AU2013100402A4 - Provision of entertainment - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of providing entertainment to an audience includes receiving information regarding a contestant's (12) circumstances, receiving information 5 from the contestant regarding his original type of behaviour, and identifying more realistic or responsible types of behaviour for the circumstances. The method includes identifying weaknesses in the contestant's original behaviour, based on the differences between the new identified and original behaviours. A coach (22) is allocated to the contestant, and the contestant is given various 10 challenges, with the coach guiding the contestant in relation to his types of in response to the challenges. The response behaviours including and differences between those and the original types of behaviour are monitored and a progress assessment is obtained from an assessor (20) as to whether the response behaviours are diverging from the original behaviours and 15 converging on the alternative identified behaviour. The above steps are wirelessly broadcast (16) over a wireless broadcast network to a remote audience (18) as part of an entertainment show. j IL I L t 24.1 i-v 26 *A# !*-16 - - 18

Description

1 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (Innovation patent) Invention Title: Provision of entertainment The invention is described in the following statement: 2 FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to entertainment. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of providing entertainment to an audience. 5 BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION "Reality" television shows have become popular. Such shows typically show participants in situations which, although to some extent are contrived for the 10 purpose of the show, nevertheless involve interactions between the participants and other people in non-fictional scenarios. Many such shows relate to improving the participants in some respect, for example in relation to weight loss. Often, the participants may benefit from the 15 activities to which they are subjected during these shows, although they may not have had the ability or drive to achieve those benefits themselves. However, the participants are at least aware of the fact that they have certain shortcomings which can be improved. 20 It is an object of the invention to provide a useful alternative to the prior art. In particular, according to at least one embodiment of the invention, it is an object to provide a method of providing entertainment to an audience, the entertainment involving at least one contestant, where the contestant is subject to certain activities or challenges designed to create or increase 25 awareness of the contestant to certain shortcomings in the contestant's types of behaviour, or attitudes, to his or her particular circumstances. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 30 According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method of providing entertainment to an audience, the method including: 1.1 receiving information regarding certain circumstances of at least one contestant; 3 1.2 receiving information from the at least one contestant regarding aspects of the at least one contestant's original types of behaviour, being actual types of behaviour in response to said circumstances; 1.3 identifying alternative types of behaviour which, if they were 5 employed by the at least one contestant, would be considered to display a greater understanding of the reality of, or sense of responsibility towards, said circumstances; 1.4 identifying, and attributing to the at least one contestant, areas of weakness in the at least one contestant's original types of behaviour, based 10 on the differences between said alternative types of behaviour and original types of behaviour; 1.5 allocating, to the at least one contestant, at least one coach; 1.6 subjecting the at least one contestant to a succession of challenges at at least one venue; 15 1.7 causing the at least one coach to guide the at least one contestant in respect of the at least one contestant's types of behaviour which are in response to said challenges; 1.8 monitoring said response types of behaviour including differences between the response types of behaviour and said original types 20 of behaviour; 1.9 as the at least one contestant is subjected to said successive challenges, obtaining, from at least one assessor, a progress assessment as to whether said response types of behaviour are diverging from said original types of behaviour and converging on said alternative types of behaviour; and 25 1.10 wirelessly broadcasting, via a wireless broadcast network, information representing steps 1.1 to 1.9 to the audience as part of an entertainment show wherein the audience is remote from said at least one venue. 30 In a preferred embodiment, the at least one assessor is in the form of at least one judge at the at least one venue. In a preferred embodiment, in step 1.9, the at least one assessor includes a plurality of members of said audience.

4 In a preferred embodiment, the at least one contestant includes a plurality of contestants. Then, preferably, the progress assessment according to step 1.9 includes 5 votes, by said assessors, as to which one or more of the contestants has displayed response types of behaviour which have undergone the greatest divergence from said original types of behaviour and convergence on said alternative types of behaviour, preferably determining the number of said votes for each contestant, and preferably attributing to at least one contestant 10 a performance status relative to the other contestants, the performance status being based on the number of votes for that at least one contestant. In a preferred embodiment, the at least one contestant having the greatest number of votes is attributed a performance status of being a winner. 15 In a preferred embodiment, said obtaining of an assessment includes obtaining an assessment transmitted via at least one of the internet, email, SMS, telephone and wireless broadcast network. 20 According to one preferred embodiment, said obtaining of an assessment includes obtaining an assessment transmitted via a social networking service which is preferably an online service. In a preferred embodiment, the wireless broadcast network is a television 25 network. In a preferred embodiment, the allocating of at least one coach includes selecting at least one of a plurality of coaches, the selected at least one coach being determined to have the greatest coaching capabilities of said plurality of 30 coaches in relation to said areas of weakness of the at least one contestant. In this specification, where reference is made to behaviour or types of behaviour of a person, then unless the context indicates otherwise, such 5 behaviour or types of behaviour includes comments made by, or the attitudes displayed by, such person. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 5 Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a diagrammatic representation of a method according to an embodiment of the invention. 10 DETAILED DESCRIPTION According to a preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a method of providing entertainment in the form of a "reality" television show. Thus, 15 according to one preferred embodiment, the method may be performed at a television studio or other televised venue as indicated by the reference number 10 in the figure. The underlying theme of the show, according to the preferred embodiment, 20 involves assisting contestants 12 to adopt a more realistic perception of, and more appropriate behaviour in relation to, their circumstances, or a greater sense of responsibility towards those circumstances. As a television show, it is filmed (as indicated schematically by the camera 14) 25 and broadcast, as indicated at 16, via a television network, to a television audience 18 which is remote from the television venue 10. The audience may, for example, include members of the public viewing television at their homes, social clubs, or any other location where people watch television for entertainment. 30 The method steps described below are televised in full or in part, and broadcast to the television audience 18, either as a live show or pre-recorded show.

6 As discussed in further detail below, the show involves three judges 20. The method involves receiving information regarding certain circumstances of the contestants 12, for example relating to the contestants' lives, businesses, 5 or relationships. The information may be received from the contestants 12 themselves, or from others, such as family members or friends of the contestants. The information may be received by the operator of the television show, such as a television station or producer. 10 In addition, the method involves obtaining information from the contestants 12 regarding the types of behaviours that they adopt in relation to those circumstances, or their attitudes to those circumstances. As indicated above, the underlying theme of the preferred embodiment is to 15 assist the contestants 12 to improve their types of behaviour and attitudes. To achieve this, it is first necessary to identify alternative types of behaviour or attitudes which would be considered more appropriate than those actually displayed by the contestants. Where reference is made to types of behaviour, or attitudes, being more appropriate to the circumstances, this is in the sense 20 of displaying a greater understanding of the reality of those circumstances (i.e. being more realistic in relation to those circumstances), or displaying a greater sense of responsibility towards the circumstances. For ease of reference, the actual original types of behaviour or attitudes of the 25 contestants in relation to their circumstances are referred to below as their "original" types of behaviour or attitudes, while the identified alternative types of behaviour or attitudes are referred to below as "alternative" types of behaviour or attitudes. 30 According to one embodiment of the invention, such alternative types of behaviour or attitudes may be determined by producers or staff members of the entity which is the producer of the television show, and may, for example, be communicated to the audience 18 by a game show host (not shown) that is hosting the show, or by an unseen narrator on the show.

7 Once alternative types of behaviour or attitudes which are more appropriate are identified, this can indicate areas of weakness in the original types of behaviour and attitudes of the contestants 12, in response to their respective circumstances. 5 According to the preferred embodiment, a number of different coaches 22 (including mentors), having different skills and experience to one another, are available to be allocated to the contestants 12. Once the areas of weakness of the contestants are identified, the appropriate one of the coaches 22 to 10 allocate to each contestant can be determined by matching, as closely as practicable, the skills and experience of the coaches to the areas of weakness of the contestants. The method then involves subjecting the contestants to a succession of 15 different challenges or tests 24.1 to 24.4 (generally referenced as 24). While only four challenges 24 are schematically shown for each contestant 12, it will be appreciated that in practice there may be different numbers of challenges. These challenges 24 can be created or designed, for example, by the producers of the television show. 20 The nature of the challenges 24 to which each contestant 12 is subjected may be based on the determined areas of weakness of the contestant. For example, the challenges 24 may be designed to bring out the types of behaviour or attitudes in relation to which the contestant 12 has been 25 considered to have areas of weakness. When the contestants 12 are subjected to these challenges, they are guided in their responses, by the coaches 22 that have been allocated to them. In particular, the coaches 22 guide the contestants in relation to their types of 30 behaviour and attitudes with which they respond to the posed challenges. The responses of the contestants 12 are monitored and televised, and can thus be viewed by the television audience 18. The nature of the responses of each contestant 12 can then be compared with the original responses to the 8 contestants' particular circumstances as mentioned above. Thus, the differences between their responses to the posed challenges 24 and the original responses to the real circumstances can also be monitored. 5 In this manner, the three judges 20 as well as the television audience 18 can assess whether the types of behaviour or attitudes of each contestant 12, as the successive challenges 24 are posed, are improving - that is, whether the nature of these responses is diverging from the nature of their original behaviour in relation to their particular circumstances, and converging on the 10 "alternative", more appropriate types of behaviour and attitudes that were determined as part of the show. The improvements of each contestant 18 as assessed by the judges 20 and members of the audience 18, can be voted on by them, in order to determine 15 how the improvements, if any, of the contestants compare with one another. The television show is provided with suitable means to enable members of the television audience 18, who are remote from the television venue 10, to transmit their votes as indicated at 26. For example, in different embodiments, 20 such votes may be transmitted via the internet, by email, by SMS (short message service), by telephone and/or via a television network. According to one preferred embodiment, the votes may be transmitted via a social networking service, preferably an online service, for example, but not limited to a service such as Facebook (TM). 25 Thus, the television venue 10 is provided with a suitable interface and processing means, illustrated schematically by reference numeral 28 in the figure, for receiving such communications from the audience 18, and for recording a tally of the number of votes for each of the contestants 12. 30 A tally is also taken of the votes by the judges 20. According to the preferred embodiment, the votes are for indicating which of the contestants' response types of behaviour and attitudes have undergone 9 the greatest divergence from the original types of behaviour and attitudes in response to their particular circumstances, and convergence on the determined alternative, more appropriate types of behaviour and attitudes. 5 Depending on the rules of the particular game show, the votes by the judges 20 may have a higher weighting, so that each judge's vote counts as more than a single vote of an audience member 18. In this manner, based on the number of votes for each contestant 12, the 10 contestants may be attributed with a performance status, such as winner (the contestant with the highest number of votes), runner up (the contestant with the second highest number of votes), or outright loser (the contestant with the lowest number of votes). 15 According to one preferred embodiment, at the end of a predetermined period such as a week, the contestant 12 that has been given the lowest number of votes (i.e. the outright loser) may be eliminated from the show. In addition, at the end of a predetermined period, such as at the end of a 20 series or season of the show, the winning contestant 12 may receive an award such as a monetary prize. As part of the show, according to one embodiment, each week the members of the audience 18 will also be asked to nominate an organisation or 25 corporation which they feel has shown a lack of social, financial or corporate responsibility. The three judges 20 will then determine which one or more organisation or corporation they consider to have shown the greatest lack of social, financial or corporate responsibility, and will award a weekly cash prize to the nominator of the organisation or corporation in question. In addition a 30 follow-up check of the organisation or corporation will be carried out to determine whether or how it has responded or adjusted after having received such a nomination. The results of this check will also be broadcast to the audience 18.

10 Also as part of the show, according to an embodiment, each week members of the audience 18 will be asked to send in nominations of people that they know and whom they believe do not display suitably realistic or responsible types of behaviour or attitudes to their circumstances, and whom they 5 therefore believe would be suitable contestants for the show. The members of the audience 18 may be requested to submit not only details of the proposed contestants, but also explanations as to why they believe that such people would be suitable. Such proposed contestants might then be taken on as contestants, in which case the relevant nominations would be considered as 10 accepted nominations. In this event, preferred forms of such an embodiment will involve a prize allocation to those members of the audience 18 whose nominations of contestants have been accepted. Set out below are examples of scenarios of possible contestants 12 in the 15 show, including their relevant circumstances, their types of behaviour or their attitudes in response to those circumstances, and an indication of suitable coaches for guiding the contestants with respect to their types of behaviour and attitudes in response to challenges set as part of the show. 20 Example 1 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances Helen is a 40-year old mother of two young children. She has chosen to break up from her husband of 10 years, Alan, as he was not able to provide her with 25 the lifestyle she desired as he was not sufficiently wealthy. Alan may be considered as a decent person with an average job and average wage. 30 Helen did not want to take a job and considered it as Alan's responsibility to provide for her and the children. Helen also has expensive tastes, and expectations of luxury.

11 Alan has worked hard trying to meet Helen's expectations but has always fallen short. His insufficient average salary has meant they had no chance of buying a 5 home in the Sydney property market, particularly as Helen was adamant that she wanted to live in the exclusive eastern beach suburbs. Since breaking up with Alan, Helen has repeatedly told the family he was a "bad provider" and was unsupportive. 10 She does not appear to acknowledge that her refusal to take a job has contributed to the family's financial struggles. Since the break-up with Alan, as a single mother, she is now trying to 15 establish an interior design business. However, she has shunned many suggestions provided to her by others, that she attempt to secure a full-time job where she can earn a weekly wage or salary. Her expectations for success in her business are very high, despite her having 20 virtually no relevant experience or qualifications. Suitable coach A suitable coach may be a staff member from a well known recruitment firm. 25 Example 2 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances George is 29 year old man with a tertiary education. 30 Despite having had a well-paying career as an engineer since he graduated from university at the age of 22, he is still living in the family home with his mother Rita and father, Theo.

12 Initially, he chose to do so to assist him to save money rapidly so that he could afford to purchase an apartment. His parents, wishing to be supportive of this goal, chose not to charge him for 5 his accommodation. Despite their broad hints over the last few years as to the cost of having George still live with them, he still does not contribute to the expenses and responsibilities of running the household apart from cooking dinner on a 10 Sunday evening. His parents had been hoping to "downsize" by moving into an apartment but are still waiting for George to purchase an apartment of his own and to move out of their house. 15 George's ability to save money to purchase an apartment has been hampered by annual overseas trips that he takes, a busy social life, and his frequent purchase of new items of technology 20 Suitable coach A person who has had to overcome very challenging circumstances when young and who had no family support at all but has succeeded in achieving his/her goals in life. 25 Example 3 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances Mark is a sporty 15 year old, year-10 school boy. Despite having the ability to obtain reasonable grades, his school reports are always very poor due to lack 30 of applying himself and a poor attitude. Mark considers paying more attention to his schoolwork to be a waste of time, as he believes that he is clearly destined for a career in the National Rugby 13 League in which he will be earning a high salary in the order of $500,000 per season. He has told his parents that he will be leaving school as soon as possible to 5 pursue his football dreams. They are extremely concerned that, if he does leave school, he will have no other career options available to him if his football dreams do not materialise or if he should sustain a serious injury. 10 Suitable coach A suitable coach may be an ex-player who has experienced both the benefits and detriments of a professional sport. 15 Example 4 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances Maria is an attractive, hardworking and high-achieving 36 year old woman. She has a demanding job and earns a high salary. She would have similar 20 high expectations of a partner but has yet to meet a partner that she would consider suitable and as "Mr Right". This is despite her dating a number of men who her family and friends have all liked. No boyfriend has quite lived up to her criteria and Maria is now the last of her school friends to remain single. 25 Maria almost became engaged to a man three years previously, but she was not convinced that he was the right partner for her, despite having dated him for two years. Her family insist that her ideals of male perfection are unrealistic and 30 unobtainable and worry that she will miss her chance of having children. Maria insists that lots of women easily have children after the age of 40 and that she still has plenty of time to find her perfect partner.

14 Example 5 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances Rupert and Eva live in the expensive Eastern Suburbs with their two children, 5 Jack and Lilly and their family dog, a Labradoodle, called Daisy. Rupert works in the finance sector and earns an annual base salary of $250,000. Eva works in the recruitment field and earns an annual salary of $120,000. They have a very large mortgage which they were confident they could manage but since the recent global financial crisis, Rupert's bonuses (which are equal to his 10 base salary) have not been paid and his sector of the job market has far fewer roles available. The family eats out regularly and employ a cleaner for their house, a gardener for their garden, and a dog walker. The children attend a private school and 15 the school fees rise regularly. A significant amount of money is committed for payment of the children's extra-curricular sports and other activities, and Eva buys the whole family new clothes each year. While Rupert and Eva feel that they are struggling financially, they consider 20 that their lifestyle and level of expenditure are essential to the family's happiness and success. Example 6 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response 25 to those circumstances Jordan is an 18 year old recent school leaver. His parents are both highly paid professionals and he completed his secondary school studies (obtaining a Higher School Certificate (HSC)) at a private school. He is a personable young man but makes minimal effort in most of his endeavours. When Jordan 30 obtained his provisional ("P") driver's licence, his parents gave him, as a gift, a car valued at approximately $30,000. They pay all the running costs of the car and all of his living expenses. Jordan has never had a casual job as many of 15 his friends have. Even after the HSC examinations, he made no attempt to get a job over the summer break. His lack of motivation and effort were reflected in his HSC results. His parents are now paying $17,000 to a private college for him to undertake a pre-university entry course, in the hope that he can qualify 5 to be accepted to attend university. His parents wonder why Jordan is not more motivated. Friends of the parents wonder why the parents are unable to understand why Jordan is so unmotivated. Example 7 10 Contestant's circumstances, and types of behaviour and attitudes in response to those circumstances Marnie is an attractive, tertiary-educated woman in her late 30s. She is married to a successful medical doctor (a general practitioner (GP)) and has two children, aged ten and seven years. Marnie has not had paid employment 15 for over ten years, since her first pregnancy. She has also engaged a maid to come to her house to do house cleaning and ironing. Her GP husband is very supportive and often takes the children out during the limited times when he is not working, to give Marnie a "break". Despite all of this, Marnie frequently tells family and friends how extremely busy she is. Her calendar is indeed very 20 full, with times set aside for lunching, shopping, attending the beautician and hairdresser, working out at the gym and attending school events and social functions. Suitable coach 25 A suitable coach may be Susan, who is of a similar age to Marnie and who works on a full-time basis in paid employment, and who also assists her husband, Peter, with the administration of his small business. Susan is reasonably bright but did not have the benefit of a strong education 30 and did not complete her high school studies, leaving school in year ten. Her employment prospects have therefore been limited and her salary of $46,000 has little prospect of improving.

16 Despite Susan and her husband both working on a full-time basis, their financial resources are limited and Susan cannot afford a cleaner. All household tasks have to be carried out during weekends with the help of Susan's two children. 5 A few days away once a year is the extent of holiday that the family takes. Most of the family's income is used for paying off the mortgage over the family home, and paying bills. A trip to a beautician is a luxury that Susan can only dream of. Susan's shopping is on a modest basis, especially when compared 10 to Marnie's love of, and purchase of, expensive goods including clothing with "high end" labels and designer goods. When Susan comments on how busy she is, people often nod in understanding. As part of the coaching process, Marnie will live in Susan's house and "ghost" 15 her at work (i.e. accompany Susan while she is working, pay close attention to her work, and assist Susan in her work where practicable) for approximately two weeks. During this time, Marnie will also be expected to carry out household tasks 20 with Susan and assist Susan in dealing with the multiple demands made on Susan each day. Marnie will also be expected to live for those two weeks on the very limited budget that Susan has at her disposal and will not be permitted to exceed this, for example by using her own credit cards. 25 Judges and viewers will monitor Marnie to assess whether she has reflected on the issue of what other people may consider being "extremely busy", and whether she has acquired an understanding of these issues. Although the invention is described above in relation to preferred 30 embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is not limited to those embodiments, but may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims (1)

1. A method of providing entertainment to an audience, the method including: 5 1.1 receiving information regarding certain circumstances of at least one contestant; 1.2 receiving information from the at least one contestant regarding aspects of the at least one contestant's original types of behaviour, being actual types of behaviour in response to said circumstances; 10 1.3 identifying alternative types of behaviour which, if they were employed by the at least one contestant, would be considered to display a greater understanding of the reality of, or sense of responsibility towards, said circumstances; 1.4 identifying, and attributing to the at least one contestant, areas 15 of weakness in the at least one contestant's original types of behaviour, based on the differences between said alternative types of behaviour and original types of behaviour; 1.5 allocating, to the at least one contestant, at least one coach; 1.6 subjecting the at least one contestant to a succession of 20 challenges at at least one venue; 1.7 causing the at least one coach to guide the at least one contestant in respect of the at least one contestant's types of behaviour which are in response to said challenges; 1.8 monitoring said response types of behaviour including 25 differences between the response types of behaviour and said original types of behaviour; 1.9 as the at least one contestant is subjected to said successive challenges, obtaining, from at least one assessor, a progress assessment as to whether said response types of behaviour are diverging from said original 30 types of behaviour and converging on said alternative types of behaviour; and 1.10 wirelessly broadcasting, via a wireless broadcast network, information representing steps 1.1 to 1.9 to the audience as part of an entertainment show wherein the audience is remote from said at least one venue.