Going behind the scenes of Stage 46: The Reality of Reality Television

November 28, 8:17 AMBaltimore Celebrity Headlines ExaminerCheryl Taragin

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He’s a freelance writer turned author, his first novel already lining bookshelves across the country. But R. Smith won’t reveal his true identity. That’s because he’s blowing the lid off reality television with true tales from the Hollywood underbelly.

Compiled from hundreds of hours of interviews with reality show employees, friends, and contestants, Stage 46: The Reality of Reality Television follows the “living hell” of fictional protagonist Ben Walker, a production assistant on a number-one reality program. Walker navigates a world filled with drug abuse, sex scandals, money laundering, unfair employment practices, and daily verbal attacks from the executives before walking away and telling his side.

Try as I might, Smith would not divulge details. I asked point blank whether the book skewered top rated American Idol, but Smith steadfastly declined to name names. “I’ll leave that to the readers,” he replied.

After browsing the following excerpt, I can understand why.

I entered from behind the stage and walked along the right wall, around to the front of the stage where the individual was sitting. Andy and James were up on stage with the stand-ins, making sure the camera operators knew how the elimination was going to unfold, where to focus the camera, and which contestant to follow. I thought this was weird: the performances would not be happening until the next day, and the eliminations a day after that, so there was no way to know who was going to be eliminated. Voting hadn’t even taken place yet for the show that they were rehearsing for....

 I waited until Andy announced that the rehearsals were wrapped for the day before I delivered the message and returned to the office upstairs. As I watched the live show unfold the next day, I thought that all of the contestants did very well, except for two of the male contestants. I figured that both would be in the bottom group the following day and that one of them would be eliminated from the show and sent packing. Many of the people in the office thought the same thing that I did, so we were all shocked when one of the best performers was eliminated the following day.

After the office calmed down following the shock of the elimination, I finished the last few things I needed to get done before my fifteen-hour day was over and I could head home. While I was driving home, it dawned on me that the person who had been eliminated was the same person who had been eliminated during the closed-door rehearsals just two days before.

That was too much of a coincidence for me. From that day on, I figured that people on the inside had a hand in how the results of the show were handled. 

When pressed about accuracy, Smith assured me his sources were completely genuine and had no reason to lie. In support, he referenced a pending lawsuit filed by disgruntled employees last July. Additional employee lawsuits are pending. Sympathetic websites lend further credence to the book’s sordid tale.

Smith shopped the manuscript to hundreds of publishers and agents before finding a taker in Milner Crest Publishing. Like a similar publication, The Devil Wears Prada, he believes people in the business were afraid to get their hands dirty.

“This publisher believes in me,” Smith offered, “He thinks the book will be hugely successful. Public interest could create enough buzz for a screenplay.”

Screenplay or not, true embellishment or credible fiction, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. From everything I’ve gleaned, Stage 46: The Reality of Reality Television has the makings of a real page turner.