The Golden Cage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) |
 |
The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007) |
| The Colden Cage. | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality television |
| Created by | Talpa Media |
| Country of origin | Netherlands |
| Language(s) | Dutch |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Eemnes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Tien (2006-2007) RTL 5 (2007-today) |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
In 1999 De Gouden Kooi (The Golden Cage) used to be the original concept and working title for Big Brother. In 2006 it has been turned into another format of Reality Television.
The idea for De Gouden Kooi was born on Thursday, 4 September 1997 during a brainstorm session at the production house John de Mol Produkties, an independent part of Endemol. Participants were John de Mol himself, Patrick Scholtze, Bart Römer and his brother Paul Römer. After John de Mol left Endemol he reintroduced the original format for his TV-station Talpa.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The first Dutch episode on 23 September 2006 had slightly less than 1 million viewers (10-15% market share, it was programmed right after the Dutch Eredivisie soccer show, which always attracts many viewers); the two subsequent episodes received around 500,000 viewers (5-10% market share). Thereafter, the audience dropped to about 350,000[1]. The setting was a €2 million capital villa in Eemnes. After a few months the uglier sides of the participants came to light. A lot of millionaires were constantly plotting how to get rid of the others. Natasia, who had left behind her two young kids, refused to return home when her boyfriend who cared for them asked her to. She wanted to reach her goals first: a boob job and a drivers license. One participant regularly ordered the use of (masked) prostitutes. Some participants started (loveless) sexual relationships, which led to jealousy and much verbal abuse. Another contestant, Nena, had to be disqualified on 2 February 2007 after she kicked another participant's leg. 2 days later, Nathanael kicked Huub and they both got into a fight. After much discussion between the directors, Huub got back into the house because he didn't physically attack Nathanael. On 30th November 2007, miljonaire Dennis was about to be voted off by all of the other contestants in the house and would not be replaced by another contestant, during the vote, Dennis grabbed a chair and demolished a camera in the house, causing him to be disqualified, but also so he would be replaced with another millionaire[2].
[edit] Contestants
[edit] Guest players
| Contestant | birthdate | place of residence | since | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luc | Tilburg | 30 September 2007 – 29 January 2008 | |||
| Janice | Amsterdam | 12 November 2007 – 19 November 2007 | |||
| Selene | Tilburg | 23 November 2007 – 16 February 2008 | |||
| Jeroen | Ghent | 5 December 2007 – 6 December 2007 | |||
| Roekshana | Den Haag | 6 December 2007 - 8 December 2007 | |||
| Mike | Amsterdam | 19 December 2007 - 29 March 2008 | |||
| Emin Pariz Saidoff | Rotterdam | 12 February 2008 - 18 February 2008 | |||
| Christina Princess Saidoff | Rotterdam | 12 February 2008 - 18 February 2008 | |||
| Barry | Amsterdam | 4 March 2008 - 9 March 2008 | |||
| Nicole | Vlijmen | 5 March 2008 - 10 March 2008 | |||
| Nienke | Apeldoorn | 10 March 2008 - 14 March 2008 | |||
| Ricardo a.k.a. Rachel | Amsterdam | 14 March 2008 - 20 May 2008 |
[edit] Criticism
The concept has been heavily criticized. Because there are no nominations or votings off like in Big Brother, psychologists assume that harassment and bullying will be the only ways of getting rid of one's rivals and obtaining the reward. This would provide a very wrong role model for the youth of the Netherlands. John de Mol therefore promised to introduce a bully referee. The producers rather expect that housemates will leave if they experience homesickness or family-complications will occur (death, birth or sickness).
[edit] Other countries
John de Mol, who used his own television station (Tien) as a testing ground, sold the concept to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on 2 February 2007 .
