As writer's strike winds down, reality TV grows

NEW YORK - "Survivor" is now old enough to drive. "Big Brother" and "The Bachelor" are tweens. "The Real World" will soon reach legal drinking age. And long-gone reality TV shows such as the "The Mole" and "Paradise Hotel" are being brought out of retirement.

In the past three months, the writer's strike gave nonscripted TV some unprecedented attention and the newfound responsibility of keeping the networks afloat. But many of the genre's top franchises already had been riding a wave of small-screen stability long before the scribes picked up their picket signs.

"It's like an old friend," says Mike Darnell, Fox's president of alternative entertainment. "People love these shows. They're going to keep watching them. I think the benefit to reality shows is that they have a completely new cast and completely new feel every six months. It's their greatest advantage over the scripted shows."

"Big Brother," premiering Tuesday, is in its ninth edition. Last Thursday's "Survivor: Fan vs. Favorites" debut marked the "Robinson Crusoe" competition's 16th season. ABC announced last Tuesday that British financier Matt Grant will be the 12th "Bachelor." Meanwhile, producers are searching for yet another set of seven strangers to live together for the 21st edition of MTV's "The Real World."

All of that nonscripted TV adds up to way more reality TV contestants than Dunder Mifflin employees, Oceanic Flight 815 survivors, Wisteria Lane residents and Princeton-Plainsboro doctors. Combined.

"These shows continue to be popular for the same reason 'Law & Order' is still popular," says Laurie Ouellette, co-editor of the book "Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture" and a media professor at the University of Minnesota. "You know exactly what's going to happen on 'Survivor' even if there are little surprises from one episode to the next."

Of course, for every "American Idol," there's a dozen "Bachelorettes In Alaska." (Fox's icy dating show went into deep freeze in 2002 after just one season.) But compared with prime-time scripted shows these days, reality TV seemingly has more staying power. "Survivor," "Amazing Race," "Bachelor" and "Real World" are now older than such long-running scripted series as "M*A*S*H," "Cheers," "Murphy Brown" and "Friends" - and they're still chugging along.