PROLOGUE
Sealed by a legal-bound contract, it was confirmed. On the 2nd of May, the biggest phenomenon would hit TV screens worldwide. It would surpass Greed TV's last hit show; Juvenile Delinquents 3, and be remembered as the most original and innovating reality TV show in history. An estimated 45 million viewers in Britain would tune into the first live feed, and this figure would undoubtedly get higher every day. Of course, Greed TV, the famous broadcasting company, had learnt never to outstay its welcome, and whatever show they were running at that time was always taken off the air quicker than anybody ever expected. Viewers would then look forward to the next show with excitement, bombarding the greedtv.com message board with anticipation and hints for the next new big thing.
Pierce Bryant looked over the contract again, complete with all the signatures needed, and smiled. Solid as a rock. No lawyer would be able to mimic Houdini and manage to get anybody out of this one. No angry members of the public would be able to protest this TV show as a breach of the law. Not that there'd be any angry members of the public complaining about the show, nor any lawyers willing to touch the case. It was a well- known fact that the viewing public worshipped these shows to no end, and any opposition brought to Greed TV was always shut down immediately. He poured himself a celebratory glass of wine, leant back in his office chair, and relaxed. He'd done it. It hadn't been easy but he'd done it. He ran a hand through his jet-black hair and then brought it to the base of his neck and massaged it. He had finally come up with a show that would leave its predecessor in the shadow. Juvenile Delinquents, the sure-fire moneymaker had been a success from the start. Ten fifteen year old boys had been put through a rigorous amount of training, which left many of them breaking down and begging for the producers to let them quit the show. Of course, none of them were given permission to do so, thanks to the ironclad contract.
It was often noted upon that the strictness of the show was fifty percent tougher than the training that US Marines went through. It didn't seem fair, or indeed plausible that the training of military soldiers were not as harsh as the training given to inexperienced fifteen-year-old teenage boys.
The public loved it.
Then of course, came a shocking twist, which was always to be expected in Greed TV's shows - this time being prostitutes. After four weeks of being locked up in a strictly masturbation-free boot camp, where the boys had been forced to watch pornographic movies every day, ten stunning models walked into the camp, got down on all fours, and winked suggestively at the boys.
The viewing public howled with laughter, when red faced virgin Michael Smith, a goofy looking red-haired boy couldn't put on a condom after his crotch had been stomped upon from one of the sadistic soldiers the week before. And how they had loved the moment when the models ripped off their cleverly placed wigs and revealed themselves to be men to the dismayed teenagers. Tabloid newspapers took delight in disparagingly ripping the boys apart. Every embarrassing moment was caught on film, every aspect of their life had been cruelly analysed and they were degraded until they were deemed worthless, and only then were they left alone. And they did it all for fame.
Fame, that four-lettered word, was the reason why the ten teenage boys went into the boot camp in the first place. That four-lettered word was the reason why their parents had pushed them into applying for the show. That four-lettered word was the reason why they had put up with the strong amount of abuse they had gone through. And that four-lettered word was the reason why Juvenile Delinquents 2 received triple the amount of applications than the first series.
By the time the second series aired, the first set of contestants were nowhere to be found. Fame isn't as long as the word celebrity, a label that they, or any other reality TV contestants, certainly would not be given. They were merely puppets, there to be controlled by Greed TV, and let the broadcasting company live up to its name by exploiting them to make cash for themselves. After several interviews where the contestants had been briefly quizzed about crotch stamping; 'It was fuckin' painful man,' stated Michael, and the drag queen twist; 'They looked proper like women though innit?' Gary defended, desperate to keep his dignity, they seemingly fell of the face of the Earth, only to rejoin the rat race to the top and try out for new reality shows. The general motto that the tabloid newspapers adopted was: if you weren't known, then you weren't worth anything. Almost half of the media controlled public repeated this to themselves in a prayer like trance every day, and desperately spent most of their lives trying to 'make it'. Greed TV was a quick and easy route to the top, even if the fall back down was quicker. There was no longer enough time for fifteen minutes of fame. The whole game constantly spun in quick rotation, and to stay on the roller coaster ride of the tabloid frenzy, you had to be outrageous, shameless and a sell out.
Juvenile Delinquents 2 basically adopted the style of the first series: brutality, humiliation and unnecessary violence. It paved the way for Juvenile Delinquents 3, where the most shocking image on British TV to date was aired.
Jason Finn had been mouthing off to one of the officers from day one. The public loved a bad boy, and he had decided upon entering the show that this was the role he was going to play. He quickly had two ear piercings, a nose piercing, an eyebrow, tongue and a lip piercing inserted a couple of days before going on the show. He bleached his once brown hair blonde and convinced his dad to hit him in the face a couple of times to create intimidating bruises. He'd continue his hard lad image once he was out of the boot camp and hopefully stay longer on the fame circuit than his fellow contestants. So acting like every bit of the bad boy, Jason took delight in breaking as many of the rules Juvenile Delinquents had set without being kicked off the show. Officer Matthews, an irritable grey ex-marine had one day decided he had had enough and slugged Jason in the face to teach him respect. Outraged, (and making sure the cameras were watching), Jason got up and spat in the officers face, only to be restrained by six soldiers to the ground, where they kicked and pummelled him into unconsciousness. The cameras swiftly zoomed in and captured the bloody scene playing out before Pierce had ordered them to cut the connection. He greedily thought of the money that he would make on the release of the Christmas video with the full scene uncut.
Jason never did wake up from the coma. He barely had chance to, with his parents exploiting the situation for all it was worth. Annie, a short dumpy woman, and David Finn, a tall greying man with thick rimmed glasses, both certified too old to be famous, had pushed Jason into the limelight to hopefully make enough room for the entire Finn family to share his success. They had already signed up Jason's younger brother Oliver into upcoming shows to prolong the Finns' time in the spotlight. After the attack on Jason, the parents shed forced tears over their beloved son, making sure the cameras stayed on them. David pushed Oliver into the centre of the hospital ward, and told him to make a speech on how he loved his brother more than anything in the world. 'Act out a scene from Shakespeare,' Annie hissed.
The media attention was beginning to wear off after a couple of days. The public had seen enough of the Finn family, and they were beginning to tire of their desperate and rather pathetic antics. Although entertaining to laugh and poke fun at them, they had decided they had had enough, and instead focused their attention onto a family in Liverpool, who had just witnessed the death of their daughter. It was a bit questionable on how she died, and the fact that the mother, while shedding tears, still found time to read out her stage biography on the evening news, along with details of how to contact her for any auditions available, didn't help the situation. The whole 'did they-didn't they kill her to become famous' debate was beginning to stir up controversy, and the Finns' found each camera disappearing from the hospital ward one by one. Seeing the red lights of the cameras fade, they tried one last desperate bid.
'This is for Jason!' Annie cried, and pulled the life support machine plug from the socket, bringing her fifteen-year-old sons life to a definite end. The young student nurses gasped in shock (what they hoped was realistic enough for a role in daytime show 'Just what the doctor ordered.') Oliver 'fainted' over the drama, and at once, the cameras were focusing back on them. 'I told you those acting classes would pay off,' David beamed later on while watching Oliver 'faint' on the news that evening, and Annie agreed smilingly, while going through a pile of paperwork. There was so much to do. Oliver needed an agent, they would also need to sort out legal representatives to appear with them on the lunchtime show, 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' They needed to set up a press conference, and they needed to make sure that the tabloids were going to cover Jason's funeral. They weren't going to bother wasting their time in having one if they weren't. They were also going to be special guests on the new show, 'I'll kick the crap outta you!' presented by the newest reality star, (Ex) Officer Jim Matthews.
Yes, Juvenile Delinquents 3 was a big success, yet it was time to move on. As creative editor and executive producer of Greed TV, Pierce Bryant had to think of a way to surpass his last success. He knew already that it was going to be the largest project he had ever worked on. He also knew that it was going to involve a class of students somehow. Kids were the best source of entertainment nowadays, everybody knew that. No matter how much botox decreasing of frown lines or over-inflated collagen lips were presented to TV executives, it was real youths that were considered the goldmines. Their turbulent mood swings and the constant peer pressure made excellent voyeuristic viewing. Pierce had short listed four potential ninth-grade classes from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow and was now deciding on which one would be best suited to this new style of show. They, along with millions of other entrants were begging him to let Greed TV exploit their students and make stars of them, after he had posted up an open audition on the multimillion-hits-a-day website; findfamefast.com. Schools willing to participate had had to write a letter to the company, explaining why their students would be suitable for any type of show, along with the most recent class photograph. This was needed to ensure that the majority of the contestants were attractive. Sure, a couple of them could look like they had been severely tortured with the ugly stick but the eye candy factor had to be there.
He had spent long, tiring days and tossing and turning sleepless nights thinking about what would entertain the public the most. The brutality against Jason was met with huge acclaim, but did it have to stop there? In fact, why couldn't it be developed into something further? He wrote down different ideas and played around with potential formats he could use. His theory, that the public loved to see spirits break, was a correct one, and in order to break the kids spirits, he'd have to break them up completely. After all, he was going to choose a class of students where friendships had been secured for a long time, although he wasn't too worried about the task. Friendships were all too often fragile and fickle when it came to fame. What could be more entertaining than thrusting often emotionally crippled teenagers into the limelight, after their friendships had just been shattered? In fact, there would be something more entertaining than that, and that would be to turn the kids against each other whilst on the show, so they'd break each other in the process while the public could watch. After all, nothing provided more laughs then bitchiness, backstabbing and betrayal.
Backstabbing. The brutality of Jason ... an idea formed in his twisted mind, and he wrote it down eagerly to show his bosses. They were doubtful at first, until Pierce reminded them that Shock! TV, a rival company, would steal the 9pm audience with their documentary show, 'I'm jailed, but I vow to escape!' if they didn't go along with Pierce's controversial headline- grabbing idea. Several meetings were formed, in which Pierce and his team argued the case tooth-and-nail. He went through every aspect of the show; how it would be put together, how it would work, and how it would make them millions.
And so, after much talking, debating, and confirmation of just how many millions Pierce estimated his show would bring the company, it was confirmed. On the 2nd of May, the biggest phenomenon would hit TV screens worldwide.
'Nightmare Island' was going to be a success, and class 10C of Kingwoods Secondary School, in London, England, was going to make Pierce Bryant richer than he already was. He opened the diary that lay on his office desk and glanced at his schedule for the next day, as he poured himself another glass of wine. He chuckled as he saw an appearance on 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' pencilled in. The Finns' were going to lose in an unfair fight tomorrow. 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' was a Greed TV creation.
Sealed by a legal-bound contract, it was confirmed. On the 2nd of May, the biggest phenomenon would hit TV screens worldwide. It would surpass Greed TV's last hit show; Juvenile Delinquents 3, and be remembered as the most original and innovating reality TV show in history. An estimated 45 million viewers in Britain would tune into the first live feed, and this figure would undoubtedly get higher every day. Of course, Greed TV, the famous broadcasting company, had learnt never to outstay its welcome, and whatever show they were running at that time was always taken off the air quicker than anybody ever expected. Viewers would then look forward to the next show with excitement, bombarding the greedtv.com message board with anticipation and hints for the next new big thing.
Pierce Bryant looked over the contract again, complete with all the signatures needed, and smiled. Solid as a rock. No lawyer would be able to mimic Houdini and manage to get anybody out of this one. No angry members of the public would be able to protest this TV show as a breach of the law. Not that there'd be any angry members of the public complaining about the show, nor any lawyers willing to touch the case. It was a well- known fact that the viewing public worshipped these shows to no end, and any opposition brought to Greed TV was always shut down immediately. He poured himself a celebratory glass of wine, leant back in his office chair, and relaxed. He'd done it. It hadn't been easy but he'd done it. He ran a hand through his jet-black hair and then brought it to the base of his neck and massaged it. He had finally come up with a show that would leave its predecessor in the shadow. Juvenile Delinquents, the sure-fire moneymaker had been a success from the start. Ten fifteen year old boys had been put through a rigorous amount of training, which left many of them breaking down and begging for the producers to let them quit the show. Of course, none of them were given permission to do so, thanks to the ironclad contract.
It was often noted upon that the strictness of the show was fifty percent tougher than the training that US Marines went through. It didn't seem fair, or indeed plausible that the training of military soldiers were not as harsh as the training given to inexperienced fifteen-year-old teenage boys.
The public loved it.
Then of course, came a shocking twist, which was always to be expected in Greed TV's shows - this time being prostitutes. After four weeks of being locked up in a strictly masturbation-free boot camp, where the boys had been forced to watch pornographic movies every day, ten stunning models walked into the camp, got down on all fours, and winked suggestively at the boys.
The viewing public howled with laughter, when red faced virgin Michael Smith, a goofy looking red-haired boy couldn't put on a condom after his crotch had been stomped upon from one of the sadistic soldiers the week before. And how they had loved the moment when the models ripped off their cleverly placed wigs and revealed themselves to be men to the dismayed teenagers. Tabloid newspapers took delight in disparagingly ripping the boys apart. Every embarrassing moment was caught on film, every aspect of their life had been cruelly analysed and they were degraded until they were deemed worthless, and only then were they left alone. And they did it all for fame.
Fame, that four-lettered word, was the reason why the ten teenage boys went into the boot camp in the first place. That four-lettered word was the reason why their parents had pushed them into applying for the show. That four-lettered word was the reason why they had put up with the strong amount of abuse they had gone through. And that four-lettered word was the reason why Juvenile Delinquents 2 received triple the amount of applications than the first series.
By the time the second series aired, the first set of contestants were nowhere to be found. Fame isn't as long as the word celebrity, a label that they, or any other reality TV contestants, certainly would not be given. They were merely puppets, there to be controlled by Greed TV, and let the broadcasting company live up to its name by exploiting them to make cash for themselves. After several interviews where the contestants had been briefly quizzed about crotch stamping; 'It was fuckin' painful man,' stated Michael, and the drag queen twist; 'They looked proper like women though innit?' Gary defended, desperate to keep his dignity, they seemingly fell of the face of the Earth, only to rejoin the rat race to the top and try out for new reality shows. The general motto that the tabloid newspapers adopted was: if you weren't known, then you weren't worth anything. Almost half of the media controlled public repeated this to themselves in a prayer like trance every day, and desperately spent most of their lives trying to 'make it'. Greed TV was a quick and easy route to the top, even if the fall back down was quicker. There was no longer enough time for fifteen minutes of fame. The whole game constantly spun in quick rotation, and to stay on the roller coaster ride of the tabloid frenzy, you had to be outrageous, shameless and a sell out.
Juvenile Delinquents 2 basically adopted the style of the first series: brutality, humiliation and unnecessary violence. It paved the way for Juvenile Delinquents 3, where the most shocking image on British TV to date was aired.
Jason Finn had been mouthing off to one of the officers from day one. The public loved a bad boy, and he had decided upon entering the show that this was the role he was going to play. He quickly had two ear piercings, a nose piercing, an eyebrow, tongue and a lip piercing inserted a couple of days before going on the show. He bleached his once brown hair blonde and convinced his dad to hit him in the face a couple of times to create intimidating bruises. He'd continue his hard lad image once he was out of the boot camp and hopefully stay longer on the fame circuit than his fellow contestants. So acting like every bit of the bad boy, Jason took delight in breaking as many of the rules Juvenile Delinquents had set without being kicked off the show. Officer Matthews, an irritable grey ex-marine had one day decided he had had enough and slugged Jason in the face to teach him respect. Outraged, (and making sure the cameras were watching), Jason got up and spat in the officers face, only to be restrained by six soldiers to the ground, where they kicked and pummelled him into unconsciousness. The cameras swiftly zoomed in and captured the bloody scene playing out before Pierce had ordered them to cut the connection. He greedily thought of the money that he would make on the release of the Christmas video with the full scene uncut.
Jason never did wake up from the coma. He barely had chance to, with his parents exploiting the situation for all it was worth. Annie, a short dumpy woman, and David Finn, a tall greying man with thick rimmed glasses, both certified too old to be famous, had pushed Jason into the limelight to hopefully make enough room for the entire Finn family to share his success. They had already signed up Jason's younger brother Oliver into upcoming shows to prolong the Finns' time in the spotlight. After the attack on Jason, the parents shed forced tears over their beloved son, making sure the cameras stayed on them. David pushed Oliver into the centre of the hospital ward, and told him to make a speech on how he loved his brother more than anything in the world. 'Act out a scene from Shakespeare,' Annie hissed.
The media attention was beginning to wear off after a couple of days. The public had seen enough of the Finn family, and they were beginning to tire of their desperate and rather pathetic antics. Although entertaining to laugh and poke fun at them, they had decided they had had enough, and instead focused their attention onto a family in Liverpool, who had just witnessed the death of their daughter. It was a bit questionable on how she died, and the fact that the mother, while shedding tears, still found time to read out her stage biography on the evening news, along with details of how to contact her for any auditions available, didn't help the situation. The whole 'did they-didn't they kill her to become famous' debate was beginning to stir up controversy, and the Finns' found each camera disappearing from the hospital ward one by one. Seeing the red lights of the cameras fade, they tried one last desperate bid.
'This is for Jason!' Annie cried, and pulled the life support machine plug from the socket, bringing her fifteen-year-old sons life to a definite end. The young student nurses gasped in shock (what they hoped was realistic enough for a role in daytime show 'Just what the doctor ordered.') Oliver 'fainted' over the drama, and at once, the cameras were focusing back on them. 'I told you those acting classes would pay off,' David beamed later on while watching Oliver 'faint' on the news that evening, and Annie agreed smilingly, while going through a pile of paperwork. There was so much to do. Oliver needed an agent, they would also need to sort out legal representatives to appear with them on the lunchtime show, 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' They needed to set up a press conference, and they needed to make sure that the tabloids were going to cover Jason's funeral. They weren't going to bother wasting their time in having one if they weren't. They were also going to be special guests on the new show, 'I'll kick the crap outta you!' presented by the newest reality star, (Ex) Officer Jim Matthews.
Yes, Juvenile Delinquents 3 was a big success, yet it was time to move on. As creative editor and executive producer of Greed TV, Pierce Bryant had to think of a way to surpass his last success. He knew already that it was going to be the largest project he had ever worked on. He also knew that it was going to involve a class of students somehow. Kids were the best source of entertainment nowadays, everybody knew that. No matter how much botox decreasing of frown lines or over-inflated collagen lips were presented to TV executives, it was real youths that were considered the goldmines. Their turbulent mood swings and the constant peer pressure made excellent voyeuristic viewing. Pierce had short listed four potential ninth-grade classes from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow and was now deciding on which one would be best suited to this new style of show. They, along with millions of other entrants were begging him to let Greed TV exploit their students and make stars of them, after he had posted up an open audition on the multimillion-hits-a-day website; findfamefast.com. Schools willing to participate had had to write a letter to the company, explaining why their students would be suitable for any type of show, along with the most recent class photograph. This was needed to ensure that the majority of the contestants were attractive. Sure, a couple of them could look like they had been severely tortured with the ugly stick but the eye candy factor had to be there.
He had spent long, tiring days and tossing and turning sleepless nights thinking about what would entertain the public the most. The brutality against Jason was met with huge acclaim, but did it have to stop there? In fact, why couldn't it be developed into something further? He wrote down different ideas and played around with potential formats he could use. His theory, that the public loved to see spirits break, was a correct one, and in order to break the kids spirits, he'd have to break them up completely. After all, he was going to choose a class of students where friendships had been secured for a long time, although he wasn't too worried about the task. Friendships were all too often fragile and fickle when it came to fame. What could be more entertaining than thrusting often emotionally crippled teenagers into the limelight, after their friendships had just been shattered? In fact, there would be something more entertaining than that, and that would be to turn the kids against each other whilst on the show, so they'd break each other in the process while the public could watch. After all, nothing provided more laughs then bitchiness, backstabbing and betrayal.
Backstabbing. The brutality of Jason ... an idea formed in his twisted mind, and he wrote it down eagerly to show his bosses. They were doubtful at first, until Pierce reminded them that Shock! TV, a rival company, would steal the 9pm audience with their documentary show, 'I'm jailed, but I vow to escape!' if they didn't go along with Pierce's controversial headline- grabbing idea. Several meetings were formed, in which Pierce and his team argued the case tooth-and-nail. He went through every aspect of the show; how it would be put together, how it would work, and how it would make them millions.
And so, after much talking, debating, and confirmation of just how many millions Pierce estimated his show would bring the company, it was confirmed. On the 2nd of May, the biggest phenomenon would hit TV screens worldwide.
'Nightmare Island' was going to be a success, and class 10C of Kingwoods Secondary School, in London, England, was going to make Pierce Bryant richer than he already was. He opened the diary that lay on his office desk and glanced at his schedule for the next day, as he poured himself another glass of wine. He chuckled as he saw an appearance on 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' pencilled in. The Finns' were going to lose in an unfair fight tomorrow. 'I'm famous and I'm suing you!' was a Greed TV creation.