There is a novelty item that is advertised during the Houston Rocket's televised basketball games called the "Celebriduck". The maker has taken the historic rubber ducky and molded it into a bizarre representation of whatever celebrity is the subject. The Steve Francis Celebriduck seems to be a hot item, as well as the hard to obtain Calvin Murphy model.
The season premiere of "I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here" reminded me of these little gems of marketing. Once again a bunch of D-list celebrities have demeaned themselves for reality television in hopes of gaining popularity again, and perhaps a celebriduck of their own. And the celebrities that are participating are about as bizarre as the whole celebriduck concept.
In a show where Bruce Jenner, Robin Leech, and Melissa Rivers are the most recognizable names, you have to wonder how the producers can avoid being prosecutes on truth in advertising laws. Much like "The Surreal Life" and "Celebrity Mole", this show has scraped the bottom of the media barrel to produce enough people sheltered enough to allow themselves to be humiliated on network television.
The first episode takes the 10 participants and sets them down in an Australian rainforest with a bit of jungle training. A short hike to their campsite, with Robin Leech looking like he was auditioning for the horse in Cat Ballou, ends with a hurried attempt to protect Nikki Ziering from prying eyes as she uses the bathroom (I wonder what's behind door number 3?). Usual "Survivor-like" first episode action occurs, with Robin Leech playing the older, bossy role and Bruce Jenner the golden boy.
Then the fun begins. The unique twist to this show is that the audience gets to choose who to humiliate each episode. Each day one member must perform a task to ensure the rest eat something besides rice and beans. And the tasks look like doozies! For the first task, Melissa Rivers volunteers, and has to put all sorts of gross things into her pants, one jar of each per person in the group. She completes the task, but is upset that she has to be humiliated before America just to eat. I take it Melissa hasn't been watching other reality tv series.
To me this show has only one redeeming quality - any money won will be given to charity. However there has to be some sort of thrill to be able to vote on who will be humiliated next. I vote we all jam the internet voting for Alana Stewart and see if we can push her over the edge, or vote for John Melendez to make sure they eat nothing but rice and beans.
Personally, though, I think I will find another way to earn my celebriduck.
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