Control TV
ControlTV was a live interactive reality web show executive produced by Seth Green[1] and directed by Big Fantastic (the filmmaking collective behind series such as Prom Queen). Starting October 6, 2010, 25-year-old Tristan Couvares began the experiment of having his life filmed all day, every day, for a duration of 6 weeks.[2]
| Control TV | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Douglas Cheney Chris McCaleb Ryan Wise |
| Starring | Tristan Couvares |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Ken Fuchs Seth Green Stephen Kessler Richard Saperstein Matthew Senreich Craig Ullman Digital Broadcasting Group |
| Production locations | Los Angeles, CA, United States |
| Running time | 24/7 live stream 3-4 minute episodes |
| Release | |
| Original release | October 6 – November 16, 2010 |
Awards
ControlTV was awarded Digital Luminary Award from the National Association of Television Program Executives (NAPTE) [3][4][5] and receiving an Honorable Mention during the 2011 Webby Awards.[6][7]
About
ControlTV produced by actor Seth Green, Matthew Senrich, Ken Fuchs, Steve Kessler, Richard Saperstein, Craig Ullman, and Shara Kay documented the life of Tristan Couvares for six weeks, starting October 6, 2010. The show was streamed live 24/7, and short, re-cap episodes were posted every weekday. The fans of Control TV had been dubbed "the controllers" and voted on various aspects of daily life such as what Tristan would eat, when he would wake up and what he would wear. At one point, the majority of the viewers voted for Tristan Couvares to have an hour off camera. During the show, many cuss words were bleeped out with a splash screen displaying the word "whoops" and a small repeating audio clip.
Viewership
In its first 14 days of release, ControlTV received more than 3 million completed unique episode views, with viewers staying for an average of 27 minutes per visit on the live feed. By the end of season one the show had accumulated over 13 million completed unique episode views.[8]
Sponsorship
Ford, Snickers, and Sprint were sponsors of the show.[9] Tristan Couvares drove a Ford and used a Sprint cell phone. Every few days, Tristan Couvares would eat a Snickers bar on camera. At the end of the series, the viewers voted to let Tristan Couvares keep the Ford Fiesta that was provided by Ford.
Season 1 episode list
| Ep # | Title | Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Episode 0.1: This is Tristan" | September 28, 2010 | |
| Meet our guy. | |||
| 0 | "Episode 0.2: The Adventure Begins" | October 6, 2010 | |
| Tristan moves in. | |||
| 1 | "Episode 1: Under Our Control" | October 7, 2010 | |
| He's ours now. | |||
| 2 | "Episode 2: The Week Unwrapped" | October 9, 2010 | |
| Facts of life. | |||
| 3 | "Episode 3: Pet Peeves" | October 11, 2010 | |
| Tristan gets a hamster and goes on a blind date. | |||
| 4 | "Episode 4: Dirty Work" | October 12, 2010 | |
| Being a weiner ain't easy. | |||
| 5 | "Episode 5: Homesick" | October 13, 2010 | |
| Despite all the fun, Tristan misses his family. | |||
| 6 | "Episode 6: Face to Face" | October 14, 2010 | |
| Tristan meets girls and gets a new haircut. | |||
| 7 | "Episode 7: The Week Unwrapped" | October 15, 2010 | |
| Tristan works out with three personal trainers. | |||
| 8 | "Episode 8: Camera Shy" | October 18, 2010 | |
| Tristan invites Jamie to dinner and gives his new style and cooking skills a spin. | |||
| 9 | "Episode 9: Comfort Zone" | October 19, 2010 | |
| Tristan gets advice from an entrepreneur and steps outside his comfort zone. | |||
| 10 | "Episode 10: Girl Talk" | October 20, 2010 | |
| Tristan works as a "pool boy" and tries to get a second date with Jamie. | |||
| 11 | "Episode 11: Curve Balls" | October 21, 2010 | |
| Tristan gets several surprises, including a video call from his ex. | |||
| 12 | "Episode 12: The Week Unwrapped" | October 22, 2010 | |
| Tristan sees his experiences starting to pay off. | |||
| 13 | "Episode 13: Don't Stop Dreaming" | October 25, 2010 | |
| Tristan explores the music industry. | |||
| 14 | "Episode 14: Making His Move" | October 26, 2010 | |
| Tristan tries to get comfortable dating on camera. | |||
| 15 | "Episode 15: Unexpected Guests" | October 27, 2010 | |
| Tristan's sister surprises him with a visit. | |||
| 16 | "Episode 16: Lizzie's Revenge" | October 28, 2010 | |
| Tristan makes a 1-minute horror film. | |||
| 17 | "Episode 17: The Week Unwrapped" | October 29, 2010 | |
| Tristan prepares for Halloween and hosts an unusual couch-surfer. | |||
| 18 | "Episode 18: Bullseye!" | November 1, 2010 | |
| Tristan has his first kiss on ControlTV. | |||
| 19 | "Episode 19: Training Days" | November 2, 2010 | |
| Tristan considers a career in sports. | |||
| 20 | "Episode 20: Going the Distance" | November 3, 2010 | |
| Tristan drives voters to the polls. | |||
| 21 | "Episode 21: Stand-up guy" | November 4, 2010 | |
| Tristan performs a stand-up comedy routine. | |||
| 22 | "Episode 22: The Week Unwrapped" | November 5, 2010 | |
| Tristan has a great Halloween week on ControlTV. | |||
| 23 | "Episode 23: Web Celeb" | November 8, 2010 | |
| Tristan hosts a party for web celebrities. | |||
| 24 | "Episode 24: Host with the Most" | November 9, 2010 | |
| Tristan interviews celebrities on the red carpet. | |||
| 25 | "Episode 25: Ladies' Man" | November 10, 2010 | |
| Tristan goes on speed-dates, a blind date, and tries his hand at modeling. | |||
| 26 | "Episode 26: No Pain, No Gain" | November 11, 2010 | |
| Tristan toughs it out through some painful and uncomfortable moments. | |||
| 27 | "Episode 27: The Week Unwrapped" | November 12, 2010 | |
| Tristan considers all of the career possibilities that ControlTV has presented. | |||
| 28 | "Episode 28: Day-cation" | November 15, 2010 | |
| Tristan takes a day trip to Santa Barbara and goes paragliding. | |||
| 29 | "Episode 29: Decathletes" | November 16, 2010 | |
| Tristan competes in a (do)decathlon vs. production assistant Mike | |||
| 30 | "Episode 30: 1,008 Hours" | November 17, 2010 | |
| Tristan hosts a "Webathon", wins the Fiesta, and bids farewell. | |||
References
- "Seth Green to Launch ControlTV, Giving You Control of the Reality Television Series," Slash Film, accessed October 26, 2010. http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/09/01/seth-green-to-launch-controltv-giving-you-control-of-the-reality-television-series/.
- "Seth Green to Give Viewers True Control," Gear Live Media, accessed October 26, 2010. http://television.gearlive.com/tvenvy/article/q107-seth-green-to-give-viewers-true-control/.
- "NATPE Conference: Speakers" http://www.natpe.org/conference/speakers/search/process
- "Vaynerchuk ChuControlTV Headline Natpe Digital Luminary Award Honorees" Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/news/ni6655800/
- "NAPTE Names Digital Luminary Awards Recipients" Broadcast & Cable http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/461864-NATPE_Names_Digital_Luminary_Award_Recipients.php
- "Webby Honorees"http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current_honorees.php?media_id=97&category_id=102 Archived 2010-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- "ControlTV" http://www.dbg.tv/controltv_webby/
- "ControlTV Reality Show Crowd Sources a Life" MediaPost Publications "MediaPost Publications ControlTV Reality Show Crowd Sources a Life 11/04/2010". Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
- "Ford, Sprint, Snickers Get With the Crowd for 'ControlTV', AdAge.com, accessed October 26, 2010. "http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=146703.
- "Episodes," Control TV, accessed October 26, 2010. http://controltv.com/category/episodes/ Archived 2010-10-18 at the Wayback Machine.