My daughter is a rabid fan of reality TV (those of you who read her blog already know this, of course), whereas I detest almost all of it. The problem is the people, for me. Generally, they tend to be the most whiny, narcissistic, ignorant & unpleasant people that you definitely do not want to know, or even meet. I know that a show about pleasant, bright, self-aware people would probably be the most boring experience ever for genuine reality TV fans, so I get the criteria used. And I do know why my daughter loves it; she's intensely interested in human behavior & the dynamics of relationships (& I suspect that feeling morally & intellectually superior to these cretins enters into it a little bit, too, though I'm sure she'd deny it because she's a good person, but subconsciously?) Anyway, I'm afraid that the writers' strike will result in even more of these train-wreck shows, as though there aren't enough already. I have to admit that I do watch more television than I probably should, but my favorite shows are scripted ones like "The Office," "30 Rock," "House," "SNL," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (at least partly scripted), "Grey's Anatomy," "Law & Order SVU," & a few others. I do have to put out there that the best show ever in the history of television was, & is, "Seinfeld." I can watch the same episodes over & over & never get tired of them. They're just as funny the 10th time as they were the first. That, for me, is brilliance, & we have so little of that these days. I loved "Arrested Development" & "Sons & Daughters," but apparently not enough other people did. Oh, I almost forgot "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX (the characters are all insane) & "Rescue Me" are also favorites of mine (not that anyone actually cares what my taste in TV is, but I wanted to tell you, & now I have).
I guess what I'm trying to emphasize is that the production of the above shows actually require thought, & creativity, & a desire to do something that will make people think, in some cases, about particular issues or situations or relationships, & also to provide genuine entertainment, & not the train-wreck (I know I already used that phrase, but it's so perfect to describe reality TV) variety evident in reality shows. As I remarked before about my daughter's addiction to reality TV, it really does make you feel superior to these people, & maybe that does provide some respite from all the horrible things that have been happening in our country for the last seven years, so I guess it could be...not actually a good thing, but at least a distraction. But there are just so many of them, &, I fear, more to come. I'd call it the "dumbing down" of America, but a populace that elected George Bush twice could not possibly get any dumber - could it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
haha, good stuff. So evidence that real people on "reality" shows don't sell: One of the early seasons of MYV's Real World, London that is, had a bunch of kids that got along really well. Any time a house mate caused problems (generally just due to bad attitudes or listlessness), they talked it out and fixed them. It was awesome, and one of my favorite seasons. They rarely ever showed reruns (no fighting i guess?!?), and ended up selling the rights to Warner Bros who aired the show late night on basic cable, before pulling the show themselves. When it comes down to it, people like drama, and I guess cheap people like cheap drama... aww now that's just not nice =D
I'm with you, I generally hate all reality tv. Sometimes I'll watch a few episodes of a talent-based show, like Strictly Come Dancing or X-Factor or whatever {and I love America's Next Top Model and Project Runway but I don't get to watch that here}, and it'll really get to me when someone wins and they show a montage of their role on the show. Makes me cry no matter what! But mostly I hate reality tv because I don't like the general public, or I don't like the kind of people that would ever WANT to be on reality tv.
Post a Comment