Movie Room Reviews today published a great interview with Tracey McCall of SyFy’s ‘Hollywood Treasure which was refreshingly candid, honest, and revealing, and on many fronts reinforces some of my opinions about aspects of the “reality” show about the principals and “characters” working (and acting) for Profiles in History, the auction house portrayed in the entertainment television series.
I recommend heading over to the site to read the interview in full, and in proper context, but below are the excerpts I found to be the more interesting.
In the opening of the interview, Ms. McCall talks about her career in acting and landing different roles in television and commercials. Then the discussion lead into her introduction to Profiles in History and their television series, ‘Hollywood Treasure’:
Tracey – In LA, you’re always doing a few different jobs and I did the waitressing [sic] thing for years and I made great money. When I didn’t want to do that anymore, I was doing event planning and styling and meeting people. When I started getting into event planning, I was hired to plan a party for an upcoming auction. I met the owner, things clicked, and he told me I could do phone bidding for the auction and to let him know if I was interested. At that same time the show Hollywood Treasure started looking around for people to work with. Usually for a show, people have to go in and pitch their idea for it, but in this case a production company approached the owner of Profiles in History, Joe Maddalena, and said: “Hey man, we want to do a show on you and your business”. At that time he had several guys that worked for him and luckily they met me, because they wanted a girl in the cast. They were like: “You’re perfect. You have a background in acting and you can be the event coordinator on the show”. So I am playing a version of myself on the show and it’s been a lot of fun. I get to travel and learn about the entertainment industry on a different side. Everyone I work with is so intelligent, and their kind of geeky, and they know a lot about the history of Hollywood.
Her description of the show, and the casting aspect, obviously speaks to the level to which it is a “reality” series vs a scripted series that does not necessarily reflect real events.
Prior to the show being broadcast on SyFy, I had been to the Profiles in History offices many times, and had never seen or heard of Ms. McCall, yet when the first episode aired, one would be led to believe otherwise.
More from the interview:
Nick- As I was watching the show, I was wondering if you had gotten on the show as an actress or because you were working there. Apparently, you got the show because you were working there and because you had an acting background, huh?
Tracey- Well sort of. I don’t go to the office. I don’t really work there. I help out when I’m needed. I’ll plan events, parties, and do the phone bidding, but no, I am not the receptionist, or anything like that. I don’t answer phones at the Profiles in History office, which people can’t wrap their head around. People will call there and be like: “Is Tracey there?”. The receptionist will tell them I am out in the field, which is funny.
“I don’t really work there” is obviously at odds with her role as portrayed in the series.
More from the interview:
Nick- Are these types of reality shows scripted?
Tracey- Reality shows are basically scripted because you have to make interesting television. Yes, the items are real; but maybe the roundabout way from how the consignor got the item, and why it’s going into auction, is a little gray. It might not be the ‘exact’ story because if it was the exact story, it would be as boring as watching paint dry. I’ve read blogs were people are pissed, and talk about how it seems fake, and how could a camera crew be there to capture this? I’m like: “Are you people serious?”
Nick- It’s television, what do they expect?
Tracey- Yeah, we’re just trying to make good television here and you can’t please everyone.
I would take issue with the blanket statement that “[r]eality shows are basically scripted“, as obviously you have a wide range of reality programming which includes shows like ‘COPS’ (obviously not scripted, though I would say awareness of a filming crew would serve as an influence) as well as programming like ‘Lizard Lick Towing’, on the other end of the spectrum.
I discussed this in my year-end annual editorial (see “The Original Prop Blog 2011 Year in Review: News, Developments, and Trends in Collecting Original TV & Movie Props, Costumes and Pop Culture Memorabilia“). I also made the same analogy, and shared with my readers some of the issues I have with the show:
In general, though touted as a “reality” television series, based on my knowledge of and experience in this field, I just cannot watch the show and enjoy it, as I am distracted by all that is presented that is not “real”.
From my personal perspective, on the reality television spectrum that spans from “real” and “unscripted” on one end to “staged” on the other, SyFy’s ‘Hollywood Treasure’ falls somewhere in the proximity of truTV’s ‘Lizard Lick Towing’. Everything else aside, I simply cannot suspend my disbelief to such an extent, and I don’t think that much staging and recreated (or even fantasy-based) reality has any place in an art market where credibility, honesty, and transparency is paramount.
I have had lengthy discussions with many, many individuals who have been approached to be on the show as well as some who have appeared on the show, and related stories have made me even more disappointed in what the show is, what it portrays, and the manner in which it is presented. I won’t go into the details and examples of what has been shared with me, but it’s left me of the personal opinion that our art market would be better served if the second season were also the last.
Nick with Movie Room Reviews also asked about SyFy, and I was actually taken aback by this portion of the interview, as I would imagine that the network that broadcasts the show would not find the candid answers to be particularly flattering. More excerpts:
Nick- Why is the show on the SyFy network?
Tracey- Everyone always asks that and the honest answer is that they we’re the highest bidder with our original production company. They shopped it around to: Discovery, History, A & E, and SyFy. SyFy really liked it and wanted to give us money to get started. The production company was like: “Yeah money lets go with SyFy,” but if they would have thought about it it’s not really the best fit because our show probably would be better for those other networks, because it’s a family show. It’s not that science fiction oriented, and the main problem we have come across with it being on the SyFy network is the actual science fiction fans don’t really like our show because they want to see: Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, and all those kinds of shows. SyFy is trying to expand their audience, and they are trying to get more people to watch it with programs like Hollywood Treasure. So it’s really between people that never watch SyFy, but only watch it for our show; and the people that have always watched it, but don’t want to watch our show. It’s been challenging to find story ideas that the network and the producers agree on. One I idea the producers had was to do a story on Cameron’s dad’s car from Ferris Bueller. They said, “It’s in Chicago, let’s get it and do a story on it”. The SyFy network was like, “No it’s not science fiction enough”. I mean come on, it’s Feris [sic] f***in’ Bueller! Right? So that’s the challenge. It’s a great show and we hope that it gets renewed but it’s all in the control of the network and the people that are high up; sometimes those people are not the most creative people, and they’re the one’s making all the decisions.
My take on her responses is that SyFy was selected (by a prior production company) simply for monetary reasons, but several other networks are, in her opinion, preferable for a variety of reasons. There also seem to have been some real disagreements on content and subject matter. Another excerpt:
Tracey- Oh yeah. There’s such a plethora between every wonderful Hollywood film or Television program. Star Wars is awesome and that’s always going to be popular whether you’re a science fiction fan or not. It’s kind of a narrow minded path that we have to stay on though. Last season we were featuring Marilyn Monroe’s dress that she wore in The Seven Year Itch, and it was fighting tooth and nail with the SyFy network because they didn’t want to feature something of Marilyn Monroe; even when it’s one the most iconic dress of all time. That dress actually sold last June at the Debbie Reynolds auction for nearly 6 million dollars. So we are talking about the most expensive and iconic piece of costume that has ever been sold, ever. The fact the the SyFy network didn’t want to feature that is like, “Come on, open your mind a little”.
In any event, while the information and opinions expressed in the interview really just reinforce and support my reasons for not being a proponent of it, I do respect the honest and candid answers Ms. McCall provided, and the opportunity to have some real insights into the series. The full interview is definitely worth checking out.
My basic view on the show is that if you have an art market that should be about determining and archiving and memorializing the facts and history about important pop culture artifacts, to craft and intertwine invented and fantasy information via a television program to obscure and even trump the real “reality” about such pieces is contrary to the best interests of this field. If you are going to depict fictional and fantasy versions of real and fantasy people and events, then maybe it would be better to divorce the actual pieces sold at auction from this alternate “reality” that serves as an entertainment television product. This is just my own opinion.
Jason DeBord