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Cancer Blog

By Lisa Fayed, About.com Guide to Cancer since 2005

Will You Watch Live Like You Were Dying?

Tuesday October 21, 2008
We all know and love Jeff Probst as the host of the hit reality series Survivor, but how do you feel about him fronting a show about people who aren't likely to survive? Probst has created a new show for CBS called Live Like You Were Dying, another reality series that features terminally ill adults. The show aims to fulfill their dying wishes, of course while filming every moment of doing so.

I am not sure what to think about this. I hate to judge it without even seeing a second of it, but I have wonder how Hollywood producers will drive in ratings featuring those who are dying without exploiting them? There are so many elements that come into play when these producers choose people to be on reality shows. They look at how camera friendly, interesting, and appealing people are for the sake of the show and ratings. How can you possibly implement this criteria for a show about people who are dying? How do you choose one dying person over another and be able to sleep at night?

Plus, people have to be available. I haven't exactly met many people with a terminal illness who were able to travel far without their doctor's consent or were so pain free that it didn't limit their daily activities. I also am curious about what kind of sponsors will endorse the show. I can't imagine the folks at Toyota or Kraft jumping on board with this.

Call me a skeptic, but this just sounds like a reality TV version of The Bucket List, minus the star power of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.

Comments

October 21, 2008 at 8:59 am
(1) Colleen says:

I would watch it. Heck, I’ve had 3 separate cancer diagnoses and I would love to be on it….of course, I’m lucky enough that I haven’t been given that finite amount of time, but if I were….I think I’d go on there. It would certainly give me something fun and leave some wonderful memories for my husband and kids. I hope the show makes it. Also, I can see lots of people watching this, so I don’t think advertising would be a problem. It’s not like the show would only be watched by terminally ill people. That’s not the target audience. I think ALL of us would like to see the happiness in those people’s eyes. After all, it’s not just people who need new houses who watch Extreme Makeover – Home Edition, right??

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