Why Do They Do It? The Truth Behind 'Celebreality'

May 11, 2007 — -- We got a dressing-down by Robin Leach.

The legendary host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" didn't seem happy with us at all. Why? Because we asked a few too many questions about "celebreality," a booming genre of TV shows that combines the reality show and celebrities. I wanted to know why a celebrity would agree to appear on one of these shows. I just happened to ask the wrong guy.

Back to Leach in a moment.

Celebreality is white-hot. We have "Dancing With the Stars," "Skating With the Stars" and "Celebrity Fear Factor," which is essentially being grossed out with the stars.

One of the most successful franchises is "The Surreal Life," now airing in various forms on VH1. The show puts a group of diverse celebrities in a house and makes them live together. That original show has been a reality-show breeding factory, spawning the spinoffs "The Surreal Life: Fame Games," "My Fair Brady," "Flavor of Love," "Strange Love" and "Charm School," with even more in the works.

The creators of the show are Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego, who together have produced more than 150 episodes of television in just three years.

"It's a heightened version of the world that we are all living in," said Cronin. "Celebrities, in their real life -- you get a lot more.

Abrego concurred. "You get somebody who's not afraid to wear their emotions on their sleeve."

The roster of cast members does not exactly read like an Oscars special: Flavor Flav, Erik Estrada, Charo, Emmanuel Lewis, Vanilla Ice, Verne Troyer. The type of celebrity that some refer to as a B-lister or worse. It is a label Cronin and Abrego don't like.

"The difference between the A-list and the B-list," said Cronin, "is simply that the B-list was available to, uh, do a reality television show for two weeks in a house."

The Los Angeles Times said Cronin and Abrego had found the perfect formula for celebreality: "Recruit a bunch of aging, egomaniacal stars-that-were, inject a situation fraught with competition, conflict, or humiliation, roll camera and let the fireworks begin."