Hey all,

Have you noticed that in order for something to be "real," the judge, character, cook, or whoever must have a thick accent -- apparently, a Brittish accent is the "most real."


Yup, it's true!

Matt

For the record, Showtime offered the creator of Arrested Development two more seasons of the show. It was himself who pulled the plug saying there was nothing more to do on the show.

1. The constant blasting of them on DVDTalk. Don't like them? Don't watch them. Simple as that.

2. What reality show uses flashing red lights in the corner of the screen? I don't think I've seen this used except on scripted tv/film to indicate that it's from the POV of a video cam.

I don't watch any of the "mixed group" or competitive shows. The only reality show I watch is Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Agreed. I would also add

2. The pompous superior attitude of some who insist on posting in every reality show thread about how they never watch reality shows and just cannot fathom how anybody would be even slightly entertained by such trash and blah blah blah...

Oh by the way, that wasn't directed at you Charlie. I just realized it kind of sounded that way since it followed your post.

Shows which are entirely based around the following: Put a bunch of opposites in a house, give them tons of booze, and wait for conflict.

Examples are Big Brother, The Real World, and crap like that.

God, how I would love to put that bitch through a wood chipper.

1. Calling them "reality" shows when they have nothing to do with reality. They are simply "unscripted".

They always remind me of that scene in The Player when the execs are having a meeting and Peter Gallagher is pulling movie ideas out of the newspaper and Tim Robbins jokes, "I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here."

2. Not a peeve, but just happy they seem to be burning themselves out. A few are ok to be on, but they don't need to dominate the schedule.

1. They are all, at the very least, somewhat scripted.
2. The 40+ yr old hags I work with talking about it all damn day...and starting their own biggest loser. They posted the weight they lost on the bulletin board, and more of them gained weight than lost.

I like the Apprentice, Hell's Kitchen, and Treasure Hunters...but I take them for what they're worth. I know they have their scripted moments but I still find some of the game show/reality shows somewhat interesting.

Not to get too much off topic, but it's been at least 10 years since they've shown vidoes.

It's time to move on.

But I do agree, it's disgusting that some people live that way.

They are NOT scripted. They are plotted. There's a difference. For the most part, they film hours and hours and then construct a show in the editing room out of directed improvisation. Sure, there might be an occasional scripted remark ("Do they sell walls at Wal-Mart?), but they do not consist of memorised lines of dialogue.

So really they have no writers, directors or actors. Just camera crews, editors, and producers.

1) Edited dialog (Donald Trump's disembodied voice is the worst.)
2) When a show is successful and runs a few seasons and the contestants know what's going to happen and how to play the game.

Number 1 for me as well...

Number 2- The "judge" that no one seems to like but always is back on year after year (ok I admit that I wish Paula Abdul would never be seen or heard from again).

That's a really good one, as that bugs me in a LOT of shows. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Are these sound people just incapable of making the audio match up correctly? What's worse is how they cut to the contestants nodding along with big smiles, as if they are soooo fascinated to hear about 7-11's P'eatzza sandwich.

1) Fucking crying
2) poor editing - this may play into the disembodied voice phenom, but the cutways to a reaction or event that clearly didn't occur within the same timeframe really bugs me.

My biggest pet peeve:
Contestants on Survivor who are shocked and appalled when someone lies or betrays them. Have they ever watched the show? That's the whole point.

Completely manufactured staring contests. I think Top Chef is one of the worst offenders I've seen with this.