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Topic: High School Reunion (Read 355 times)

Rhune
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High School Reunion
« on: Jan 3^rd, 2003, 7:59am »

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'Bachelor' Creator Organizes a 'High School Reunion'
Thu, Jan 2, 2003 03:45 PM PDT

by Rick Porter
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Mike Fleiss may be a successful TV producer now, but he still didn't look forward to his 20th high school reunion.

Fleiss, who describes his high-school self as the "alienated parking-lot burnout guy," says his wife -- who was senior class president at the same school -- was helping plan the reunion and ticked off the names of some people who were planning on attending.

"She was like 'Oh my God, this guy is coming.' I was like 'Oh great, I hate that guy,' " says Fleiss, the creator of "The Bachelor." (He and his wife, by the way, didn't become a couple until they were in college.) "She [was] so emotionally charged about this, and I [was] so nauseous about this, that this seems like a real fertile area for a reality show."

The WB thought so, too. "High School Reunion," which brings together 17 graduates from a suburban Chicago high school's class of 1992, premieres at 9 p.m. ET Sunday (Jan. 5). Each episode will repeat at 8 p.m. ET Thursdays.

Fleiss and his crew supplied some convenient get-to-know-them shorthand for the classmates -- "the jock," "the flirt," "the misfit" and so on -- from Oak Park-River Forest High in Illinois. They gather at a lavish estate on Maui for two weeks to get reacquainted, settle old scores and try to requite heretofore unrequited loves.

"I think everyone has got something to prove when they go back to their high school reunion," Fleiss says. "That was sort of our premise for making the show. They either wanted to change their image ... or they wanted to hook up with somebody that they have been dreaming about for 10 years. I mean, we needed people with motivations."

To help spur the classmates to act on those motivations, the producers supplied "hall passes" to various people throughout the two weeks. The person holding the pass can ask someone out for a one-on-one date. The first episode finds two people asking longtime crushes out on dates, with decidedly mixed results.

The romantic aspects of the reunion are at the center of the six-episode series, which is part of why all the classmates invited to join the show were single.

"People hook up at those high school reunions, and so we felt weird about bringing a married person, because then we would be essentially tempting them to commit adultery," Fleiss says. "This is The WB. We wanted it to be nice and clean."

Fleiss says at least one lasting relationship grew out of the show, but he's betting that people will tune in for more than just to see who's hooking up with whom.

"This show is relatable because it is real. Going back in time on a scripted show doesn't feel nearly as real as it does when you reconnect with the people that you did share those years with," he says, referring to the lack of success for two scripted series, "Do Over" and the cancelled "That Was Then," that send thirtysomething guys back to the '80s to relive high school.

"That is why I think the show will work ultimately, because it is so incredibly relatable," Fleiss says. "Everyone is charged up about their high school experience."

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Irishlass
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Re: High School Reunion
« Reply #1 on: Jan 5^th, 2003, 9:14pm »