• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, June 8, 2006

BigString Corporation, known for offering an e-mail service that allows users to recall e-mail after sending it, is preparing to launch an interactive reality program.

The show, called "OurPrisoner," will focus on 35-year-old graphic artist Kieran Vogel--a man who, according to BigString, "suffers from various neuroses." He will live alone in an undisclosed location in central New Jersey, where a therapist will be brought in twice a week for sessions. Those meetings, like the rest of Vogel's life for the next six months, will be streamed to the Web.

Drawing on other interactive programs, OurPrisoner will ask the audience to exercise control over Vogel's life by voting on such matters as what clothes he should wear, what food he should cook, which people he should invite over, and the like. Darin Myman, CEO of the company and executive producer of the show, says he's in talks with sponsors, both for ads and product placement opportunities.

Before becoming the star of this Web reality show, Vogel created ads for BigString. Myman said that the idea for the show grew from an ad campaign for BigString's e-mail that focused on the degree to which users could exert control over e-mail even after sending it. Vogel, on reading the copy, mused that he wished someone would control him--presumably to help him overcome his "various neuroses."

Myman describes Vogel as a nice guy with an outgoing personality who also suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and, in Myman's words, "extreme embarrassment."

If that's all accurate, it's hard to imagine that this venture will turn out well for anyone involved--Vogel, Myman or the Web users who tune in. If Vogel is burdened with severe psychological problems, the show seems mean and exploitative. And if he's truly nice, that's all well and good for the people around him, but not for viewers; villainy--from Richard Hatch on "Survivor" to Omarosa on "The Apprentice"--makes for far better entertainment.