Reality Shows, Good or Bad ?
Seeing a promotion of one of the popular Reality shows got me thinking ! Do we really need these shows ? I mean what made them such a popular genre ? What made them eat up a huge slice of the viewers pie ?
Big Brother, Pop Idol, Superstar, American Idol, Survivor, Fame or star academy are all names of an ever growing list of shows known as "Reality Shows". Love them or hate them, we all know that they are here to stay.
It isn't a completely new idea. I mean we all loved watching Candid Camera shows when we were kids, didn't we ? Everyday Joes (who had no idea that they were being filmed) were tricked into doing ridiculous things and it was sometimes very funny. And now we have those 'Funniest Home Videos' instead.
Then things changed. first came the dutch with the idea of taking ordinary people and turning them into 'stars' by putting them in unusual situations 'Big Brother'. A group of people were locked in a small house with cameras running 24 hours a day. It was called a 'watch and dial' show because viewers vote by telephone to decide who should leave or stay. Or 'Survivor' where a group of people are put in a hostile environment, like a jungle or a desert island. They are filmed while they try to find food and shelter and every week some of them are voted out. This is just to describe a few ! Not that we all don't know about them already ! :P
In my opinion these shows are basically, bad television, and just proves that TV Networks are running outta ideas ! I remember when Big Brother first came out while I was a University student, critics kept saying that this bubble "The Reality TV Bubble" will burst sooner than later, but did this happen ? 6 years later and still these shows are multiplying! Why ? because they are still as popular as ever. But why are there so many viewers ?
For the fans it's an opportunity to 'people watch'. Voyeurism is taboo and that's what makes these shows attractive. We all watch, but we don't admit it to anyone, because we've been raised to know better than watch people, right ? ;)
The TV companies like reality shows because they are cheap to produce and attract younger viewers, which makes advertisers drool on just the thought of it. The last 'Big Brother' in Britain attracted enormous advertising revenue. They aren't dependent on 'star' actors with enormous salaries. And your actors won't go on strike.
And why do people participate in them? Well, for fame and money of course. In the past, appearing on television wasn't for ordinary people. You had to be good at something, like sport, or acting. But not any more.
What really catches my attention is the fact that all shows do well at the their debut season but then the viewing figures begin to drop. And it varies from country to country too. For example, in Spain, 'Fame Academy', or 'Operación Triunfo', is very popular, but the British version is doing so badly that people call it 'Lame Academy'. Perhaps people are becoming more critical but everyone seems to agree that reality shows are here to stay. They've become an acceptable TV genre, like drama or situation comedy.
Finally, finding out what new show will the TV Networks come up with interested me, but deciding to search the web for new shows was a bad idea, a quick search yielded many results but one stuck in my mind, this show; in my opinion; will be the nightmare of all Reality Shows, The show is based on the idea of getting an unmarried women to choose between potential sperm donors. The title for the show is, well yes you've guessed it ! :) 'I Want Your Baby'. See Where I am coming from ? :o I hope this one doesn't make it ! :P So what do you all think ? Reality Shows, good or bad ?
Penny for your thoughts ! :)
Big Brother, Pop Idol, Superstar, American Idol, Survivor, Fame or star academy are all names of an ever growing list of shows known as "Reality Shows". Love them or hate them, we all know that they are here to stay.
It isn't a completely new idea. I mean we all loved watching Candid Camera shows when we were kids, didn't we ? Everyday Joes (who had no idea that they were being filmed) were tricked into doing ridiculous things and it was sometimes very funny. And now we have those 'Funniest Home Videos' instead.
Then things changed. first came the dutch with the idea of taking ordinary people and turning them into 'stars' by putting them in unusual situations 'Big Brother'. A group of people were locked in a small house with cameras running 24 hours a day. It was called a 'watch and dial' show because viewers vote by telephone to decide who should leave or stay. Or 'Survivor' where a group of people are put in a hostile environment, like a jungle or a desert island. They are filmed while they try to find food and shelter and every week some of them are voted out. This is just to describe a few ! Not that we all don't know about them already ! :P
In my opinion these shows are basically, bad television, and just proves that TV Networks are running outta ideas ! I remember when Big Brother first came out while I was a University student, critics kept saying that this bubble "The Reality TV Bubble" will burst sooner than later, but did this happen ? 6 years later and still these shows are multiplying! Why ? because they are still as popular as ever. But why are there so many viewers ?
For the fans it's an opportunity to 'people watch'. Voyeurism is taboo and that's what makes these shows attractive. We all watch, but we don't admit it to anyone, because we've been raised to know better than watch people, right ? ;)
The TV companies like reality shows because they are cheap to produce and attract younger viewers, which makes advertisers drool on just the thought of it. The last 'Big Brother' in Britain attracted enormous advertising revenue. They aren't dependent on 'star' actors with enormous salaries. And your actors won't go on strike.
And why do people participate in them? Well, for fame and money of course. In the past, appearing on television wasn't for ordinary people. You had to be good at something, like sport, or acting. But not any more.
What really catches my attention is the fact that all shows do well at the their debut season but then the viewing figures begin to drop. And it varies from country to country too. For example, in Spain, 'Fame Academy', or 'Operación Triunfo', is very popular, but the British version is doing so badly that people call it 'Lame Academy'. Perhaps people are becoming more critical but everyone seems to agree that reality shows are here to stay. They've become an acceptable TV genre, like drama or situation comedy.
Finally, finding out what new show will the TV Networks come up with interested me, but deciding to search the web for new shows was a bad idea, a quick search yielded many results but one stuck in my mind, this show; in my opinion; will be the nightmare of all Reality Shows, The show is based on the idea of getting an unmarried women to choose between potential sperm donors. The title for the show is, well yes you've guessed it ! :) 'I Want Your Baby'. See Where I am coming from ? :o I hope this one doesn't make it ! :P So what do you all think ? Reality Shows, good or bad ?
Penny for your thoughts ! :)
posted by Munther at
1:43 PM
6 Comments:
Like you,i think these progs are shit,you might as well pull a chair to the window and look out all day,we've just had a series of "love island"they dropped celebrity from the title this time coz they really scraped the barrell,Paul Gasscoines step daughter who he hasent seen for 12 years,cyring about what a batard he was,she still used his name though,couldent of hated him that much?
6:36 AM
Oh gaz, don't let me start about the celebrity reality shows ! These shows are even more annoying ! Funny how they are always stared by D list celebs ! You wouldn't see a decent sane person on these shows, would ya ?
9:35 PM
Saun Rider(singer,Happy Mondays)said "if i wus on big bruther,id stab them all in the eye's" bit harsh but...ye know...put them back on the road with Bez winning Celeb big Bro?
2:57 AM
i hate reality tv, except for The Amazing Race, but not sure if that would be classified as such. i HATE American Idol... loathe it. never watched Big Brother or Survivor or anything, wasnt into the reality TV thing. i still don't get it.
2:07 PM
I agree most of these shows are boring but what really annoys me is the fact that the latest survivor will have the teams divided based on race and ethnic background which I am really against because it will just glorify racism ! :x Now this is just taking the piss ! :x
3:55 PM
These shows are all a pile of trash, waste of time. One thing for sure, they sure hell make loadsa money.
1:44 AM
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