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Winning reality show is torture
The four-part series will re-create torture techniques apparently used by U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. The series also will examine whether the knowledge gained from actual terrorist suspects was worth the kind of relentless abuse that some claim was heaped on them. ``Obviously we had to work within certain parameters of the law, and so we could only subject them to the milder forms of torture,'' said Yad Luthra, a spokesman for Channel 4. Of the seven volunteer participants -- including three Muslims and four white Britons -- three failed to stay the 48-hour course. One dropped out after eight hours upon showing signs of low body temperature. Another dropped out on religious grounds. A third simply had had enough after 40 hours. ``Two vomited and two wet in their pants,'' Luthra said. The techniques were based on information from declassified U.S. documents. They were carried out by former U.S. military interrogators in a warehouse in east London, he said. The U.S. government has denied using torture at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where many of the more than 500 detainees are being held without charge. On Wednesday, U.S. Army officials announced that it was setting specific limits on the interrogation techniques used on prisoners of war and will link them more closely to international agreements such as the Geneva Conventions. While Channel 4 says its series offers an important examination of whether torture is ever justified, others aren't so sure. ``I don't think turning torture into some kind of entertainment is a great idea,'' said John Beyer, director of Mediawatch UK, a TV watchdog group. ``Channel 4 has a reputation for broadcasting programs that are controversial simply for the sake of being controversial.'' But Steve Crawshaw, director of Human Rights Watch UK, said that the program could be helpful as a way of showing just how damaging even seemingly innocuous torture techniques can be. The group consulted with Channel 4 on the series. Luthra said the seven volunteers had various reasons for participating in the program that had little to do with seeking their 15 minutes of fame. ``The Muslim guys very much wanted to act in solidarity with Muslims who've suffered,'' he said. Of the other participants, he said, ``Some went into it very hawkish about the whole thing and supportive of the methods. ``Of course, those people had changed their minds by the end,'' he said. In case you didn't notice, Fox's Trading Spouses season finale was a couple weeks back, leaving Fox with a Monday night hole leading into 24. American Idol is ably filling that slot for the near future, but starting on March 14, Fox will transplant one of its few reality hits from the fall into that Monday night slot (except for on nights when Idol specials can be manufactured at the last minute). Nanny 911 will be in the 8 p.m. time period on Mondays. Airing mostly on Wednesday nights after its November premiere, Nanny 911 averaged 8.2 million viewers for its first nine episodes, almost identical to the figures delivered by Trading Spouses in its Monday showings. In other television news, the WB is looking to several big-time producers to boost its uneven record with comedies. The network has ordered three comedy pilots from top-flight names Jerry Bruckheimer, Brian Grazer and Carsey-Werner (with an assist from Steve Martin), the showbiz trade papers report. The Bruckheimer comedy comes from writers Ross McCall and Aaron Peters ( The Tom Green Show), with McCall's brother Marsh, a veteran of Just Shoot Me and I'm With Her, supervising the writing. It's about three guys who hire a female life coach to improve their romantic lives. Carsey-Werner ( That '70s Show), meanwhile, is behind an untitled show from Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers. Their show is about two women who set out to take New York by storm. Martin and his producing partner, Joan Stein, are executive producing the project with Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner. The third project, from Grazer's Imagine TV centers on a girl whose life is upended when her mom meets the previously anonymous sperm donor who's the girl's father.
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