Questions from Alejandro

What is the most popular television show?


ANSWER: This question was a tough one since I don't watch local television, mainly because I can't understand it. I usually only watch the English speaking channels, so I had to do some research. I have a friend back in Malaysia who is Indonesian and she gave me the names of her favorite programs and that's where I started. It seems reality television is really big over here and the programs are modeled after American reality shows. I can watch American Idol here, but can't vote (I'm rooting for Crystal Bowersox and Lee, doesn't matter since they both will have records next year) and it seems to be popular with the locals as well. There is Indonesian Idol and I've watched it once, the performers were good and the judges were like Indonesian versions of Randy, Ellen, Kara and Simon.

There are 79 Indonesian reality shows, most copycats of American programming. Reality shows have dominated the ratings surpassing soap operas which used to top the charts. The most high ranking one is called Termehek-Mehek which roughly translates to Sobbing. This show reunites people from long lost relatives to wives abandoned by husbands-often in highly emotional and often confrontational environments. Another show, called Jika Aku Menjadi or If I Were, takes middle-class or wealthy people and puts them in a rural area of Indonesia; kind of like The Simple Life with Paris Hilton but without celebrities. And there's Tukar Nasib or Fate Swap where rich families switch places with poor families, sort of like Wife Swap.

The reality shows represent another chapter in the evolution of Indonesian television. During former president Suharto's dictatorship, television stations were only allowed to show the military governments point of view, except for news, there was little original content. The American shows gave way to additional local programming as well as less politically sensitive shows. Funny thing is that most people don't realize that their favorite tv shows are very much American.