Do you think reality tv shows are here to stay?
Shows like Big Brother, Survivior, Mole, Cops…etc.
personally, I think all tv shows have trends that come and go. when I was a kid, there were lots of TV westerns, and variety shows were big. Don’t see either much anymore
For a while, there seemed to be a science fiction every night.
Cop shows have waxed and waned and waxed again.
Ditto lawyer shows, sit coms, etc.
Prime time soap operas have had their day, and are trying to come back.
Prime time game shows seem to be having a resurge as well.
Prime time cartoon shows have had good times and bad.
The only things that seem to remain constant are:
Lots of tv sucks, big time.
People still watch it.
I hope they go.
Anyone else remember the last round of “reality TV”?
That’s Real Incredible People. More of a magazine freak-show format than the peeping-tom shows we have now, but still horrible…
If you look at all the other fads (game shows, primetime soaps, sitcoms, etc.) the trend is that there are a bunch of them while they are popular, then when the next big thing comes along, it fizzles down to just a couple. So yes, they will always be around, just not as plentiful as they are now.
What was that show in the 70s that gathered teams of people to do “stunts” which always seemed to involve crossing a pool?
I don’t remember ‘always crossing a pool’ but are you referring to ‘Almost Anything Goes’?
That sounds about right, tiglon1. Thinking about it some more, it seems the teams were from different towns. There was a pool and there was always some sort of water event.
I assume they’ll fade away eventually. It seems that one new, innovative show will come out and storm the TV viewing public and then 20 copy-cat shows will try to pick up the crumbs. Ok, so I’m being real flexible with my use of the word innovative. Anyway, consider how many “million dollar quiz shows” popped up after Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Four or five if I recall. Now that’s a lot of quiz shows for the primetime week. And of course, they all failed except for WWtbaM (which is still around but not the force it sued to be). Likewise with Survivior. Everyone watched it and now we get stuff like Big Brother (which I don’t think anyone watches).
Yes, I know quiz shows existed before WWtbaM. Yes, I’m aware that reality shows like The Real World existed before Survivior (though MTv did a fine job of cannabilizing that concept to death on its own). However, I’m referring to that idea that makes network primetime and captures the attention of the nation, not niche cable marketing.
Eventually these shows outlive all their clones and the glamour fades off of them, but they remain as long as they can make a respectful showing. I get the feeling that with the flop of Big Brother and the fiasco of Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire, networks are going to get cold feet about much more reality programming and move on to the next Big Thing.