from the people who fed you 'big brother'

[danny_galaga]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=270023

anyone see the movie 'series 7'?

we're not too far from it i can see...

[patrickl]

LOL, I was wondering if this would pop up here (maybe more on PnR though). They still plan on airing it next friday.

BTW the founder of that TV channel died because he could not find a suitable kidney donor. This is their way of bringing to attention that there still are not enough organ donors.

Guess it's the shadow side of living in a truly free country. If people are allowed to do just about anything they like then they will eventually do so. To be honest it doesn't really bother me.

[patrickl]

OH, BTW other big news in the Netherlands is that a gorilla (named Bokito) escaped from it's island (jumped across 4 meters of water and climb out the other end). The gorilla specifically set out to attack a woman that had been taunting it 4 times a week. Amazingly she survived, but was bitten a hundred times and suffered broken bones. She will be in hospital for a while.

[danny_galaga]

OH, BTW other big news in the Netherlands is that a gorilla (named Bokito) escaped from it's island (jumped across 4 meters of water and climb out the other end). The gorilla specifically set out to attack a woman that had been taunting it 4 times a week. Amazingly she survived, but was bitten a hundred times and suffered broken bones. She will be in hospital for a while.

that serves her right. now THAT id like to see!

but boo! to the dutch for big brother!

[patrickl]

but boo! to the dutch for big brother!

Indeed we are quite ashamed for being the country where Big Brother originated from.

There is no real footage of the attack (only some crappy camera phone footage of it walking through a restaurant), but here is a . Pathetic. The people from the Zoo actually told her to leave him alone, but I guess she didn't.

[Felsir]

To put things in perspective (about the donor show) a few things you need to know:

First, BNN is not a commercial broadcast channel- it's part of the public broadcast system in the Netherlands, therefore the implication that they do the show for greed and ratings is false. Yes, it is produced by Endemol, but they act as 'supplier' and BNN is 'buying' the show from them. So the difference with Big Brother here is that Big Brother is a show for gaining money and ratings- this show is not.

Second, the show is basically a documentary about the availability of donor organs and the pressing need for them. In order to get more exposure BNN chose add the element to find a suitable donor for a girl's kidneys. The show tries to draw attention to the fact that there are many suitable donors but often donor organs are 'wasted' because people aren't well informed how to offer their organs in a proper way. So it's not the gameshow as many people think it is.

Third, the founder of BNN, Bart de Graaff died because of a kidney disorder. Bart was a guy because of his disease lived in a body that resembled a 12 year old (while in reality he was 35 years old). Next Friday it's 5 years since Bart died. Since Bart had contoversial ways (even by dutch standards) to bring subjects to the attention of the general public, BNN found the "donor show" to be in spirit with the network's founder.

Note, I'm not justifying the show (I think the kidney should go to the next-in-line on the list) but it might help people to understand a bit what's going on in the Netherlands and where this is coming from. So contoversial? yes. Strange? not if you know the specifics. Had they better pick another format? Probably. Would the problem get as much attention otherwise? Probably not.
Even if the show won't be aired (or it appears to be a big hoax by BNN- as rumoured by the dutch media) they got the attention for the subject they wanted and THAT was their primary goal. Not the ratings, not the money gained from SMS (which will be donated to the kidney fund anyway).

[patrickl]

OK, apparently it was a hoax. They had the show and at the end told that the woman giving the kidney was an actrice.

[Felsir]

During the show, 18.000 people have signed up to have their organs saved for donation when they die. So the show succeeded in getting the attention they needed.

[danny_galaga]

alls well that ends well then! not as horrible an idea as that william shatner 'invasion iowa' or whatever it is...