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To: GVTucker who wrote (72356)	5/9/2001 3:15:27 PM
From: Don Green	Respond to of 93625

O.T. But Humorous..so much for Reality!!! "Survivor" Guru Admits Re-Enactments Guess what? CBS' Survivor was rigged--and executive producer Mark Burnett admits it! Wednesday May 09 02:24 PM EDT Well, sort of. The Survivor creator admitted Tuesday that he would sometimes use re-enactments of challenges to ensure that the editing room would later have "camera-free" shots for a pristine look on his hit Outback adventure. For example, during a swim challenge, shots from an aerial helicopter showed many cameras filming the action. "So we had stand-ins re-swim the race" for the helicopter crew, he said. But Burnett, well aware of the ethical debate about to ensue over the fudging, told the New York Times, "I absolutely couldn't care less--I'm making great television." The acknowledgement, though small, is likely to add fuel to the fire surrounding the controversy over what is and is not reality television. But in a statement, CBS backed Burnett's decision to use the re-enactments. "What Mark is talking about is nothing more than window dressing," a network spokesperson said. "It doesn't involve the contestants and doesn't in any way influence the outcome of any challenge, tribal council, or change the view of reality as it occurred. The series is exactly what it appears to be--16 people battling the elements and each other." Ironically, Burnett--who has always insisted the show was real--made his confession Tuesday at a Museum of Television & Radio panel in Los Angeles called "What is Reality on Television?" Burnett and other filmmakers discussed the standards for "real" television. Burnett told the panel, "I don't know what the line is" in determining what kind of manipulation is acceptable. Meanwhile, former Survivor contestant Stacey Stillman says she knows--and is suing Burnett to prove her point. Stillman claims Burnett used his influence to urge other contestants to vote her off the island. Burnett and CBS deny her allegations and have countersued Stillman for breach of contract. Next week, a ruling will be made in a Los Angles court whether or not to unseal a deposition made by Survivor contestant Dirk Been, whom Stillman claims to have told her about Burnett's coercion. Up until this point, Dirk's deposition has remained confidential. (Been had asked that it not be made public for fear it might hurt his attempts at a show-biz career.) Survivor sleuth and author Peter Lance recently filed a motion to get public access to some of those secret court documents, and this week, two nonprofit freedom-of-information fighters have joined him in his fight. Both the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and California First Amendment Coalition filed a friend-of-the-court brief, saying there was no reason for the information to be withheld from the public. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee, says the Survivor case could test a new California law that requires such court documents to be presumed public. "This is an issue very near and dear to our hearts," she said. "The fact that it involves Survivor didn't really play into our thinking much at all." dailynews.yahoo.com