Getting real with troop TV.

• Author: Barringer, Felicity
• Position: Media

Picture this: Survivor Afghanistan. The Pentagon is giving two Hollywood producers access to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and around the world to promote its war effort. The result is expected to be a reality series shown in prime time, overseen by ABC's entertainment division--not the news division, which usually handles documentaries.

The producers--Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor, and Bertram van Munster, whose credits include TV's The Amazing Race and Cops--intend to tell the "compelling personal stories of the U.S. military men and women who bear the burden of this fighting," according to an ABC press release.

The Pentagon's decision to embrace the entertainment division comes after months of...