Reality TV: Entertaining or a Waste of Time and Money?

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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GTPlanet, hello again.

I am not a fan of reality TV. I think that Japan is the king of weird TV. And when Japan tries that, it can be... well, weird. When America tries it, it's stupid. I mean, take the bright blonde-haired Paris Hilton, and subjecting her to living in some farm. Or, what about a show where you vote people off because they can't deliver in some extrodinary situation? How about a show where people are subject to horror and scary stuff? About the only show I don't really consider as reality TV is "American Idol," or known as "Pop Idol" in England (or do you British folk prefer "Great Britain?"). I think it's not seriously reality TV because I see it more as a contest rather than a reality show. I mean, you don't see music stars dating other stars, having the girls cheat on other guys (and even other girls). So, it's more of a contest. So, reality TV... is it exciting? Or is it (I hope you're GTPlanet fans, FOX) a waste of time and money? I will make a quick point, so I'll start.

I usually think it is a waste of time and money because people like to think they are invincible and subjecting humans to extrodinary conditions. I mean, what's next? A reality show where 10 guys fall in love with this sexy girl, but the girl's secret is that she has a boyfriend that's been out of town and doesn't know she's cheating on her real boyfriend? Or what about a reality show whereas a sexy girl meets a beer-bellied hillbilly that is obnoxious and unsanitary? What about a reality show whereas 5 guys crossdress into hot babes, and the winner is the one that gets the most love and respect? WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. Period point blank.

What do you think about these shows? Maybe they should call these shows "make-an-ass-out-of-myself TV."
 
Originally posted by JohnBM01
...Maybe they should call these shows "make-an-ass-out-of-myself TV."
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Maybe they should erradicate them.

If Hell has a TV station they probably only run Reality TV shows, and music videos from the 80's.
 
Reality TV is crap, theres no escapism, theres no imagination, you might as well wonder around a town center and watch people shopping or whatever.
 
80s music videos suck? OK, but at least they're a million times better than the videos of today. 80s videos were fun, and raw, without having to make a "point." Today, music videos are overhyped, overdone, overproduced, etc... The only tihng they try to do is make the band look cool. They're not fun anymore, with maybe a few exceptions. Of course, there were some really retarded videos form the 80s, and most involve Metal bands.

Now, for the topic at hand. I still like Survivor, but nothing else. Everything else is just a copy of that show. It happens to be a big trend right now, and I don't see it waning.

Speaking of TV shows, my favorite topic, perharps, I don't like the other trend of comedy shows that center around a fat, stupid, moron of a guy that always seems to do things wrong, who happens to be married to a hot, sexy woman that knows everything, and happens to be always correct. What a load of crap.
 
For some reason, people really get off on seeing others get embarrassed and I think thats really the whole point of bad reality TV. Worst of all, I think this part of it is almost unique to the United States. Think about Takeshi's Castle/Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. In Japan, it seems to me like the point of it was to be absurd. Now it seems like the point of it is to make fun of the people doing it. Maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves or something.

That said, Streetball on ESPN is great and the best exception to these rules.
 
the only one I found any interest in was the second Amazing Race. Aside from that, I couldn't manage to watch any of them for more than 3 minutes.
 
Reality TV is the utlimate demise of entertainment.

All it gives is just lazy work for the scriptwriters. And they're laughing all the way to the bank.
 
Originally posted by Solid Lifters
80s music videos suck? OK, but at least they're a million times better than the videos of today. 80s videos were fun, and raw, without having to make a "point." Today, music videos are overhyped, overdone, overproduced, etc... The only tihng they try to do is make the band look cool. They're not fun anymore, with maybe a few exceptions. Of course, there were some really retarded videos form the 80s, and most involve Metal bands...
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I never said anything about videos today, since I don't even watch them. I mentioned 80's videos because most were made with incredibly low budgets. Perhaps I should have said Pop 80's videos, those were so cheesy they were nowhere near anything humorous.

Originally posted by Solid Lifters
...Speaking of TV shows, my favorite topic, perharps, I don't like the other trend of comedy shows that center around a fat, stupid, moron of a guy that always seems to do things wrong, who happens to be married to a hot, sexy woman that knows everything, and happens to be always correct. What a load of crap.
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Now on that we can definitely agree. I was going to pop up a thread at the 'Movies and TV' forum about it. That standard of fat guy with slim wife is all over the place, even in animated series. (The Simpsons, Family Guy...)
 
So how do you feel about my "American Idol"/"Pop Idol" claim? I said it wasn't really reality TV.

And to make matters worse, FOX is digging a 6-foot deep hole with their media. They are better off with their NASCAR coverage and (I'll be looking forward to this) NFL on FOX coverage. I'd rather see a drag race on the last lap at an oval, or I'd rather see the Minnesota Vikings extracting their revenge over the Arizona Cardinals after they knocked them out of last year's playoffs. And FOX is having more reality shows lined up.

FOX isn't the only one, though. Look at Spike TV with their old "The Joe Schmo Show" or whatever it was called last year. I'm sitting around watching Car and Driver, and I don't give a rat's ass what Spike TV has for it's male-dominant network. But Schmo was a reality show where this guy does something for money, finds out it was a fake, or whatever.

Not that I am a fan of these, but I think Real World and Road Rules were more of reality shows. You know, people hating each other, a girl who'd rather date other girls, that sort of thing. Road Rules, you go all over the country, or somewhere in the world, with some of the same problems. These two shows don't have "vote which member should be cut," or anything like that. SPEED Channel has "Barrett-Jackson Car Search," and that's kind of like Road Rules, but not like a phone-in show. There are some shows that portray real life that don't usually have phon stories, prizes to win... I mean, Japan does it much better, and their TV is weirder than almost anything in America! They even had a game show where people cry for as long as they can to win prizes. Japan, I love you all, but to some of us Americans, that's a weird idea for a show... "Namidaire," I thik it's called, by the way.
 
Originally posted by Sleek Stratos
I mentioned 80's videos because most were made with incredibly low budgets.
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Like Van Halen's Jump video. It cost Warner Bros. about $600 to shoot and edit it. It was shot on 16mm home movie cameras by David Bertinelli (Valerie's brother), and a few friends of his. Only one scene was shot on a video camera, and it took half an hour to shoot it, and it only lasted about 7 seconds in the final video. That half hour shoot cost more than half of what the video cost WB.
 
they are not a waste of time nor money...

people tune in in their millions to watch it and production companies spend and make lots of money from it....people spend lots of happy hours watching the tripe..

personally they are not my taste in entertainment...
 
Worst of all, I think this part of it is almost unique to the United States.
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This is wrong. The entire concept came from Sweden who introduced Survivor for the first time. Later Britain expanded and capitalized on it, and only later did America catch on. We were still so primitive watching shows with actors and scripts.

So I hate to burst your bubble but America is not to blame for bad reality TV.

Germany has a new one coming out where a house, stocked with junk food, will be inhabited by fat people. The one who looses the most weight at the end of a period of time wins a million units of currency.

There's Something About Mariam was also not an American show, but definitely one of the most caniving, sleazy reality shows I've ever heard of.

No, it's not America. Which must be hard for you to accept, I know. It's okay, though.
 
I HATE REALITY TV WITH A PASSION


I REALLY DO its out of control. the tv is flooded with endless reality crap. heck, one of the shows, my restraunt rules, is filmed 20m away from my work. I HATE REALITY TV.
 
Originally posted by milefile
This is wrong. The entire concept came from Sweden who introduced Survivor for the first time. Later Britain expanded and capitalized on it, and only later did America catch on. We were still so primitive watching shows with actors and scripts.

So I hate to burst your bubble but America is not to blame for bad reality TV.

Germany has a new one coming out where a house, stocked with junk food, will be inhabited by fat people. The one who looses the most weight at the end of a period of time wins a million units of currency.

There's Something About Mariam was also not an American show, but definitely one of the most caniving, sleazy reality shows I've ever heard of.

No, it's not America. Which must be hard for you to accept, I know. It's okay, though.
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And The Mole came from Australia, and Big Brother came from Holland. It's not America's fault, indeed.
 
The only reason reality tv exists is the simple fact that mindless millions tune in and generate ratings for a network. Plain simple fact. Networks are too lazy to actually produce a decent show with an actual plot worth watching.

The exception to this could be some of the shows that Discovery channel airs but not all of them. I personally like their "American Chopper" and "American Hotrod" because those shows depict the processes and frustrations of building a motorcycle/hotrod.

I can't stand reality tv either. It is the bane of good television and needs to be banished.
 
I know someone is going to make a funny reply to Klostrophobic's reply, but let me make a small note.

"There's Something About Miriam" is a reality show discussed in my "The Transgendered" topic in the Off-Topic\Opinions category. Anyhow, Miriam is supposed to be a transsexual, but the guys looking to date her didn't know that. Then of course, the show was banned in Europe.

Another reason why I think people get into reality TV (especially the ones who compete) are only there to show their faces on TV and have fun. People love TV cameras. Sometimes, I pity the ones who get into this sort of stuff. It's almost as bad as being on the Jerry Springer with your girlfriend, saying she has some fetish that will eventually break up the relationship. Reality TV in America is mostly shown by FOX. Damn it to hell, NO MORE REALITY TV!!! FX (seperate channel for FOX) is coming up with a reality series with NASCAR (or for some, NAScrap) called "NASCAR 360" or something. Then Speed TV has NBS 24/7 (NASCAR bull s*** 24/7, perchance?). Too much out there for reality TV. And why do they call reality TV "reality TV?" Is it because it is a view of life unlike the fairytale world of today? Is it because stories are told and suspecting or unsuspecting "volunteers" help fill in the storylines? Whatever the reasons, they get to be dull FAST, especially with a reality show of almost every kind.

So reality TV started in Europe, but spreaded out? Maybe America gets too carried away with that crap. Damn shame when you think about it.
 
especially with a reality show of almost every kind.
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This is not even close to being the case. We haven't even scratched the surface of the "reality programming". Eventually there will be a reality show about people who hate reality shows.
 
The Apprentice was pretty good, but all other reality shows are pretty much garbage. Joe Millionaire was utter crap and The Bachelor/ette should have been canceled. It's just suprising when you see shows like The Swan take "ugly ducklings" and turn them into "swans" without a bad rap and turn around and see evrything else get criticized for not being politically correct.
 
Finland - the land of million reality tv shows.

It is just sad, how Finnish tv shows these poor shows. Joe Millionaire, Survivors, Idols, Popstars and all kind of date shows are killing me. And not only that, they make finnish versions of these shows. A Finnish Joe Millionaire ended just, thank god. They only got a trip to Caribbean from the producers in the end, and if I remember right, they got one million dollars in the US version. :D

Then there are also all kind of survival series, all of them are basically the same as survivors. There are two teams against each other and such.

I don´t like this reality TV. It´s just so poor. The only good reality show is Amazing race.

Yeh, it is a waste of time and resources.

Finns always say that they watch only news and such on tv, but somehow, about every fourth finn has been watching the Joe Millionaire - Finnish edition :odd:
 
u think america got it bad... check dis... practically every channel in australia, everyday, has at least one ****n reality show....
 
the list of reality tv shows in australia (that i ccan think of, im sure there is more)

Big borther 1,2,3 and 4
all the survivors
australian survivor
the hothouse
the resort (got cancelled, bad ratings)
joe millionare
all the bachelors
the bachelerette
paradise island
average joe
australian idol
american idol
about 4 versions of popstars
the block
renovation rescue
room for improvement


plus more than that.....theres a lot more

all this reality tv for a nation of only 20 million people and 5 free-to-air stations. there is too much bad tv
 
AUSTRALIAN Idol? I'm sure there are no ladies in Aussie land that has sexy legs like Kylie Minogue. And her singing? Pretty cool. Anyhow, what do you learn from such shows like these? Do you learn that when you're on camera, anything can happen? Do you learn that despite whatever the show is about, you have nothing POSITIVE to take from it? Think about that big, obnoxious fiance thing. A woman will get paid money to marry this fat guy. If you do the extrodinary, you win. It's basically "truth or dare" pretty much. You know, it's like when 4 to 8 girls go into a room, and play truth or dare (I don't know if they still do). For example, one girl dares to kiss this one guy at a party. Much the same way that you do the extrodinary to win respect. But in reality TV shows, you basically don't win anything positive. Oh, a few dollars and some other junk.

Like I said, I don't watch these shows, but Real World and Road Rules are about life more than anything. It's REAL reality TV because no prizes are on the line for stuff people really wouldn't try. And even Road Rules is basically a fun show. Go around American and around the world to basically have fun and try to stay together or something. I'd rather would have watched these shows than Survivor All-Stars after the Super Bowl here in Houston this year.
 
So you complain about reality TV but think Real World is real? You actually watch MTV? Is this why you care so much about "the transgendered"?
 
I've seen Real World one or 2 times...huge waste of my time since it was more fake than Jerry Springer..

American Idol is equally annoying, if not more. Except, I have to live in Canada - the place where the whole *your country here* Idol shows started. Except it was originally called Pop Stars...now to follow the whole Idol trend, it's Canadian Idol or some crap like that. Either way I'm bloody sick of all of them. It's bad enough that my sister watches some of them. *sigh*, I guess we'll have to wait for this stupid fad to die so another one that's probably worse can come along.
 
Wait... you don't understand. This is not a fad. It is not going to end any time soon. Get used to it. Man. Ever heard of cable? Change the channel and quicherbichin.
 
:scared: oh crap, you've made me lose all hope :(. I don't get sattelite or cable service for the still another month or two so that pretty much leaves me to watching fox on sunday nights and whenever That 70's show is on. My choices for tv watching are very very very limited :p. Ah well, no complaints - gives me time to learn php to get my streaming radio tuner's auto-dj and request system up and running
 

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