The Most Exploitative Show on Earth?
REAL
Naomi Channell
4.8 • 725 Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At the start of the millennium, four young American men in Americacame up with an idea for a new tv show. Following in the footsteps of Jack Ass and Dirty Sanchez, shows that featured groups of men doing crazy and controversial stunts, they wanted to take this type of programming to the next level.
Their show made millions of dollars in revenue and their DVD’s sold in thehundreds of thousands. But the physical and emotional damage this showinflicted on some of the most vulnerable members of society, was the real cost of this production.
This is REAL.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Warning, this is a true crime podcast and is not suitable for all audiences. |
| 0:05.5 | Please use discretion. |
| 0:07.9 | At the start of the millennium, four young American men came up with an idea for a new TV show. |
| 0:16.3 | Following in the footsteps of Jackass and Dirty Sanchez, shows that featured groups of men doing |
| 0:22.5 | crazy and controversial stunts, they wanted to create shocking content that would become |
| 0:28.8 | addictive viewing. Though this show would not end up on television, it would go straight to DVD |
| 0:36.0 | and they would promote it online and through underground |
| 0:39.8 | video networks. |
| 0:41.9 | It made millions of dollars in revenue and the DVDs sold in the hundreds of thousands. |
| 0:50.0 | But the physical and emotional damage this show inflicted on some of the most vulnerable members of society was the real cost of this production. |
| 1:02.1 | I'm Naomi Channel be. I'm |
| 1:11.6 | going to In 2001, Ryan McPherson, Zachary Bubbeck, Daniel Tanner and Michael Simon, four young men between the ages of 19 and 25, had an idea. |
| 1:57.7 | They wanted to create a controversial television show that would divide America. |
| 2:04.2 | They'd tried stunts, doing dangerous and crazy things on camera, but with established TV shows |
| 2:11.5 | like Jackass already mainstream, they needed a different unique selling point. |
| 2:19.6 | They wanted to create something that would be viewed as both addictive and entertaining to one section of society, but cruel and |
| 2:27.6 | cause outrage to the rest. This idea developed into a show they called bumfights. |
| 2:36.7 | The concept was simple. |
| 2:39.2 | They would target homeless and vulnerable people |
| 2:41.8 | and offer them small amounts of money, food or alcohol, |
| 2:46.8 | to hurt and humiliate themselves. |
| 2:50.0 | They would also offer them drugs to hurt each other. |
... |
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