Feneant

Post your aggression here.

These shows have totally ruined TV for me, you can't channel surf without seeing 2-3 of these on the networks. The worst part is that if you tell someone it's scripted and not actually 'REALITY', they start whining like a 6 year old learning that Santa is actually daddy with a credit card. I hate having to come to work and the only talk around the place is on who f***ed over who last night in around 5-6 different shows. The way people talk, you would think that they were close personnal friends to all the contestants. If I get asked in one more pool, I'm going to go insane.

There was a survey done on a website, Business 2.0 I think, and 76% of respondents answered that they were sick to death of reality tv yet there are still a ton of new one coming out every season.

Static Cling

Well, website surveys aren't very representative of the general population. Maybe 76% of people that are on the Business 2.0 website are sick of reality TV, but if they only make up 10% of the TV-watching public...

I just can't believe that 76% of TV watchers are sick of reality TV and more and more serieses come out every season. If it wasn't profitable, TV wouldn't do it.

das Monkey

Wait, who is whining like a 6-year old again?

I'm sick of bad television myself, and much of that bad television is reality, but blindly condemning a genre is pretty unfair IMO. There are plenty of high quality reality shows like Tough Enough that are better than many sit-coms. Bad television is everywhere; reality programming isn't the problem.

das

GuessWho

A show is a show. Reality or fake/scripted. there's good and bad.

I don't even think "reality" is a genre.

We don't lump ER with Friends as one "Fake" genre, do we? NO. They're a drama and a comedy.

Such is the case with "reality" TV.
There are dating shows, talent shows, competitions, home shows, and others.

Roto

It's profitable because it's so cheap to produce. You don't have to pay huge actor salaries and you can still get the ratings. Survivor has got to be one of the cheapest shows to produce, which I 'm sure is why they are doing 2 seasons a year now. No writers to pay either, and probably a lot of other things I wouldn't know about. I don't think these shows are going away anytime soon. I've found enough other things to watch. I still watch certain reality shows, but not most of them.

Chew

Reality programs are out there and they don't bother me 'cause I don't watch them.

The only rant I have: I wish the office ladies wouldn't talk about Joe Millionaire all-day-every-day.

das Monkey

Well, while you don't have traditional "writers," you still have to edit countless hours of footage into a coherent story.

das

neiname

People once thought that nothing would ever topple Who Wants to Be a Millionaire... Like any fad this will surely pass...

Dr. DVD

Add me to the list.

What's interesting though, is that while the American Public seems to crave reality based situations on TV, they crave pure escapism at the movies. Note the successful films of this year and you will find the top ones are very escapist(Harry Potter, Spider-Man, SW:AOTC, LOTR:TTT).

neiname

Joe Millionaire represents reality in what way? I think people are more sadistic in they want to see people hurt by what goes on in the show (ie the selection scene) or doing stupid things to themselves (ie Survivor, Fear Factor)

I personally have not watched a single reality show (not even the original survivor) except for Joe Millionaire. I have to say that I was more interested in the potential lawsuits from the show when I first started watching but now because I'm actually rooting for one of the contestants. Will I really care about this show days after I watch, no, is it entertainment to watch 20 woman make asses out of themselves to get this guy, probably not, is everything scripted and planned (ie the whole fetish thing), a resounding yes, but I'll still watch and see what happens.

BoatDrinks

Don't like "reality."

But as das said, bad television is bad television. My only problem is that since reality is so cost effective for the networks, it is most likely here to stay, there will be more and more of them, meaning less and less jobs for folks like me...

das Monkey

• Quoth BoatDrinks •<HR SIZE=1>My only problem is that since reality is so cost effective for the networks, it is most likely here to stay, there will be more and more of them, meaning less and less jobs for folks like me... <HR SIZE=1>

Dude, "talent" is so 1970s.

das

Jeremy517

BTW, I heard on the radio that CBS is looking for a family to be on a Beverly Hillbillies reality show.

Pants

I agree w/ Chew9. I don't like "reality" shows, so I don't watch them, but I can't ignore them because everywhere I go (work, friends, even my girlfriend) people can't shut up about them. It's too hard to block it out.

I also agree that they can't be lumped together. There are good and bad reality shows. Cops is a good reality show, everything else I've seen stinks.

Feneant

Oh, Static, I would say that the website is read by mostly business folks, investors, bankers, etc... from what I've noticed (and I am not trying to insult anyone!) is that the older crowd with money don't go in for reality while the sub 40 crowd with less education and maybe poorer jobs seem to adore the stuff. People at work all fit in the second class and won't shut up about reality tv, but the (very few) higher ups I know, 50+, management, making 75k a year people are all like 'Survivor? uh? Never heard of it'.

mikehunt

when these shows become real they can call it reality tv
NYPD Blue, for example, is more of a reality show than the shows labeled reality show. what I mean by that is that it is more realistic

atlantamoi

I actually find the human interaction interesting. You really think these shows are scripted? I mean, the dialogue? Weird. I would much rather watch these shows than just about any sitcom on the air, save maybe Bernie Mac. When I think of awful televison it will mostly always be a sitcom that comes to my mind.

costanza187

i HATE reality tv shows!

madara

Agree. Reality shows=snorebore.

yecul

What's the difference between a reality TV show and a sitcom?

And, if you don't like it or if it's bad, what's the difference between a reality show and a BAD sitcom?

It's all watching people you don't know do stuff. One is (more) scripted than the other. Big whoop.

Read a book.

DAC

I enjoy watching some of these reality-based shows. The thing that irks me is the little quirks that the hosts have to do. On survivor Jeff always starts a competition with one arm raised and one lowered and then says "Survivors ready? Go!" and as he says go he drops the raised arm and raises the lowered arm. On Big Brother, Julie Chen always had to pipe in and say "(losers name) you are now evicted from the Big Brother house" apparently it wasn't official until she said that. On the Bachelor(ette) it's always the most dramatic rose cerimony yet and then when they get to the rose ceremony the host has to step in before the last rose and say "and tonights final rose" or something like that (my wife watches this one).

That's what bothers me most. Otherwise I see it as sitcom/drama/reality based/etc. it is just another genre of tv. What it is most like is a game show. Not much different than the Price is Right, or Wheel of Fortune. The difference being that instead of answering questions, solving puzzles or guessing prices of overpriced products while standing behind a podium of some sort the contestants are put in situations (Amazon, Africa, a house in CA, etc.) to try and earn the prize.

Just my opinion,
DAC

Chad

So exactly how cost effective are we talking here? Roughly how much would a network save on a reality such as "Survivor" compared to "Judging Amy"...or any shows for that matter?

Captain Harlock

Really how realistic are these shows. Jimmy Kimmel said it best "They call it reality television. Yeah, because every day a supermodel, a Navy SEAL and a fat naked gay guy hang out on an island together and eat bugs".

The next reality show I want to see is Survivor:the Bronx! Imagine the pitch for that one "This time nobody will make back alive!"

ClarkKentKY

We're really throwing around the terms Celebrity lately, has anyone else noticed that?

I mean I'm sure Corbin Bernsen is really big around his apartment complex, but does he still qualify as a Celebrity?

Aaron Amos

Is'nt he a B grade movie star now?