DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum TV Show to offer Kidneys as prize.

With stuff like this it's just a matter of time before The Running Man becomes a "reality"


TV show to offer kidneys as prize


Those disappointed that reality show Survivor didn't quite live up to its dramatic title are in luck — contestants on a bizarre new Dutch program will actually be fighting to stay alive.

In The Big Donor Show, which is set to air this Friday, a terminally ill cancer patient will select one of three patients to receive her kidneys.

Viewers will watch testimonials from the three Dutch contestants, aged between 18 and 40, and send in text message advice to the donor to help her decide who should receive the lifesaving operation.


"I want to block this. This is truly not permissible," Joop Atsma, of the ruling Christian Democrat Party, told NOS radio.

"How are the two rejected candidates supposed to feel after the broadcast?"

Donor Lisa, 37, agreed to participate in the reality program after failing to find a suitable recipient of her organs.

Despite worldwide outrage over what many are calling a sick grab for ratings, broadcaster BNN says the program will highlight the country's shortage of organ donors.

"The contestants in the show have a 33 per cent chance. That's a much larger chance than if they were on the organ waiting list," said network chairman Laurens Drillich.

"We think that is disastrous, so we are acting in a shocking way to bring attention to this problem."

The program is produced by Endemol, the makers of controversial program Big Brother.

Dutch politicians are threatening to force the network to drop the donor show before it airs on Friday.

"The scenario portrayed in this programme is ethically totally unacceptable," said Professor John Feehally, former president of the UK's Renal Association.

"The show will not further understanding of transplants … Instead it will cause confusion and anxiety."

Paul Beerkens, director of Holland's Kidney Institute, said it is "fantastic" that the program would draw attention to the country's donor shortage problem, but expressed concern over its sensational context.

"But the way in which they're doing this is definitely not our choice," he told Dutch news agency ANP. "This is not a structural solution."

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Nothing like using the Media to let people know something that they choose to ignore by not saying yes to be an organ donor. The way I see it, if I have something that may help save a life and I have no use for it then feel free to use it if you can.

I have a cousin that died of liver cancer due to alcoholism. Before the cancer set in he had been on the donar list but due to the fact that he couldn't stay off the booze for 1 year he was unable to stay on the transplant list. He was removed and someone with more of a need that was doing the right things to prepare for the transplant was moved up.

I'm not saying that all people that are on the list are deserving of a transplant but who are we to judge who is and who isn't. I for one am not for a TV "reality show" such as this. There has to be another way to get the word out that there is a shortage of legal viable donors. The black market is something that we won't even delve into.

all jmho

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Outcry over TV kidney competition


A Dutch TV station says it will go ahead with a programme in which a terminally ill woman selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys.
Political parties have called for The Big Donor Show to be scrapped, but broadcaster BNN says it will highlight the country's shortage of organ donors.

"It's a crazy idea," said Joop Atsma, of the ruling Christian Democrat Party.

"It can't be possible that, in the Netherlands, people vote about who's getting a kidney," he told the BBC.

The programme, from Big Brother creators Endemol, is due to be screened on Friday night.

'Totally unacceptable'


The 37-year-old donor, identified only as Lisa, will make her choice based on the contestants' history, profile and conversation with their family and friends.

Viewers will also be able to send in their advice by text message during the 80-minute show.

The Dutch donor authority has condemned the show, as have kidney specialists in the UK.

"The scenario portrayed in this programme is ethically totally unacceptable," said Professor John Feehally, who has just ended his term as president of the UK's Renal Association.

"The show will not further understanding of transplants," he added. "Instead it will cause confusion and anxiety."


Professor Feehally also pointed out that, under normal circumstances, two people would benefit from a donor, each receiving one kidney.

"The set up of the programme bears no relationship to the way decisions are made about transplants in the real world," he said.

"Living donors can choose altruistically to give one of their kidneys - usually to a family member.

"If organs become available after someone dies, health professionals with access to detailed information about those waiting for a transplant make objective decisions about who should receive those particular kidneys."


The former director of TV station BNN, Bart de Graaff, died from kidney failure aged 35 after spending years on a transplant waiting list.

"The chance for a kidney for the contestants is 33%," said the station's current chairman, Laurens Drillich. "This is much higher than that for people on a waiting list."

"We think that is disastrous, so we are acting in a shocking way to bring attention to this problem."

"For years and years we have had problems in the Netherlands with organ donations and especially kidney donations," agreed Alexander Pechtold of D-66, the Dutch social liberal party.

"You can have a discussion about if this is distasteful, but finally we have a public debate," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

TV critics in the UK have expressed horror at the programme, but said such a show would be unlikely in Britain.

"My first reaction, probably everyone's reaction, is that this is as dangerously near as we've got to a TV programme playing God," said Julia Raeside of the Guardian newspaper.

"People may live or die on the result of a game show. It's a step too far.

"I don't think this is anything to do with reality TV. It's just a crazy idea that would never play out over here."

The outcry comes at a difficult time for production company Endemol, who were censured by Ofcom last week for their handling of the Celebrity Big Brother racism row.

The Australian version of Big Brother has also drawn criticism for not telling a contestant that her father had died.

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He was removed and someone with more of a need that was doing the right things to prepare for the transplant was moved up.

I'm not saying that all people that are on the list are deserving of a transplant but who are we to judge who is and who isn't.

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I'm sorry for you and your cousin but you answered your own question.... given that demand exceeds supply, "we" have to judge and the very first criteria should be, who is going to take care of it the best.

this is quite possibly the dumbest, cruelest thing I have ever heard of.

Just a thought.

When I read the "how are the losing contestants gonna feel?" The only thought going through my head is that some people will be moved enough to do something about it.

I'm not sure, and I dont think I would EVER watch this show. But im willing to bet that all 3 of those people will end up with kidneys, the people that watch the show, I think will be moved by the person, and want to do something, and I think something will get done, whether its donations of kidneys or money or something.

I can see it now...Instead of winning money on game shows...you get a FREE kidney!!

Bring back the Gladitorial games !! Then we can stop crying about some mangy mankilling dogs fighting each other.

can we bring back America Gladiators?

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Turns out with a hoax.


Dutch kidney television show a hoax


A Dutch reality television show in which a supposedly dying woman had to pick one of three contestants to whom she would donate a kidney has been revealed as an elaborate hoax.

The show, which the broadcaster had said aimed to focus attention on a shortage of donor organs in the Netherlands, was condemned by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende ahead of transmission and sparked controversy worldwide.

Identified only as Lisa, the 37-year-old woman who had been said to have been suffering from a brain tumour was to base her selection on the person's history and conversations with the candidates' families and friends.


In the last minutes of the program, she was revealed as a healthy actress and program makers stunned viewers by saying The Big Donorshow was a hoax.


The contestants were also part of the deception, although all three are genuine kidney patients.


Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk hailed the show as a "fantastic stunt" and an intelligent way to draw attention to the shortage of donor organs.

The show is expected to set off heated debate between those who believe reality television has gone too far and others who believe the publicity was generated for a good cause.

Program makers apologised to viewers and said they hoped "outrage" over the show would turn into anger over the lack of organs for transplant.

Viewers in the Netherlands were asked to give advice via text messages in the 80-minute show, and appeals ran throughout for people to donate their organs.

Early in the show Lisa was shown selecting three people from 25 candidate profiles who matched her blood group.

"It feels like playing God," said a fraught-looking Lisa. "Think of it as playing Santa Claus," replied the presenter.

The show had set off a storm of criticism, both at home and abroad, though some kidney patients said ahead of the show that they approved of it because it drew attention to their plight.

Balkanende had said the show was detrimental to the whole business of organ donation and it would do the reputation of the Netherlands no good abroad, Dutch news agency ANP said.

Dutch embassies received complaints from people expressing their shock over the show.

Public broadcaster BNN, which came up with the idea, said it wanted to draw attention to the growing shortage of organ donors in the Netherlands.

"Money has never been part of this thing and no money will be made from this," said BNN chairman Laurans Drillich.

Callers to a local radio station had suggested the whole thing could be a hoax by BNN to build up its ratings.

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So there we go. Quite clever really, certainly got people talking.