Chapter 42: Reality TV Show Starts

"Quiet! Come on, the show is about to start." That command came from four or five people in the lounge to stop the hum of conversation. Almost thirty people crowded into the room.

The entire Circle was gathered in the family room in front of the large TV set. That night was the first airing of the reality TV series entitled 'The Circle.' It was the start of thirteen weeks showing the edited taping from the nearly continuous videography of The Circle for the past six months. The producers had told Bob, the point person for the video work, that they had enough material for three seasons if the show became a hit.

The commercial break ended, and a picture of the house on the cul-de-sac came into view, photographed from above through some flowering trees, no doubt by a drone. The voice over announcer said, "This is the home of The Circle, a most unusual living arrangement for thirteen men and seventeen women. If you were to ask the basis for The Circle, you would think you'd get thirty different answers, but not from this group – everyone will tell you that love and caring is the basis for living here, and it's because of that response that we bring you this unique show."

The camera angle lowered to the ground, and sweep across the driveway, as it came up behind Jim coming out of the garage and heading towards the front door. The voice over continued, "Even with this philosophy, this group has one interesting experience after another, and that's the reason for this televised series. Join us as we join The Circle..."

The camera magically followed Jim inside, and right into the arms of Renee, Lynn, Ellen, Zoey, Monica, and Tina, and the warm handshakes and backslaps from Bob, Nathan, Steve, Kurt, and Bill. The voices of welcome filled the sound waves.

There were some mundane conversations about how each person's day had gone. This was obviously a welcome home after a normal day at work. Matt came in a few minutes later, receiving a similar welcome. Lolly appeared, and then Ellie, and they both received loving welcomes from everyone.

The scene changed to where Jess was interviewing Jim, and she asked, "What is the purpose of all of the welcome home rituals The Circle does?"

Jim smiled, "It's easy to walk into a place – home, for instance – and be greeted or welcomed. In our case, we want to show each other that we are glad they are back in our presence. We want to show each other that we celebrate that presence, and we know they feel the same way. If you love somebody, you don't just say, 'Oh, yeah. Hi. I remember you from yesterday.' You get up and make a fuss. You want them to feel good. Regardless of the type of day I've had at work, when I get home, I know I'm loved, cared for, even adored, by all of my partners. It changes my whole perspective on life and what I can accomplish."

The video flicked back to Brad and Sandy coming into the house. Everyone gave them a round of applause. After a few kisses, Sandy did a little happy dance, and explained about how the large lunch that she'd arranged and hosted for a local charity had gone – five hundred people and a national-level guest speaker. Everyone listened with rapt attention and asked intelligent questions as she talked about the event; NBC had wisely bleeped out the name of the charity and speaker.

After a commercial break, the TV show returned, and it was the moment when Lolly announced her pregnancy to the entire house and everyone was so happy for her. They even showed the men offering up their paternity, a point I was sure would make for great gossip – long after the fact – in the supermarket tabloids. We all knew that later in the series Lolly would indeed chose Derek as the official baby daddy.

Also captured at the dinner table were Lolly and Don canoodling together with little kisses and obvious love. Down the table Michelle and Steve were similarly engaged. We all figured The Circle was in for a major blast from the public, particularly the red states, even though they had the higher divorce rates compared to blue states.

There were a few more interactions and the hour-long show ended.

Bob muted the sound from the TV set, and asked, "What'd you think?"

Alice jumped in first, "I think they did a great job of editing, but it's obviously not chronological. They've left a lot of open questions about who we are that'll make people want to tune back in."

Zoey said, "NBC put up a whole website about us with our pictures and inter-relationships and everything, even little bios. They showed the web address at the end."

Monica said, "I'm sure we'll get a dose of hate mail full of judgments about our sexual and romantic mores."

Zoey chided, "But that's why we're on TV. That NBC guy who was here said that Sister Wives got some of that kind of mail, but most of what they got was fan mail."

"How will we get any of it?" Lolly asked.

Bob said, "NBC will collect it in batches and then send it unless it's overwhelming. They have machines that check for bad stuff in the envelopes too, even anthrax and other viruses. We have an assistant screening it in New York, as well as keeping tabs on us. Her name is Marty."

Sheila bounced Marshall on her lap; "Do we need to get security, now that we're on TV again?"

Several of the others murmured in agreement.

Bob nodded, "It wouldn't hurt. I'll call first thing in the morning and get something set up like we had last time. Does everyone still have those little stickers on their bumpers we gave out the last time?"

Tammy raised her hand, "I don't."

"Remind me after we break up and I'll put one on your car. The stickers allow the security guys to wave you through the barricade without stopping you." He turned to the broader group, "Any worries or concerns about the TV show?"

No one spoke up. Jim finally said, "I guess we'll all know more when we go to work tomorrow."

Practically everyone in The Circle got calls or visitors the next day, and the conversations all started the same way: 'Hey, I saw you on TV last night.'

About two-thirds of the commenters followed-up with a statement such as, 'I didn't know you lived like that ... with all those other people. That must be fun.' Apparently, they'd missed all the prior ballyhoo about the Circle's lifestyle in the press.

Sooner or later, the sexual innuendo of the show was brought into the conversation, be it with males or females. 'Do you really all ... you know ... sleep with everybody else?'

Over the coming weeks, the word 'polyamory, ' which had been almost nonexistent in the American vocabulary, was suddenly the most frequently used word on other TV shows such as Extra, What's On, Access Hollywood, Oprah, Ellen, and the late night shows. All in all, the treatment was kind and neutral, acknowledging that we lived a very different life style from most of the population.

People magazine did a three-page spread about the show and our living arrangements, removing a little of the mystique that NBC was trying to verge on. The mag blatantly explained how we were all having sex with everyone else – well, not the guy-guy thing, but everything else. At least they weren't judgmental about it; they only reported the news.

Since we'd invited the press coverage we didn't respond. One thing the magazines did do was help explain who the various people were in The Circle. Name recognition happened quickly.

Traffic on the cul-de-sac did increase, but the presence of a ninja warrior about as big as our house, with a large bulge in his jacket, and in a black SUV with blacked out windows discouraged further enquiries. People just turned around and kept on driving hoping they wouldn't get shot; they'd at least seen a corner of the house far up the driveway.

Marty Graham, the NBC groupie connected with the show, called on Friday. She got Bob on the line; "I just wanted to report about the mail – and you as a group have a ton of it. It'd take weeks to read everything that's come in so far, so I'll just send along a sample bag after we've checked it over. There were some implied threats and we're following up on those with the police."

Bob asked for details. Marty explained, "In reality TV, you'll find someone who wants to hate every show, and every character on it. We have some real problems with the Bachelor and the Bachelorette – stalkers, people wanting to 'get to' the main characters, people who threaten everything from murder to suicide if they're not the chosen 'one.'"

Marty went on, "In your case, you've threatened the foundations of marriage – and I want to thank you for that personally. You've said to the world, 'Look, you don't have to be married to be loved and to have meaningful relationships.' I so agree with the way you're living, but every intolerant fundamentalist and conservative has their nose out of joint; we predicted that, and it sells corn flakes in Boise. The advertisers are ecstatic about the show and its ratings; those other groups aren't, and they're demanding that we take it off the air. That said, they'll keep on watching. NBC and producers give the show an 'A' rating – their best."

Marty laughed, "A controversial show attracts viewers, and the more viewers the more advertising revenue. It's a nice symbiotic relationship. So, we are going to spice up some of the upcoming episode a little more than we had to drive that controversy; not over the line – I hope – but we want controversy ... and sex. You might tell Lolly that we're going to play up the paternity issue a bit more with a reminder of what went on. I hope that's OK with her."

Bob and Lolly had already talked about that very issue, and she was quite content about having that raised. It was predictable. He told Marty to proceed. People at the PR firm where Lolly worked already knew about her lifestyle, so it was no big deal to them.

Marty did allow as how a large portion of the mail also raved about the show and the characters, and contained several hundred offers from men and women who wanted to join The Circle, some offering significant money to buy into the group.

She laughed, "If I could, I'd be on that list too. I think what you've got there is exactly what I want in my life – beautiful people, loving and caring relationships, everybody supports everybody else, sex; I think it's the best living arrangement I've ever seen. I already love everyone, and I haven't even met any of you face-to-face."

Bob chuckled, "Well, you come on out here from L.A. and we'll show you how well we treat our guests." The flirty tone in his voice certainly conveyed some level of sexuality to her.

Marty replied with a laugh, "I'm in New York, and someday soon you might find me on your doorstep."

The next episode of The Circle aired a week later. As Marty had said, this one opened up with a recap, including Lolly announcing her pregnancy. This time, the offers to be the baby daddy weren't glossed over; if anything they were amplified with close-ups and exciting music as each man volunteered to be listed on the birth certificate as the 'official' father. The episode made the announcements look much more dramatic and serious than they had been.

Even Don's offer was aired, including his comments about leaving babies to Monica's generation but wanting to be on Lolly's 'good side.' The implication about sex with her was obvious. The video flashed to Michelle's reaction too, except she was leaning back against Steve, and it was obvious that they'd just shared a kiss. Again, the whole situation was made to look really perilous, particular the way some background music entered the scene. Somehow they made Michelle's kiss look like a touch of revenge. No one liked that part.

The next part of the episode contained a conversation Mike had with Zoey about his teenage daughter who lived with her mother, and how pissed she'd be to find out her father was on a reality TV show. He told Zoey with a chuckle about how he'd tried to let her know ahead of time, so she could be prepared with responses about her father's lifestyle. Instead, the teen had adopted her usual arrogant 'up yours' attitude and probably didn't hear what her father was trying to tell her. This came out as a 'told you so' scene for the daughter; 'up yours' back at ya.

The rest of the episode followed Renee and Ellen going over various aspects of the supermodel's schedule, including the controversial bits, plus some modeling of clothing and lingerie she did for a few members of The Circle. There were a few scenes of Renee at work on a photo shoot. Renee was becoming the poster child for The Circle because of her fame and looks.

Again, The Circle was a hot topic on the talk and entertainment-related TV shows. This time the 'adult' nature of the subject matter on our show was explicitly addressed, mainly around Lolly's pregnancy and the indeterminate fatherhood of the baby. At least most of the shows emphasized the loving nature of the relationships and the conscious decision not to track paternity, since everyone wanted to be the baby's parents.

Marty called again at the end of the week with a report about the fan mail. Apparently, another couple of truckloads had arrived. The results were similar to the week before, either condemning Lolly for her sluttish ways as a mother-to-be, or praising her liberated point of view as well as that of all her friends and lovers.

The third episode of The Circle focused on how everyone interacted with the three toddlers and three babies we already had. The show featured Tammy, Lynn, and Michelle, as they played 'universal grandmothers, ' and then the mothers, including how they swapped the babies around for things like breasts feeding. Of course, this was standard behavior in America in colonial times, even into the twentieth century, up to World War II. The men were featured in their 'daddy' roles, usually interacting with multiple children. Several times, a woman or man would be called ma-ma or da-da, regardless of the bloodlines.

Another part of the show featured Matt's photography exhibition and show that he'd had about six months prior. One hoped for result had been resurgence in purchases of his nudes, and that indeed turned out to be the case. Suddenly, instead of being a noted photographer on the local level, he became nationally renowned.

The fan mail on this episode dropped off, according to Marty, and split between how loving everyone was with the children, and how terrible it was that each child didn't have a clearly identified mother or father. The specter of what the kids would be like as they got older ranged from perfect and well-adjusted, to demented and homicidal druggies with perversions involving guns, small children, and pets.

The next episode featured some of the struggles Tammy was going through. She was rightly embarrassed, but acknowledged that she had been asked if she'd allow her story to unfold over several weeks on the show.

Somehow, Sheila also appeared on the show talking about how she'd been screwed over in her freshman year in college, how she'd found out, and how devastated she'd been. She even talked about being an ice princess until she met Bob, Matt, and Jim, all of whom had been so patient with her.

There was also an orchestrated discussion with Nathan and Matt, where Tammy asked about what the men remembered about the convenience store robbery they'd thwarted. The show even made a dramatic moment about playing the video of the robbery from the security camera to Tammy who hadn't seen the security camera footage.

Later in the same show, they showed a conversation with Bob and Derek about the start of The Circle. Bob specifically talked about falling in love with four women simultaneously, and how he didn't want to choose just one – he wanted Zoey, AND Monica, AND Sheila, AND Alice as his girlfriends and lovers. So had Jim and Matt. The discussion led to a short discourse between them on monogamy and exclusivity, and how there were other options than tacitly accepting what had become the norm for society. Derek also asked some good questions about jealousy, and how The Circle dealt with it.

This time the show also delicately addressed Matt's photographic work, including the photo shoot he did with Renee and Ellen, where they modeled nude for him to be included in his larger exhibit. There were some teasing views of the two naked women, but strategic placement of equipment, lights, or other things were in the way of a complete body shot; only their heads, upper torsos, or legs could be seen. Again, there was a boost in online sales.