Reality TV

I was really into reality shows for awhile, now it seems that's all that's on...so the novelty has worn off a bit.

Lorna

I have watched a few, once or twice. However, since I am not into watching people get humiliated. I avoid them like the plague.

I admit it, I'm hooked.
I do think it's getting a bit out of control though. Whenever I hear about a new reality show, I try it on for size.
I enjoy peeking into the business of others, if they are willing to put it out there to see.
I'm not that crazy about the reality show "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here".
I have seen "last resort", and enjoyed it. My spouse watched it with me, and we had discussions together about the couples issues on the show.

Don't watch them. As au1929 wrote, watching people humiliated as a form of entertainment has never been my cup of tea.

I dunno. I hardly ever set out to watch 'em, but I've gotten hooked by a couple. The first was "Blind Date", when I lived in L.A., and it was set in L.A., and the dates were places I would hang out in or drive by every day, and it felt like some little local production. And I really hated L.A. at the time, so it was awesome to watch it with my hubby and make fun of the uber-L.A. idiots. It was a good way to get out aggression. But then it was depressing, too, because they had their first road trip show, to San Francisco, and the people were infinitely more interesting, (they had conversations! They didn't just chat about which plastic surgeon had the best reputation!) and it just reinforced that we were in the idiot capitol of the entire world.

Anyway, especially early Blind Date before it became a more self-conscious parody (they used to have rather normal, middle-aged people on -- now every time I check in it's augmented babes in bikinis making out with swarthy muscle dudes in hot tubs), I did like the fly on the wall aspect. I'm incorrigibly nosy and curious, and love to know how real people actually talk in everyday situations -- not scripted -- since that's not information I have access to in my everyday life.

I don't watch them. I guess they don't do anything for me.

Don't watch them, either.
... the few occaisions that I have watched , I've felt excruciated for the people exposing their vulnerabilities (& naivety) in this way. Excruciating!

I agree msolga ;-)

The edited version of real life is not that interesting to me. I'd much rather see talented actors acting what a creative writer has written, thanks.

Same here Macsm.

I think TV is being completely overrun by reality shows and it's time to put the brakes on. I also bet that a lot of actors are pretty unhappy with the current state of affairs, since they are not getting offered any jobs because of it.

I do however have a few favorites that I watch - Survivor, American Idol, and The Osbournes. I'd be happy if the rest went away. They were a novelty for a short time but now I'm tired of hearing announcements of new reality shows.

Plus you must admit that if these shows are flooding our TVs it's because the ratings are there. Apparently regular shows/soaps cannot compete for air-time. Could it be that the American public has gotten tired of what writers on these (pre-reality) shows were shoving down their throats?

It's time to change the programming and try to upgrade to the level of intelligence of their public. While there are some who are at the level of Jerry Springer, there are a lot of others who want decent shows. Thank God for shows like West Wing, or Law & Order, plus Will & Grace, and Frazier.

The networks routinely copy whatever got high ratings last season. So I predict we're not quite done with reality TV. Also, I assume that these shows are cheaper to produce - no scriptwriters, no star salaries, etc.

Remember, the writers strike two/three years ago started it all. Could this be a form of cosmic payback?

I think you've got it, eoe!

Headline: "Networks planning no less than 21 new reality shows for this summer."

I have enjoyed "Survivor" since the series began several years ago. "The Mole" has been very interesting...I like to ponder and try to determine who the Mole is.

Most of the other reality shows don't seem to have enough depth or the persons are not very ingrossing.

I can live without Survivor, but I enjoy The Amazing Race, despite all the Ugly Americans.

Any thoughts on the reality show "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here"?
I kind of find it boring, while my husband enjoys it.
He found "Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachlorette" to be boring, while I enjoyed watching those.
I think we females appreciate the whole fantasy romance idea. While the guys do to, they don't want us to have any clue that they do. LOL

I really enjoy Survivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race and on occassion have peeped into Real World, Im a Celebrity, American Idol, Trading Spaces, Animal Cops, etc. I really dont like the Bachelor or Millionaire ones though..they certainly have no interest for me really, not sure why since I like the others but, I do intend on taking a peek at the new one next week...Married By America..I do think that would be hilarious...even though its one of the genres Ive tended to not even bother watching.
Its not that I like when people are humiliated, I think the editing does that more than anything else but, its more like seeing people interact with each other, and especially in those shows that there is some sort of challenge, I find it at least interestnig, which I hardly say about regular programming...in fact I have very few non reality shows I watch nowadays.

TRADING SPACES! Yes! I forget that it can be considered a reality show. LOVE it. (I was sooo surprised to see Alex on "Millionaire", though they barely used her. And she wore baaaaaaad clothes... what was up with that? I wonder why they brought in "Not-Marky-Mark" for the end? [I know that guy, and he's very long suffering about the "Hey, I thought you were the underwear dude!" remarks.])