Incentivized Sleep-dep-o-naut-ery

[gfish]

Random question: in all of the make-something/elimination reality TV shows that I know of (like Project Runway and Face Off), the contestants are always only given a certain amount of time during the day in which to work on something. Even during a multi-day project, they can only work 8-12 hours and then have to be taken back to their cages. Why is that? It seems like, if you want drama and ill-advised creative efforts, letting them stay up for 48 hours with an IV caffeine drip working feverishly on a project while yelling at their hallucinations would be a no-brainer. Could it be a liability thing? Or maybe they just don't want to pay for the film crews? Seems weird to me.

Comments

[tithonium]

I'm guessing it's the crew.

[johno]

It's all about the $$.

It's not just the crew. During the filming, the participants are paid as "performers." While they usually get paid a flat rate, overtime rules can kick in and filming for more then 12 hours ups their rate.

As TV/Movie production folks, they can work 12 hours at "standard" rates for 5 or 6 days a week, but cross that and they get double time. As they say on set when a filming day crosses 12 hours "Cha-Ching, Golden time!!!"

[caladri.livejournal.com]

I vaguely-recall a Top Chef episode where most contestants were up more than 24 hours, and I think there was a Hell's Kitchen in which some of the contestants were up more than 24 hours. More entertaining, and I'd say probably more true-to-life. When I'm working on something crazy that my success depends upon and I'm passionate about, 12 hours is hardly my limit.