts. They want to have a say.
But on some level, they're also entertained. This turns out to be a stellar reality contest, complete with some tried-and-true staples of the genre. (If there's a most-direct analogy, it might be MTV's "Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet" series) Sure, the eliminations are less ritualized, the speeches are much longer, and no one gets a kiss from Heidi Klum. But the similarities are undeniable.
Motley cast of characters
What if you put a grumpy Libertarian (Ron Paul) in a room with a cheerful guy who doesn't believe in evolution (Mike Huckabee)? A Mormon (Mitt Romney) in close quarters with a guy who once lived with a gay couple (Rudy Giuliani)? It could be a season of "The Real World" - or a Republican debate. The major parties' lineups are a casting director's dream, with a sometimes-toxic mix of personalities. The Democrats have gender and racial diversity, too. The tension simmers below the surface, and sometimes bubbles up; in ABC's pre-New Hampshire debate, it wasn't hard to detect John McCain's contempt for Romney.The confessionals
What was Hillary Clinton's now-famous Emotional Moment if not the stuff of the reality confessional - the moment a contestant, alone before the cameras, rips away the artifice and tells the honest truth? Asked an open-ended question off-camera in New Hampshire, Clinton looked up and let loose, revealing some rarely seen pathos while still managing to squeeze in a good knock at her opponents. Reality producers would have promoted it ceaselessly. In this case, news directors did.The alliances
Republican candidates join together to gang up on Clinton. Barack Obama and John Edwards join together for the same. Republicans take turns beating up on Romney. Shifting front-runners means shifting alliances, so it's never quite clear who's due for the next attack. Even when the candidates make nice - as they tried to do last Tuesday in Nevada - the tension is still palpable. So, Obama and Clinton are friends now, joined by their commitment to race relations and their joint opposition to nuclear waste? Sure they are. The behind-the-scenes backstabbing continues, and makes its way into the coverage.Villains get comeuppance
It's not just the candidates who get the compelling narrative arcs. MSNBC's Chris Matthews, once defiantly un-PC, apologized on the air last week for making disparaging statements about Clinton. "The reason she's a US senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner, is that her husband messed around," Matthews said on the MSNBC morning show the day after the New Hampshire primary. Soon, everyone was calling him out, from Gloria Steinem to the women of "The View." Omarosa never got so roundly attacked on "The Apprentice" - though, unlike Omarosa, Matthews was contrite.The uncertainty
There's no reality staple so satisfying as the surprise win, or surprise ouster. You thought it was shocking when Chris Daughtry got bumped from "American Idol"? How about when voters defied the polls and gave Clinton a victory in New Hampshire? Some election-night cliffhangers have dragged on for hours. Some turns of fortune have been dramatic. Huckabee is a nobody, until he surges and wins in Iowa. Romney is an also-ran, then pulls out a Michigan victory. The issues and voter priorities keep changing, too. It's as if every new contest is another challenge, and nobody has immunity. Not a terrible way to pick a president, when you think about it.Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com.
