Letter: The State of Reality TV in Malaysia

Dear 8tv,

I appreciate your current line-up of programs and I reckon that it's da best compared to the other sucky free-to-air TV stations which I would say are barely watchable. I commend you on your local reality series production namely, Malaysian Idol and Kick Start However, I find those 2 hit series lack originality and 'local' flavour. They seem too predictable after a few episodes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both but I reckon more can be done to increase the entertainment level of local reality series.

Currently, shows by other stations does not even come close to entertaining audience. For example, Top Model wannabe, Secret girl was just a big waste of time. I barely made it past the first episode. Meanwhile, Audition an 'original' idea seem tedious to watch... they are just emulating the phenomenal Akedemi Fantasia's concept. Other forgettable reality series was the Who Will Win franchise, and some home-renovation series by some TV station which seem to have the same logo as some tv station in US, disappeared into the black hole . C'mon I am sure us Malaysians can do much better.

Here are some of my original ideas that will are not only entertaining, but will like increase the station's weekly viewership, and make stars out of everyday people. This will propel 8tv to the pole of the TV station grid.

Mamak Survivor
This season, Malaysia will be watching as 16 contestants eliminate each other one by one from an undisclosed premise in Kuala Lumpur. All 16 contestant will be locked in a house with only one toilet, fed only with mamak curry. Loosers are voted off by not getting to the bathroom in time. The lone survivor will walk away with RM 1,000,000 worth of curry products. Tune in to all 13 episodes and the lifestyle of the locked contestants as they count down to the final Survivor.

Urban Jack
Urban Jack creates the ultimate test of love as 12 kampung men vie for the affections of a rugged street-smart Malaysian lady. What the men don't realize, until it's too late, is that they must make a leap of faith by parachuting into the middle of Malaysia's expansive urban jungle, Kuala Lumpur. IF When they make it to the ground, they will be shocked to discover the potential woman of their dreams is not living a life of luxury, but roughing it in one of the world's most unforgiving cities. Over the course of eight episodes, the men will be put to the test, to see which one of them has what it takes to make it in the city and win the affection of their beautiful star.

Who Wants To Lose A Million?
Based on the hit series Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. This game will be played by top-profile Politicians Millionare's and is really simple, but in a hard way: Be the last to answer a question correctly, and you'll be put in the 'hot seat', where he/she will answer 15 more questions. Every questopn you answer wrongly, you lose money. However, if you answer 15 questions correctly, you'll get to keep your $1 million. However do note that, the multiple choice questions get tougher as they go along: for that reason, 3 "Lifelines" (types of aid) are there to help: once one lifeline is used, it cannot be used again. These Lifelines are:
1. Ask the audience, usually used in one of the first 7 or 8 questions. The audience uses the keypad in front of their seats to vote on what they think the answer is, and the results are shown to the player on his/her computer screen in bar graph form.
2. Phone an enemy. The player may phone one of his/her enemies that may know the answer to this question, but has 30 seconds to come up with an answer.
3. 25:75, in which 1 of the wrong answers are taken away, leaving two wrong answer and one correct one.

An exciting new lineup, don't you think. This will keep your viewers on the edge of their seats, week after week. If you do have any question, please drop me a line.

Cheers,

Ivan Choe

:P