Is Temp Town ready for its close-up?

I don't think so, but a couple of opportunities for a shot at "stardom" have arisen recently for temps. Things got rolling last week with a post on The Posse List asking interested contract attorneys to send their resumes for consideration to be interviewed for an article about Temp Town. Apparently American Lawyer Magazine is planning to do an article about market conditions in Temp Town. I ignored it, of course, since the only significant consequences from something like that are bad, at least for the individual. Your participation is either no big deal, or you say something that makes you toxic to agencies and you can't find work. You want to take that chance in exchange for the opportunity to provide some mundane content for a magazine article that won't mean anything? Yeah, me, neither.

Apparently, thousands of temps thought otherwise, thus reconfirming my opinion about most folks in Temp Town. The folks at The Posse List, just a few hours after the original email post went out, sent out a follow-up to let temps know that more than 3,000 idiots had sent in their resumes and they weren't accepting any more submissions, thank you very much. Of course, the post stated that the magazine would not be using anyone's name so, while that eliminates the worst of the downside, it also removes any upside, assuming you consider 15 minutes of (relative) fame (among temps, at least) to be an upside. So that whole thing baffled me.

Well, things have gotten even stranger. Yesterday, The Posse List sent out this email:

We are casting for a potential reality show in the MD/DC/VA area based on the lives of contract attorneys/ document review attorneys in the DC Metro area.
It will follow the social and work lives of cast members, as they navigate the dubious waters of the "contract attorney world".

At this time we only request head shots, resumes and video entries (optional).
Things to consider:

What would make you stand out or be of interest to our producers?
Be creative and original
All demographics are sought
Send your material to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

NOTE: The Posse List staff has spoken with the agency and the producers and verified the authenticity of the project. The principal agent is a contract attorney himself and started a media, publishing and production company this past year. Please note we have used the phrase the word potential reality show because this is still a work-in-progress.

OK, the potential downside just got a lot bigger -- no hope of anonymity here, and lots of potential for becoming toxic. I guess you could temporarily up your income, assuming such a show actually got made with you in it, but reality TV thrives on conflict and large personalities -- dare I say it, assholes, even? Getting hired in Temp Town, on the other hand, relies on neither of these characteristics (neither is a bar, but neither is considered desirable, and too much conflict will render you toxic).

And, take it to the bank, any participants in such a show would wind up right back in Temp Town, probably quickly, since a reality show about temps would be cancelled after one or two episodes. Temp Town, at its heart, is a pretty boring place, and desperation doesn't film well. There isn't a law firm, client or agency in town that would allow filiming of temps at work, and footage of temps yelling "fuck!" at their checkbooks at home doesn't scream "star quality" to me. As I said in the very first post on this blog:

[Temp work] is every bit as thrilling and intellectually challenging as it sounds. Contract attorneys sit in front of a computer for 8, 10, 14 hours a day, reviewing documents that are stored on a server that probably is a) in Houston; and b) moving very slowly because it is overloaded. They make a yes/no decision – give it up, or not? – click a box, and move on to the next document. I went to law school for this?

This does not sound like the makings of a great show. I guess I could be wrong, but, despite the urging of a number of temps I know, I will not be submitting my resume and "head shot," which I always thought was what you went for if you wanted to keep the deerskin without holes in it and avoid if you wanted the trophy head. Shows what I know. I have no doubt that response to this will include everyone who wanted to be interviewed by American Lawyer, and then some.

Careful what you wish for. Fame might not be what they think: