How Far Will You Go?

So I've noticed that lately there are a lot of post about Reality TV show, but a few days ago I ran across this video that my friend posted on facebook and it started me thinking "How far are people willing to go to i) Get money or ii) Get their 15 minutes of fame?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sUZ7hei5eA


This video shows a game show (sorry I have no idea which one!) where a person is strapped into a lie detector machine and is given money when she answers a personal question correctly. Now I don't know about you, but I wouldn't really want my entire personal life out there for the world to know about just for a few thousand dollars.

In this particular episode, titled on youtube "Girl Ruins Marriage on Game Show", the questions start off as rather harmless, for example she's asked if "she would ever steal money from her job if she knew she wouldn't get caught?" However, things take a turn for the worst when they start asking her personal romantic questions, while her husband is in the audience...Questions include "Were you in love with another man on your weddings day?" - Yes, "Have you ever cheated on your husband?" - Yes
The real kicker of the episode is the last question she is asked "Do you think you are a good person?" and after doing all these horrible things to her husband, she actually has the audacity to answer YES! Really REALLY??? At least the machine actually detects that she is lying to herself/us.

In summary, Andy Warhol once said that fame will become democratize with everyone having the potential to be famous. On the other hand, I personally don't want to have a democracy where people are willing to ruin themselves and their relationships just to get their 15 minutes of fame - I don't think it's worth it. However, the society we live in nowadays almost pushes people to be on these reality TV shows, it's all we read about in magazines, all we can watch on TV. But answer me this, would you really want to watch a TV show that has the potential to ruin someone's life? I understand the audience's delight in someone's misfortune on shows like Survivor or Dancing with the Stars; but the contestants misfortune there only results in them going back to their normal life basically unscathed. On this game show, the contestant's misfortune can actually result in a drastic change in their life.

Thus, are there TV shows that just go to far? Is there a limit to the amount of destruction you can cause a contestant on a TV show? Stay tuned....