Reality TV Figure Rupert Boneham

Note: So-called reality TV swept the nation during the last couple of decades. It would seem to be proof positive of how absolutely bone-desperate many Americans are to be entertained. It also comes on the cheap for TV producers, who do not have to meet the wild salary demands of established stars. At base, the thing that makes this kind of programming so attractive to viewers more than likely is that it gives the audience a bevy of nice looking young people dressed--barely--in skimpy outfits and placed in circumstances that allow for some degree of fooling around with one another.


One of the most popular of all the many reality shows has been Survivor, which in the Untied States started in 2000. Its concept is that a load of contestants are plunked down in an exotic, remote location, divided into competing "tribes," and given a series of ridiculous tasks to perform.They then begin to vote one another off the show. The idea was taken from a similar TV show in Sweden.

One of the best liked of all the U.S. show's contestants was not just a pretty face. In fact, Rupert Boneham isn't pretty at all. He is a bearded, bear-like fellow who looks if though he really could survive if left on his own for real in a remote place.

The U.S. audience took to this American everyman, who had studied nursing and worked at many hard jobs, including gravedigger.

That he is a good fellow can be seen in his use for some of the money he won on the show: setting up Rupert's Kids, an organization in support of troubled kids.