I feel your pain, jarbabyj.
I had high hopes for Murder in Small Town X, but then I saw that they were feeding the contestants clues, telling them exactly what they would need to find, instead of actualy making them think and make their own discoveries.
I am also a reality TV junkie. I watched The Mole, both Survivors, Temptation Island (okay, I am ashamed of that one), both Big Brothers, and Boot Camp. I cannot help it. It just sucks me in. I may be losing IQ points every single time I tune in, but I cannot control myself. For me, it’s like crack. I watch the first episode, just to see how dumb it all is. And then I stay and watch.
I did not watch Chains of Love (Okay, I watched the first one, but it was too horrible even for me). I tried watching Murder in …, but it got so boring after the first two episodes, I just couldn’t handle it. I loathe Fear Factor. Hopefully, this will redeem me somewhat, but I fear that the damage is done…
All this reminds me of the “American Flagg” comic book from the 1980s, a parody of future America where they play shows like “Firefight All Night Live!”
I just saw an ad for a new Reality TV show that features former military arming up for paintball (or paintball-like) contests.
Now, if we can just get a camera crew over to the Gaza. Film a few clashes, get a lead time on the next suicide bombing. Get the two sides to sit down and talk, we may have a Sweeps Week winner here!
Hear, hear! Anybody else remember the episode where a well endowed woman ran down the aisle, and her tube top fell off? I never saw my grandpa turn red before…
I loved The Mole. It was great. Anything else, I didn’t see a single episode of. Don’t feel like I missed anything.
I, ummm…, actually do like to watch Blind Date.
Well, it doesn’t take itself seriously, you know.
Really.
And then people wonder why I pulled the plug on cable. If I don’t rent it, I don’t watch it. My life has been much more productive, since.
[sub]I miss South Park and BattleBots, though…[/sub]
“We’d rather just sit and pull our puds while sexy twenty somethings bicker over how far they can get zucchini up their ass.”
And you wonder why so many people tune in?
Stuff like that never happens in real life, in Penthouse maybe, but never in real life.
I admit that I too, have been sucked in but resistance is not futile. We can change the channel if we want to, can’t we?
jarbabyj, you’re a gem. Don’t stop fighting the good fight.
I avoid “reality” TV like it was a near sighted syphilitic priapic rutting bull.
However.
I would have watched “Survivor” if it had gone with the premise that I first imagined.
Throw all these people on a deserted island with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
No food.
No immunity chalanges.
No voting people off.
No camera crews, just unmanned cameras all over the place like in “the Truman Show”
They would have to survive using nothing but their wits, with the only way off being to give up, or to become so ill or weak as to require medical attention. And with a cool Million at stake, the contestants would be motivated to drive each other off the island.
You think you saw scheming on the real show…
Sigh.
Yes, I was hoping for that kind of Survivor as well not that sugar-coated stuff they have on. Same with Big Brother. They did it the wimpy, sugar-coated way.
I wanted to see people on the island suffer and try to survive for the million dollars.
OOC, is this the format they’re using for “Get the Fuck Home, Fast” (Lost, or whatever they’re calling it?) or is that going to be truly episodic as well?
Note: I didn’t watch any of the “reality” shows except early Real World’s and a few episodes of Temptation Island, so I don’t know what format they tend to use.
Newbie chiming in -
A lot of the posters in this topic seem to be advancing the following two part statement:
(1) Reality TV sucks. Reality TV is the worst thing to hit civilization since Ted McGinley. I wouldn’t watch reality TV if you tied me to a pole and cut off my eyelids, etc, etc, etc.
(2) I’ve never actually watched any reality TV.
How is it even possible to have such a strong, violent aversion to something you’ve not ever seen, or at least not seen often enough to judge what it’s about? I’m hearing (well, reading, but whatever) people trash “Survivor,” for instance, while admitting that they have no idea what actually went on because THEY DIDN’T WATCH IT. Huh?
I actually really enjoyed both seasons of “Survivor.” And no; I’m not a drooling idiot or a mindless member of some horde. I just think it’s interesting to see how actual people react to stress and conflict, and to consider how I (or those watching with me) might respond in similar situations.
I think a LITTLE bit of Reality TV is a fun, novel concept, but when 1/3 of my choices of things to watch are the same damn thing, it gets ridiculous. Also, it’s extra fun to invite your friends over for dinner only to have them say:
“OH, I can’t. Survivor’s on and I have to be able to talk about it at work tomorrow.”
:rolleyes:
I’ve never been sodomized by a gorilla, but I have a pretty strong opinion on it.
Well, I object to it on the grounds that half the time lately when I want to watch TV, it’s nothing but reality programs. No, I haven’t watched too many reality programs (one episode of Murder in Small Town X and one episode of Fear Factor), but it’s just not something I’m interested in.
It’s as if you hated country music, and one night you sat down to watch some television, started flipping through the channels, and found that every station was showing either country music videos, interviews with country music singers, or “Behind the Music” documentaries about country music tours. You don’t have to watch all of it to know that you’re not interested.
I’m the same way with reality shows. I don’t need to watch them to know I’m not interested in watching them. And I wouldn’t mind them so much if they didn’t dominate the airwaves practically every night. Sometimes I just want to sit down and watch a nice sitcom, y’know?
HEY! Don’t knock Temptation Island and Love Cruise.
Since they cancelled Melrose Place they are my only hope!
Pathetically, I am very serious.
Love Cruise is out?
Sweet! What network and time?
I seriously want to see just one episode- I helped do one of the casting calls with quietgirl.
I don’t think it is out yet, but I’ll be ready for it when it is.
:::happy dance:::
I didn’t read the thread yet, because I’m in too much of a hurry to say this:
The “reality TV” fad had better die out, and soon, before it puts all experienced and qualified crew members out of work. Every time Mr. Rilch or one of his contemporaries sees an ad for a new “reality show”, they tear their hair out. Even with five networks plus cable, there’s still a finite number of series that can be on TV in a year. It’s hard enough to find work as an electrician, grip, script supervisor, and so on, without these shows that only require a couple of video camera operators.
Stop it. Right now. Or else.
Actually, what scares the heck out of me about reality TV is not the programs that are on – it’s the programs that could be.
Paranoia? Not really. Think about how horror films got increasingly more gory and graphic over the years. As people grew jaded, it took more and more to whet their interest. Same for talk shows. We all know there’s not much that can’t or won’t be sacrificed to the Great Gods Neilsen and Arbitron to get their favor. I’m waiting uneasily for the day that one contestant either gets fatally injured or fatally injures another on a live reality program…and the ratings skyrocket.
Not to sound like gloom and doom, but it’s a truly disquieting possibility, at least in my mind.