Cusm

I am so sick of Reality shows in general. But I am super sick of reality shows of gorgeous, rich people that have no clue what life is like. Please I do not care if you take 10 18-30 year olds that can afford to not work for 6 months that look perfect and then make them blah, blah, blah.
Come on. Real people work for a living. Real people would have to spend 3-6 hours a day in the gym to get those 6 pack abs. Real people don't have 40 grand to drop on redecorating the bathroom. Real people don't go to the plastic surgeon ever week to have a new procedure performed.

I flipped through and saw a second of who wants to shag my dad, and please does a good looking man that obviously have money really need help finding a woman? It is like the ABC crap. Why the hell would these people need help finding a sig other?

Lets get some real reality shows. Who wnats to marry my dad? Lets get a real dad on there, not some GQ cover dad. Lets get that cleaning out the ear w/ car keys, NASCAR watching, Steven Segall loving, 6 tooth dad on there. Lets get the people from Mad TV's Lowered Expectations on the Bachaelor. Lets see the people with 63 bucks renovate their entire house, without the help of a decorator. Put the REAL back in reality.

Sorry for the rant.

Red Dog

Too real = too boring.

Cusm

Please. COPS is anything but boring, and you can't get more real than that. The Osbourne's, while some of it is hammed up for the cameras, they are pretty close to that. Especially Ozzy who has no idea that there are camera men in his house. The first seasons of Survivor, Real World and Road Trip did not have f'ing models in the show, they were more average than anything you will see on the airwaves today.
You don't have to have perfect people in these shows to have ratings, and actually I think the ratings might be better. Look at the ratings for the stupid @ss Are You Hot?, the whole premise was no more lame than any of the other shows on today, and in fact I would say less so since they were up front about what the is actually about.

fujishig

Ah, but the reality dating shows will always have beautiful people in it. With shows like Survivor, etc., there's an actual game in there, and you usually don't have to watch people making out. These dating shows are pretty much just eye candy for both men and women... and few people want to see "normal people" making out. Which is why you have more "pretty" actors and actresses than "plain" ones. IMHO, 90% of these people aren't looking for love, they're looking for exposure.

Red Dog

I'll give you Cops. That is a pretty unique reality show.

Plus the game show type reality shows are not really showing real life in the first place. They are hardly 'reality shows.'

Do you want to see a show based on Mr and Mrs Joe Six Pack sitting at home and watching TV? That is what I meant by too real = too boring.

Cusm

The game shows are more what I am talking about. Look at the first season of Survivor compared to the last season. On the first season there were no beutiful people on it, or at least no one that thought they were. The last season you have these broads (these 2 do not deserve the privilage of being called women)that think they are the definition of beutiful. There was that one that everything out of her mouth started as "well as a swim suit model I...", Give me a break you nasty skelator looking bad boob job freak, if you were not out in the middle of the Amazon with a bunch of guys seperated from civilization for 2 months you would not be getting their attention.
The Real World is even worse. Look at the first couple, NY and LA. All of these people had pursuits, either job, school or entertainment pursuits. The were not perfectaly chiseled beutiful people, and the one model looked like the clown he is. They were "more real" than the latter ones, like Las Vegas, their job was models.

grunter

I second everything that Cusm has ranted about in this thread. Cusm has nailed precisely why the reality show craze is waning - the wholesale substitution of blandly perfect Rodeo Drive "real" for "Heartland real."

Reality shows these days might as well all be re-named the "Barbie and Ken" hour. As the aspiring "talent" on these crap-fests has thinned down, spent half their waking lives in a tanning booth, appear to have infinite amounts of disposable income and have waxed their body hair into oblivion - my interest in the whole genre has utterly disappeared.

I was an avid fan of "Survivor" when it first debuted - who could not stomach the vapid, manufactured battle-o-the-mannequins in the last season of this nose-diving game show.

Bring back Joe Six Pack, dammit! Pronto!

Red Dog

Come on. Most people thought that except for the original, this year's Survivor was the best one. Plus for every supposedly attractive girl, there was a Deena. Usually there are more non-lookers than lookers. Also, I certainly remember people talking about how cute Colleen was in Survivor I.

Look at Real World Paris - none of the girls are what I would call hot. The chick from Maryland is ugly IMO. The other girls are cute but not model quality. Except for Ace, the guys are pretty regular looking people.

I really don't know what you are looking for. Do you want shows with all unattractive people?

Cusm

How about interesting people. I am sorry but attractive does not exactly equate to interesting. And in a lot of situations it is the exact opposite, I have looks so who needs a personality?

This maybe true, but I heard more people complain about Heidi and the other "princess" on the show. They were not interesting and most people I know wished they were the first ones voted off. I almost got sick when they stripped on the poles in the river.

I still watch some types of these shows, American Chopper, I'm With Beusey. But these shows have the premise of different people, not the farse of real/normal people.

Red Dog

See now that is what I think makes these shows great. People who rub others (contestants and viewers) the wrong way. If all the nice sweet down-to-earth people kept advancing, now that would be boring.

Boot

Or when they rub others the "right way."

MrPeanut

Yes, it is even harder for him to find a woman who doesn't want him just for his looks or money.

But you are right about the lack of reality on these shows. The big thing I notice is how many of these people are the same wannabe actors and actresses that couldn't make it on real shows.

harpo787

I say we get a show like The Truman Show on tv....I'm all for it.

Maybe Ed TV?

Joeboo835

Only reason I watch survivor anymore is because we have a huge office pool on it.

Bottom line is, no matter how hot the chicks or guys are, it gets old if they're not interesting.

I think we've finally come to an end of reality TV when I saw that Restaurant Opening show. As far as boring, I don't think it can get any worse.

AGuyNamedMike

The last reality show I saw was a few episodes of Rosanne. That was my family, right there.

icondude

I'd like to see Blind Date or Elimidate type of shows have an occasional fattie, etc. just for realism.

Red Dog

You haven't watched much Blind Date or Elimidate. You may not see many fat people but you certainly see quite a number of unattractive people.

DodgingCars

Yes. You do. Well... Elimidate -- less so. On Blind Date its more frequent.

nny

I think the closest thing I've seen to a real reality show was American High. Fox cancelled it before it got very good, but PBS showed the remaining episodes and it got better and better. One thing that I think helped the reality is that the kids were given cameras, so they didn't have cameramen around them 24/7.

The people that made American High have a series coming on Showtime that documents the first year of college.

razorbackfan

To me COPS is boring, and it's so highly edited as to be pretty unrealistic, to me.

das Monkey

OK, fine ... if you guys REALLY want, we can set up a camera, and you can watch me watching TV. It won't be particularly interesting, but it certainly won't be attractive, and it will definitely be "real".

das

Cusm

Only if you have Groucho and kvrdave and his muffle over.

milo bloom

The only "reality" show on I like is the Most Extreme Elimination Competition on TNN. It's a Japanese reality game show dubbed into English with absolutely no thought given to translation. They just make up whatever they want to say. My wife and I think it's hilarious.


Survivor pissed me off as soon as I heard about this "voting" BS. I thought they were actually going to toss a few idiots in the jungle and let them hash it out. I would have watched that.

Tom Banjo

I've been watching real reality tv lately. If you get Discovery Health Channel, there's a lot of medical reality programs there. I tend to watch Paramedics, Trauma: Lie in the ER, The Ctritical Hour, and a couple of other on a regular basis. You could try some of those if they interest you, and the site of blood doesn't make you nauseated.