# So, is anyone else sick of reality TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305 "2003-03-14T12:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![finn1911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@finn1911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finn1911)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/1 "2003-03-14T12:29:10Z")
What ever happened to good old fiction? I can’t stand reality TV. I am not sure why exactly, but i think it has something to do with not feeling very good about laughing AT someone when it’s actually real. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/2 "2003-03-14T12:36:28Z")
I can honestly stand here and say that I have never seen a reality TV show. No Survivor, no Joe Milliionaire, no Meet My Parents, nothing. Reality shows to me just seemed stupid. If I wanted to see reality I would just turn of the TV and go for a walk. ---
**Author:** ![finn1911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@finn1911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finn1911)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/3 "2003-03-14T12:41:07Z")
One show in particular that turns me right off is fear factor. I can’t stand to see people make themselves do things they obviously don’t want to do, for my entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/4 "2003-03-14T13:27:31Z")
I can’t stand it either. But I think it’s getting to the point where it’s no longer reality. I have to admit that occasionally my curiosity gets the best of me, so earlier in the week I watched the new show _The Family_ for about 5 minutes. For starters, I can’t believe it is not at least semi-scripted. That is, the producers probably give the participants suggestions on how to behave. And even if the producers do nothing of the sort, it’s clear that the particpants are hamming it up for the camera. So the phrase “Reality TV” is becoming a misnomer. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/5 "2003-03-14T13:28:56Z")
I’m not. I never watch, so it means it leaves more time to do other things. Let everyone go 24-hours reality TV and I can get rid of my set. ---
**Author:** ![S\_Puppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@S\_Puppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/S_Puppy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/6 "2003-03-14T15:07:55Z")
I watched about 15 minutes of the first Big Brother and maybe 10 minutes of some other reality show. They just don’t seem to interest me. Obviously someone must enjoy them or the channels wouldn’t be flooded with them. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/7 "2003-03-14T15:17:00Z")
Don’t watch 'em, never have, never intend to watch. I don’t understand the appeal, and I don’t think there’s anything real about reality TV. Each to his own, I suppose. Then again, I’m an HGTV Addict… ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/8 "2003-03-14T15:50:43Z")
I don’t understand how people can judge something they have “never” watched. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/9 "2003-03-14T16:01:46Z")
Hell, I’m sick of all the _commercials_ for new reality TV shows. That said, I occasionally watch one of those dating shows when I come home for lunch from school. _The Fifth Wheel_? Something very similar to that–it’s the one with the bus. Sometimes it has well-built women in tight clothing trying to out-slut each other . . . what can I say . . . ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/10 "2003-03-14T16:06:11Z")
Alas, your question comes about three years late. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/11 "2003-03-14T16:29:25Z")
I watch so much less TV now than I did before the reality TV glut began it’s amazing. I’ve gone from having a “nightly lineup” I was interested in for each night of the week to _maybe_ four or five network shows that I watch even semi-regularly. It’ll backlash eventually (one can only hope) and a whole new trend will come along. Here’s praying it’s a bit less grating than this one, and involves fewer people so bloody willing to make fools of themselves for the gaping public’s amusement. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/12 "2003-03-14T16:48:06Z")
I agree heartily with SmackFu on this one. It makes my teeth hurt to hear folks condemn reality TV (or anything else, really) in that inevitable superior tone, as if anyone who does enjoy it would have to be a slack-jawed yokel, and then in the next sentence casually note that they’ve _never actually watched any_ reality TV. Look, if you don’t have any interest, don’t watch, fine, but how in the world are you forming a judgement based on little or no evidence? From the promos? I love SURVIVOR. I think it’s one of the most interesting things on TV; it’s a game show with a strategy that evolves from year to year and honestly from minute to minute, and trying to make sense of that strategy is a great mental exercise. Plus, it’s fascinating to me to see how people react under conditions of great stress. Also: hot girls! (though not, so much, in the present edition). I tried BIG BROTHER and found it boring. I like THE AMAZING RACE. And I am neither slack-jawed nor a yokel. Why is this so difficult to understand? Different groups of people can enjoy different things without one group or the other being characterized as “the gaping public.” - FCF ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/13 "2003-03-14T21:26:01Z")
Thank you, **storyteller** and **smackfu**! What’s wrong with enjoying shows where people humiliate themselves or put themselves through idiotic challenges? I enjoy some shows so I can point and laugh at the contestants who are stupid enough to go on TV to make asses of themselves and I like other shows for the the competition and the strategy. As for the term “reality TV” becoming a misnomer–it always HAS been a misnomer. No one who watches these shows sits there and thinks, “Ooooh, this is so real!” Seriously, try “The Amazing Race” (if it’s ever on again ☹ ) and you’ll probably enjoy it. That show is the greatest–non stop action for the whole hour. Well, except when they all clump up in the airports, but, oh well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/14 "2003-03-14T21:44:45Z")
I like the concept of reality television. Give real people an actual problem and then sit back and see how they handle it. The trouble is, it’s impossible to observe anything but how people behave when they’re on television. When I first heard of Survivor I thought it was a marvelous concept – we all talk about what we’d do if we were stranded on a desert island … let’s test the theory. But oh no. We had to have challenges and other idiotic stunts. Don’t ask me what I’d rather they do; they came up with the concept and it’s up to them to make it work. For this viewer it didn’t work. My own opinion. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/15 "2003-03-15T00:16:59Z")
I tried a few series like _Survivor_ and _The Mole_ when they first started. Bored me silly. I agree they aren’t “reality” shows, they’re game shows shot on location. I was expecting a team of adults trying to survive without devolving into a _Lord Of The Flies_ situation, not jungle variations on relay events from a junior high field day competion. Why doesn’t a team on _Survivor_ take Mark Probst hostage in exchange for food and supplies from the well stocked camp of the production team? The sound guys and camera crew aren’t starving. _Fear Factor_: eating gross things and taking dares for money? Throw in some booze and little hazing and it’s a frat initation. _The Osbournes_ is the only one of the celebrity “reality” shows I can stand. The contrast of Ozzy’s reputation and image with his day to day life as a chemically damaged dad of spoiled bratty teenagers and a husband dependent upon his much more capable wife is funny. CBS is too late with that white trash/neo-_Beverly Hillbillies_ idea - it’s called _The Anna Nicole Smith Show_. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/16 "2003-03-15T02:33:19Z")
I’m sad that this week’s TVGuide talks about some of the _2 dozen_ new Reality Shows slated for 2003. Beyond a couple episodes of **Surreal Life** (it’s kind of funny to watch has-beens, what can I say?) I’ve never been able to see the appeal of this type of programing, not even back when The Real [not]World started the trend. Oh well, they still make dramas and sci-fi shows, so I guess the end of the world hasn’t come just yet, despite the remark of one comedy writer in that article. ---
**Author:** ![Insanity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3e96dc/32.png) [@Insanity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Insanity)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/17 "2003-03-15T02:46:29Z")
I see reality TV on about the same level as “Friends” was on a few years back. When it first appeared, it was interesting, and fresh. Now, every network has to have a clone. Some may be as good as some of the original shows, but the idea is getting tired. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/18 "2003-03-15T11:02:52Z")
“Reality TV” is definitely an oxymoron. But I’m interested in how far it will ultimately go. Also, the “Pick the American President” one that is supposed to start next year will be very interesting. Mainly, because it will be no different from how a president is currently picked (sans big money). ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-anyone-else-sick-of-reality-tv/161305/19 "2003-03-15T11:22:43Z")
I’m not so much sick of reality TV as I am sick of reality. But then, that’s my problem. 😉