TV show competition for healthy human organs

Started by quiller, June 03, 2014, 05:37:36 AM

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quiller

Europe, it must be said, is the place Americans escaped from. From among a list of the most "powerful" TV shows comes this one....

QuoteDe Grote Donorshow: The Show That Became an Organ Donor

This 2007 reality show's horrifying premise: Three patients in need of a kidney compete for the organs of a terminally ill woman, with the dying woman picking the winner, using input from viewer text messages.

The show drew an avalanche of criticism before it aired. What could be more twisted than making sick people duke it out for vital organs as TV entertainment? Worse still, who thought that letting the same TV audiences that can barely be trusted to pick the next American Idol make such a harrowing decision? Dutch health officials vehemently condemned the show and attempted to block its airing to no avail.

Like many reality shows, De Grote Donorshow had a twist ending. Near the end of the program, presenters revealed that the show was a hoax to draw attention to Netherlands's shortage of organ donors. The "terminally ill" woman was a healthy actress. And while the three contestants really did need kidneys, they were in on the stunt to help publicize the problem. BNN's chairman admitted the gimmick was tasteless but said, "[W]e think the reality is even more shocking and tasteless."

Crass or not, the effort worked: A day after the airing, 43,000 viewers requested forms to become organ donors.

http://www.neatorama.com/2014/05/30/The-25-Most-Powerful-TV-Shows-of-the-Last-25-Years/