"Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

This show easily passes 'Pawn Stars' for the fakest, most staged show on TV now. You can hear it in the stiff dialogue and see it in the fact that deals never fail, never go south, always tease failure but work out, and it's usually the same dialogue. The person hesitating will say "I see your point" to the dude making the sales pitch.

The concept of the show should mean high failure. These guys are counting on people to make bad deals since they are trading up every time. But the deals always work out.

Plus, they are in the High Desert area of California, which is between LA/OC and Las Vegas. That's a fast-growing area but it IS small. Yet they find deals for everything.

THis show reeks of staged transactions. I don't buy a word of it.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

All the reality shows are fake and largely staged. Real life is insanely boring for all but a few niche professions and most of the drama is crafted by producers from behind the scenes. It's only that rare moment when something real leaks out by accident and the cameras just happen to be there to catch it.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I would agree that the show is terrible fake and scripeted, but you have no idea how many "deals" they have to go through to get the one that may accept it. Why would they bother showing the rejected deals?

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I don't think Storage Wars can be beat in terms of being fake. The feuds are all horribly scripted and you never see anyone else bidding.

I even read that American Pickers is all fake. The picks are planned well in advance, and the guys don't even ride in the van. I guess it makes sense. You can't just show up on someone's front lawn with a camera crew and expect people to act natural.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I understand that all reality shows are fake to an extent, but you need to engage me enough that I am willing to let it slide. This show fails to engage me at all, so it is just nothing but fake, fake, fakey fake fake fake. It's hard to get through and I doubt I will watch anymore of them. Pawn Stars breaking out into Subway eating looks totally legit compared to this show.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Storage Wars has acknowledged that they only show the bids won by our main characters. And you see other people bidding all the time.

Now Pawn Stars, as fake as it has gotten, routinely shows them unable to make a deal and people walking out.

The part that bothers me the most about Barter Kings is that they trade up all the way, which required 5-6 people to make an inherently bad deal for themselves. And then it's always "Well I see your point."

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

American Guns is no different. Same formula every week and the "deals" always go thru in favor of the owner of the store. That said, I watch because you can see some awesome guns -- in this case.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

That was obviously staged from almost the first episode.

One big clue to fakery - when you see the stars arrive at, or depart from, the home from the point-of-view of the homeowner, it's quite clear that it's been set up. Yet, they still pretend with the introductions and all. One of the main reasons I don't watch those shows, it insults my intelligence. I do like actual cinema verite style shows, though, like COPS, D.U.I., and Las Vegas Jailhouse.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Even a "classy" show like CW's Breaking Pointe (about a ballet company here in Utah) was horribly staged. Which was too bad because otherwise it was a pretty good show and very interesting.

One example: a guy drops his girlfriend off at the airport because she's moving for a new job. They say their goodbyes, and instead of going to security, she rides up an escalator to the parking lot, and he wanders off to the baggage check-in area! All so they could have a touching "wave from the balcony" for the cameras.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

WHAT? There's a show called D.U.I.? What channel is it on? LOVE L.V.J. and Cops. I agree with your cinema verite analogy.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

"Real Life Stories from the ER" (or something like that) isn't bad. THey have the real doctor telling the story with reenactments. Names are changed but these are real cases and I do like that it's told by the doctor in his own voice/personality.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

surely you jest. a reality show that is staged? i don't know why this is so concerning to you, traxan. you post the same stuff in the storage wars thread. of course it's staged. people are inherently boring.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I can enjoy the show as long as it is not 100% fake and staged. What really pisses me off is the Picker dudes have lied in interviews and claimed that nothing is planned or scripted. Then I read Frank wasn't even a business partner and worked in a different field until the show was born. Then they brought in the tattoo girl just for the show who pretends to being working at the store. I'm willing to bet their store is just a tourist trap with just t-shirts and crap like Pawn Stars.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

They have had a few deals that didn't work out, but they don't dwell on the failures, they just go to the next deal that was a success.

Of course much of it is staged. That's just how it is with these shows. But what you also have to remember is that these deals aren't being done blindly. People know what they are trading for here, and yeah, of course they're being told to play it up for the camera.

I find the backstories to be a bit more humorous on this show. Antonio has Tourette's and apparently used to be a Chippendale's dancer.

Also, the High Desert, at least as how they're defining in the show is a pretty big area. I know one of the trades took them to Pasadena, which means they're willing to go into L.A. county. I had a rather unfortunate introduction to the scope and size of the high desert back in '03 when the 15 was closed due to forest fires and I had to drive from one side of it to the other in order to get back into L.A. and Orange County. It's a big area, maybe with not a huge amount of people, but still has around a million if you add it all up.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

There is a difference between editing for brevity and faking the whole thing. Some of these BK deals look fake all the way up.

And I stopped watching PS when it got too fake for my liking, like the old soda machine brought in by Ron Dale or the guitar brought in by a story employee and then his co-worker said it was a different age.

I'm even suspect of the Tourette's part. Have to admit, though, those two muscleheads sure are a major contrast to the PS cast.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

What I don't get is why someone would be interested in these shows in the first place, even if they weren't staged.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I hope Bait Car and Parking Wars aren't staged.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Apparently it aired on TLC. There have been 12 epsiodes. I get them "secondhand" so I didn't know about when they aired. This might help: http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/dui/337703

It's a good show. Not only do you see the D.U.I. stop and arrest, but they do some follow-up, as well. All completely unscripted.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Storage Wars is a masterpiece compared to Storage Hunters.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I don't watch the show but I saw part of one ep of Storage Hunters and thought it was laughably fake. They "found" a Tesla Roadster in a shipping container auction. A little googling showed it was actually the same car that Hertz rents to film production companies.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

I like my reality shows to be actually real. That's why I only watch Ghost Hunters.

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Stillwaiting for someone to mention the channel this Barter Kings show airs on

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

A&E, do you not know how to google?

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

What channel is Google on?

Re: "Barter Kings" - fakest 'reality' show on TV
 

Exactly, talk about a show it seems common courtesy just mention the channel.

Anyway I searched on the tv and found it and it really is as fake as any of these shows can possibly be. The line reads are awful.