USA: In neuer Reality-Show werden Menschen ihren Job verlieren

In den USA arbeitet der TV-Sender Fox derzeit an einer neuen Reality-Serie, die den Titel "Someone's Gotta Go" tragen wird.

In der Sendung geht es darum, dass Mitarbeiter entscheiden, wer entlassen werden soll. Der "Auserwählte" erhält letztendlich eine kleine Abfindung.

Laut Fox gab es keine Probleme, Teilnehmer zu finden. In der Sendung werden Betriebe, die 15 bis 20 Mitarbeiter beschäftigen, teilnehmen.

Fox to make reality TV show out of company layoffs
April 8, 2009, 3:04 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Fox network is letting employees of some troubled small businesses decide which one of their colleagues will be laid off and turning the results into a reality show.

The series, "Someone's Gotta Go," is in production, but Fox wouldn't say on Wednesday when it would go on the air.

Each episode will feature a company with about 15 or 20 employees that needs to cut costs because of the economy. Instead of the boss deciding who is fired, the company will open its books to show everyone's salaries and let the employees make the call.

In an inverse to "The Apprentice," the chosen one loses, instead of gets, a job.

Fox says the laid-off worker will get a small severance, but isn't saying whether the network or producers are paying the participants in anything beyond the chance for prime-time fame. Fox is developing the show with Endemol USA, the company behind "Big Brother," "Deal or No Deal" and "Fear Factor."

Tory Johnson, founder and chief executive officer of Women For Hire, which organizes job fairs and advises women seeking work, said she wonders whether "Someone's Gotta Go" is a good idea at a time so many people are out of work.

"For most people who are concerned about job security or are desperate to get hired, I don't think there's much to laugh at in terms of watching someone else's pain and misery," said Johnson, a regular contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America."

But Mike Darnell, chief of alternative programming at Fox, said everyone who participates in the show knows fully what they are doing.

"I feel that it's part of the times that we are living in," Darnell said. "It's certainly no worse than watching the news every night and hearing all the statistics and watching what is happening. To be frank, like all these shows, if you don't want to watch, don't watch it."

Fox and Endemol have had "absolutely no trouble" finding companies willing to participate, he said.

Fox wouldn't reveal the show's host, which it says is a business consultant who will offer advice to participating companies.

Darnell, a fan of "The Office," said he'd been working with Endemol about a workplace show, perhaps involving an expert coming in to help a dysfunctional workplace, when he saw a news report about a company where the boss couldn't decide who to lay off and left the job to his employees.

That became the basis for "Someone's Gotta Go."

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Halid Beslic 2009