Reality My Ass

For the past few years "reality" tv shows seem to be all the rage.

Everything from "Big Brother" to "American Idol" to "Deadliest Catch"... they seem to have a damn reality tv show for just about anything.

Spoiled women who can't figure out how to mop a floor - "You're Cut Off", a washed up musician who vies gold diggers for a new wife - "Flavor Of Love" or a bunch of men who let their testosterone override their common sense and wind up screaming at each other like middle school girls - "Axe Men".... what is the draw to these shows??

Are our lives so boring and mundane that we feel compelled to watch the mess or drama that is what someone else is living?

Half the crap that is on television isn't reality.

Hell... if a person wants to see reality, then they should film someone like me. MY reality is raising kids, paying bills and working. I know I wouldn't watch me... so why do people love these gag fests called "reality tv"?

I don't get it.

 

[spud_meister]

I'd like to see your ass in reality...but yeah, I agree. :mrgreen:

 

[Crosscheck]

I think people in general are fed up with celebs. What has happened is that people are finding everyday people much more interesting than the spoiled celebs.
Who really cares anything about the likes of celeb Charlie Sheen or having celebs such as the Palin family shoved down our throats.

A half hour of amateurs is a half hour that overpaid actors as Sheen won't have an opportunity for employment.

 

[Whovian]

Rutgers just paid freaking Snookie $32,000 for a 30 minute 'address'. Parents were livid, and students were mostly 'who cares' and 'who is she again?'

 

[liblady]

there's reality tv and manufactured tv. "deadliest catch" is reality, "you're cut off" is manufactured.

people watch manufactured tv to make them feel better about themselves, or to escape. watching your life would be like watching their own life.

 

[doctorhugo]

To answer your last question of>>> "so why do people love these gag fests called "reality tv"?"

We've got a generation now of boob-tube addicted people who have little interest in what's happening in the real world around them and love to self-indulge in fantasyland. I don't think it's any more confusing than that. Hell, it's one reason we wound up with Obama!

 

[Kali]

I admit to being guilty of being addicted to most Reality TV Shows. Yes my life sucks so much I do enjoy em.

 

[lpast]

I think theres too many young people that live their lives indoors and these shows are their reality. Technology sucks in alot of ways.
When i was a young guy we made our own reality, no computers, no cellphones, no copy machines. You actually had to move your body

 

[samsmart]

What it is is that while Reality TV doesn't earn as much money as Produced TV, the cost-to-profit ratio is much higher. Therefore, the networks pump this stuff out.

Why is that? Well, you have to remember what television networks have to compete with. They have to compete with 24-hour-news stations, Netflix, DVR, YouTube, video games, and the internet.

So, unfortunately, we are so saturated with media that they are only doing those works that have the highest cost-to-profit ratios. Which is unfortunately, because it means that anything that is "produced TV" is more likely to come from YouTube or films than from television, and YT shows don't have exactly the best production values.

My suggestion? If you really want to watch good shows, get a Netflix account and watch good old shows on DVD. That way you can also watch them at your leisure.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

I have Netflix already.

 

[Frogfussle]

The so called reality shows are scripted. The reason you see the participants yelling at each other is for conflict. People want to see conflict. My wife watches a cooking contest show called Chopped. Entirely too much emphasis is put on the losers being drummed off the show for my taste. It seems seeing people abused is popular. The first show of this nature I remember was many years ago and it featured a female dog trainer in England who constantly abused the dog's owners.