We know what you’re thinking: in the name of Richard Hatch, what channel is that on? Well, put down your TV Guide. “The Contenders,” a reality-television show in which six randomly chosen players must kill each other until there is one (ahem) survivor, is not real. It’s the fictional centerpiece of a new film called “Series 7,” a mordantly funny satire by first-time writer-director Daniel Minahan, and it owes as much to Shirley Jackson as it does to tricky Rich. Nice timing, too, hey? The film’s producers readily admit their hope that “Series 7” can ride the current blitz of “Survivor,” “Temptation Island” and that really confusing one on ABC. Just don’t say the network had the idea first. Two producers, the lead actress (Brooke Smith, riveting as Dawn) and Minahan each take pains to point out that Minahan wrote “Series 7” in 1996–long before “Survivor.” (It’s true. He took his script to the Sundance Writers Lab in 1997.)
Not that it really matters. Whether “Series 7,” filmed on digital video for less than $1 million, is reactive or prescient doesn’t change the fact that it’s a dead-on parody of the form. “Imagine Ed McMahon comes to the door of your house, only it’s a really bad thing,” says Minahan, 37. On “The Contenders,” you must play–a departure from the “Survivor” mold, but a necessary one, its creator says. Presumably, volunteers would risk their lives only for a pile of cash. “And then it becomes a film about greed.”
Instead, “Series 7” is about us, the audience. Shrewdly, Minahan never alludes to the world that consumes “The Contenders” or explains how such a thing ever got on the air, leaving only one conclusion: we did it, and we’re too engrossed to shut it off. Minahan can relate. He admits that he’s just as fascinated by reality TV as the rest of us. (OK, maybe not you, you liar.) “It’s easier to satirize something if you have affection for it,” says co-producer Christine Vachon (“Boys Don’t Cry”). “You can’t really make fun of someone unless you really know them.” Fair enough, but a little advice: don’t make fun of Dawn–no matter how well you know her.
