Friday, January 4, 2008

Reality show

overload.

What gives?
Originally, I think the concept was a sound one: to see how real people handle real situations. Hopefully we'll see something extreme. It started out innocently enough, to go to these extreme places and situations and watch it all go down.
Now, though, we've managed to take it to the extreme. The glut of these shows is hardly reality, IMO. It's more like delusion with a dose of bipolar disease on crack.
Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York (who coined that one...does anyone love New York?), The Bachelor, Big Brother, Survivor, and more I'm hopefully blissfully unaware of. These people are pathetic, not interesting. If this is reality, I truly need a break from same.
Editing, scripting and carefully planned situations turn it into a circus of fantastic proportions. It's insulting to the average viewer. Like 60-minute long ads, punctuated with annoying commercial breaks which advertise more of the same.

Do I really want to watch (insert has-been of choice) go through addiction counseling/fight with his or her wife/make out with same and have tantrums ad nauseum? Nope.
I'm sure there's the old can't look away from the train wreck mentality at work, but the train wreck likely needs a mirror to see these days!
What's wrong with us that we even bother? Just one of those burning questions.

4 comments:

Uncle Walt said...

I admit I enjoyed the first Survivor, just because it was a new experience. I sometimes wondered if the camera crew would torment the contestants thusly: "You had to eat a bug for dinner? We had steak." lol

About the only "reality" show I think approaches reality, is/was Donald Trump's The Apprentice. Screw up and get fired. There's some reality a lot of people seem to need to learn.

And in reality, don't tell me there wouldn't be at least one death in those chef matches. All those sharp knives at hand. C'mon.

Unknown said...

yeah, the first Survivor was ok, but it's just gotten to be so contrived, at least what I tried to watch of it.
I admit I haven't watched The Apprentice.
Thanks for dropping by!

Patrick McGee said...

qyjwavhI am currently into Travel Channel's new reality series, No! not to look at naked peopele!, "Tribal Life"

Indigenous people are not good actors as it seems many of the situations are helped by the producers obvious using and encouragement of "Creative License".

But, what's new huh?

Unknown said...

Haha nekkid people?
Oh, yes, that creative license thing...i think I've seen that briefly, will have to look it up. Hhhmmmmm....