Reality TV is a craze that won’t soon be over – to both my disgust and delight. ABC alone hosts The Bachelor, Dating in the Dark, Wipeout, Super Nanny, Wife Swap, Undercover boss and Dancing with the Stars (and this is not an exhaustive list!) It might not be to my better judgment to admit I’ve had an addiction to each of these shows at one point in time. But actually, reality TV is my guilty pleasure, and I guess I’m not embarrassed. In preparation for this post, I came up with at least 47 different shows classified as “reality,” and over 50 percent of them I enjoy on occasion.
My week seems to be in sync with the TV Guide. (That sounds pathetic, I know.) Three days a week are scheduled around my favorite show ever: Big Brother. Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday I get to watch my favorite houseguests eat, sleep, workout, laugh, cry, fall in love, argue and compete for money. I talk about “Meow Meow” and Britney as if they were my own best friends. I really can’t get enough and have even decided to sign up for next season (Ok not really, but that would be my only dream!) Monday night I have to catch the outrageously ridiculous drama that is Bachelor Pad, where the contestants fight – sometimes literally – for both love and cash. At least I keep Tuesdays and Fridays open for homework…
I love reality TV. But as much as I love it, I hate it. Why would I spend what little free time I have watching people? Truth is, I don’t even know. Why did I care who Ali gave the final rose to on the last season of The Bachelorette? I don’t know her. But all season I swooned over Chris from Massachusetts and was seriously outraged when Frank left Ali for his ex girlfriend.
Now, its not old news, but most of America seems to be just as caught up as I am. The last finale of CBS’s Survivor received ratings rivaling that of the Superbowl of that year! Seriously? What is this attraction we have to watching people eat bugs? I’m really not sure, but I do know its BB eviction night.
I have the same love-hate relationship with reality TV. I'm sure that if I was a better person I wouldn't watch "Wipe Out." The time I spend watching uncoordinated people fall into the mud is time I could spend learning Latin, or reading Tolstoy, or volunteering somewhere. And yet there I sit, watching people get squirted with paint and socked with boxing gloves. I'm sure there's a profound meaning to be grasped here, but my mind is too addled from "Wipe Out" to come up with it.
ReplyDeleteHahaha I loved the ending! I think it's great that you admitted your weakness while simultaneously critiquing it. We wrote very similar blogs, my dear, and yet neither of us managed to come to a conclusion about WHY we watch this stuff. Perhaps since we are both so into it, we should drop out of school and work for one of our favorite junky shows! What do you think? :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe there are at least 47 shows classified as reality TV! That blows my mind! I guess if they are cheap to make and people watch them, why not right? I think what Doug said is true about there being much better things we could spend our time on, but that is much easier said than done.
ReplyDeleteYou and Kaylin had very similar ideas, and it seems that one of the major draws to watching these shows is human connection. Whether it's with your friends the day after the show, or just with some reality-star human out in the cosmic void, you're looking into someone's face, and there's something nice about that. And in the case of the reality star, you can get to know someone without giving anything of yourself, which makes things easy. I find myself doing this with TV and book characters, which is probably weird, because Jim and Pam don't exist in real life, but still. Human connection is something we all desire, and we'll take it in whatever form it comes, even if that means committing to season after season of the Bachelor.
ReplyDeleteMTV is one thing, but I'm not a huge fan of network TV moving to more and more reality series. These networks should move to REAL shows, or should I say not real. Networks were made famous by creating programs like ER, House, Law & Order, The Office, etc. One or two reality shows are fine, I like some of them, but use that high-priced creativity to come up with something truly creative. Write a script!
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