Reality TV

[electricmayhem]

So is anyone else here hopelessly hooked on reality tv shows? Or am I the only one and now you're all going to endlessly shun and mock me? Anyway, as Im watching A Makeover Story and am thinking about getting my homework done so I can watch American Idol tonight, I was just wondering what everyone else watches/makes fun of My favorites are:
the TLC shows like Makeover Story, Trading Spaces, etc
American Idol
High School Reunion
The Surreal Life
Survivor
and I've even started watching Joe Millionare....

Most of them though are pretty insane. For example, I just saw a commercial last night for one called 'Married by America' where two people who ahve never met before will be married according to whoever the public votes for......I can't believe anyone would actually sign up for something like that!
So it's not like im proud of my slight obsession or think that they're all great uses of my time and really quality tv but it's just the kind of think that gets you hooked and then you want to know who wins or what happens to the people. So, who agrees and who thinks i'm crazy

 

[Luke]

Whats 'High School Reunion' ? I mean i know what the idea from the name but whats the format ? My spies in the states havent told me about this.

 

[electricmayhem]

It's basically exactly as it sounds--there's probably 10-15 28 year olds having their 10 year reunion in Maui. They're all living in a beach house together and each day someone gets a 'hall pass' so they can go on a date with one of their other class mates and do all that 'second chance/ the one who got away' stuff. Everyone is identified as 'the tall girl' or 'the flirt' or 'the class clown'. It's quite addicting...heehee!

 

[radionate]

And a big sham.

Luke, shame on you. I can't believe you would want to jump on this pile of vile and create more vile on your side of the ocean. Haven't you guys created enough fodder that spilled over here without rehashing our ideas, which will in turn spawn imitations here in the states of your rehashed ideas which were based on shows from here, which we originally got the idea for from you!?!?!?!!?

I'm sick of all this reality TV stuff, and the fact that most are just freakshows trying to break into "the biz". And that execs "don't know" about their checked backgrounds, only to have it "leaked" later on, which gives a boost to the crappy show.

I know that this isn't going to last, and that another fad will come back to TV soon (I'm hoping the variety show will finally make the comeback that has been looming for awhile). We've survived thru the years where Prime Time Soaps were King, then Game Shows, Sitcoms, Game Shows again, and now Reality TV.

This is why I don't watch TV much anymore.

 

[Super Scooter]

*psssssssst* Nate! Luke works on Reality TV shows for a living! Don't torment him! He is in control of all we watch! We could end up watching a Very Brady Reality series in a couple of years because of what you say!

 

[radionate]

Luke knows I'm half kidding half serious. We do what we have to do to keep our jobs.

It doesn't mean I like what he or I have to do somedays.

 

[EmmyMik]

I love reality shows. My two favorite all time, ever shows are "The Mole" (even the celebrity edition is good) and "The Amazing Race".

I like Survivor, Big Brother, Joe Millionaire (at first I didn't think that I'd like it, but now I'm hooked. Odd), and American Idol (I didn't watch it over the summer. It was on against "The Mole"). Since the Summer I have had a constant string of reality shows to tide me over. There was Survivor and The Amazing Race 2. Once those were over The Mole 2 started up again. Once that was over there was Big Brother 3. After that Survivor and The Amazing Race were back. Now those are over. Now I have Celebrity Mole, American Idol, High School Reunion, and so on. Once those are over, it's back to Survivor and The Amazing Race...

 

[Boober_Baby]

Oh man, I know reality TV is junk, but I am so hooked to it. My number one being a tie between Survivor and Trading Spaces. And I've figured out why.

Survivor and a lot of those type of reality TV shows are like soap opera's. You even know that some of the "real" stuff might not be as real as you think, but it doesn't matter cuz it's just entertainment. And I never liked soap operas... I still don't like them, so I indulge in reality TV.

^_^ Debo

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by radionate
Luke knows I'm half kidding half serious. We do what we have to do to keep our jobs.

It doesn't mean I like what he or I have to do somedays.

Nates completely and utterly right - we basically go with what is 'in' and 'popular' because it's what the majority of the public want to watch or can be persuaded to watch (keep in mind that includes the less intelligent half of the population) and good ratings put food on our plates. As much as you might like to try something different, you work to a brief. Same as in radio you usually have to stick to a playlist and you can't just put your favorite Foo Fighters track on air whenever ya want. In the case of Reality TV though it's also cheap programming (as Nate says, using wannabees rather than real celebs etc) and a lot of financing in the TV industry is pretty shaky right now.

That said, i don't hold the biggest grudge against 'Reality TV'. I think the biggest problem that the public has is that the media is lacking talented ideas people and are copying each others reality formats to make similar shows, add to that 'Event TV' where they are trying to make this yearly calendar out of shows like 'Big Brother', 'Survivial' and 'Pop Idol/American Idol' and it all kinda gets tedious. Personally my opinion is that once a good idea is done, it's done and unless you have some incredibly brilliant way of adapting the format so it has something new and original that makes it worth doing then it's best left be. However thats not how the business or political side of it works in TV, it's all about using specific programmes to help brand channels, selling the formats abroad and also not taking a financial risk on making new ideas and preferring to re-do shows which have a good ratings record and are guaranteed to get viewers - it's always been like it in TV so it's always gonna happen. I don't think the format is quite dead yet though - there are still some great new and original ideas as yet undiscovered and they are bound to drag out the whole 'Celebrity Reality' formats as long as the original ones, i actually kinda prefer them - you know where you are working with celebrities rather than some Las Vegas transvestite who wants a job in kids TV.

'High School Reunion' sounds a bit typical of a lot of the stuff that gets put out by the more teen orientated channels but it is something with a twist i guess. I actually have an idea in my portfolio similar to that 'hall pass' bit but i think it was a lot better thought through. Theres a couple other really interesting and innovative reality ideas i have down that haven't been touched on at all by anyone else yet and are pretty original, but i don't just focus on reality. I'd actually like to see (same as Nate) some resurgance of variety shows but i think they'll revamp it with some new angle, and that sometimes destroys it a bit.

Ok my masterclass in TV formats is over - go on with your lives people. I hear Amercian Idol's on later !

 

[beaker]

Eh, such is why I havent watched tv in ages(cept for the occational Seinfeld, Simpsons, or Kin gof the Hill rerun)

All this reality tv, 'extreme this, extreme that' commercials,
tough guy rap metal/boy band/Eminem/solo girl garbage, MTV indoctrinating, terrorism, and crass addiction epidemic to having a cell phone surgically attached to one's head in public needs to go the way of the Macarena, Baha Men, mullet, and Telletubbies.

It's like were still living perpetually in 1998 5 years later. sad.

Indeed, death to reality tv shows!