In May 2005, camera crews arrived at the gated community of Coto de Caza, California, to film a reality-TV show. Behind the Gates, as it was initially called, was envisioned as a satire of life in the Orange County town, where its wealthy residents would play exaggerated versions of themselves. But some neighbors didn't take kindly to the idea. They criticized Scott Dunlop, the show's producer and a Coto de Caza resident, for filming at the local tennis club; they berated him at the grocery store, compared him to Satan, placed menacing phone calls to his house, and circulated rumors that he was 'shooting a porno.' The protesting residents felt like they were part of an unwanted social experiment, at the front lines of the reality-TV revolution. 'They thought, There are going to be helicopters, massive trucks, and we're going to kind of blast through their doors and show up unannounced and ask them questions,' Dunlop told me recently. Even some potential cast members got cold feet....
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