WALKING THE REALITY TV PLANK A friend of mine who once executive-produced a series for A&E revealed to me some time ago that for every one star of reality tele- vision seen crying on screen, there are usually two more production staff bawling just as hard, if not harder, off camera. To be sure, most of the time it isn't a producer. Producers are the ones, after all, doing everything imaginable to elicit these emotive responses from their reality subjects. In recent years, A&E has drawn both unparalleled praise and unri- valed criticism for its admittedly captivating original series entitled Intervention. Each episode chronicles a different participant afflicted by an addiction to drugs, alcohol, and almost any other substance or behavior imaginable. Although the subjects are initially told that they are being filmed for a documentary about addictions, the footage is actu- ally shot as a prelude to an intervention premeditated by family or friends. the Reality TV Plank