What exactly is Reality TV? Most people would say that they are television programs, in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative. In all honesty, that's the route that most of the Reality Television shows are headed - causing drama induced blank stares, just for the sake of ratings. There are, of course, some informative styled ones too. Maybe I'm getting old? Or maybe I just appreciate the originals and better television! The old formats that all of these shows used, in the beginning, still work. I can handle big change, on some shows. I get it - production has to continuously adhere to the newer generation, in order to ensure new viewers... but the original viewers are still here, too!
The classics, the pillars of Reality TV, those are the ones we watch religiously and the ones we are worried will conform to the new era of unimaginable twists, boring casts, and production induced controversies. The three complaints that I see most often are:
1. There are too many young people cast.
2. We don't want to see returning players; give someone else a chance.
3. The casts' ethnicity is not diverse enough.
You know the face you make when you are thinking to yourself, "Really?!" The face where your mouth is straight lined and your eyes are rolled so far back in your head that you can see your hair follicles? That's the face I make when I see people complain about the things, listed above. Of course, all these things have been the case since Reality TV began, over twenty years ago. The bigger social media gets, though, the more complaints we actually see - and in some shows' cases, we've seen the change and it's hurt their ratings with original viewers.
We are already seeing it with Survivor (2000). Survivor started out as a show, where the goal was to "Outwit. Outplay. Outlast". They dropped them in some remote area and they were initially left to fend for themselves. Their shelters were bare and so were their stomachs. It's been numerous seasons since I've seen a discussion about how the rice and beans would be rationed! Survivor has given us some of the most notorious reality stars, including one of my very favorites - "Boston Rob". Over the last few seasons, though, I seem to be forgetting more and more of the so-called "dynamic players". They can't be that dynamic, if no one can remember them. This show, in particular, I have seen the most complaints about there not being enough "older people" cast. This last season's theme was conveniently titled , "Gen X vs. Millennials". Let me say this (which by the way I will still say when I am sixty years old): If you put a bunch of senior citizens on Survivor, you're going to need about 20 ambulances on stand-by. I realize that there are some older people out there who've "still got it" and if they're interested, they've submitted an application. Let's face it, though. The majority of our elders are going to get out there and either break a hip or die from undernourishment. When is the last time you actually saw one of the elder cast members get out in a physical competition and just kick ass? The problem is, most complaining people don't stop to think; just because they've aged with the show, doesn't mean the show's cast should age with you. When you were twenty years old, you had no problems watching a show that included mainly twenty year olds. Personally, I don't want to watch shuffleboard immunity challenges - no thank you!
This year, Big Brother (2000) became the first major cable reality show to move their season to online viewing (costing viewers $6/month). I didn't pay for it and I'm not sorry that I didn't. Big Brother is one of the few reality shows that still only airs, on cable, once a year! Every summer, we look forward to watching the June premiere. I'm somewhat of a spoilers buff - so we even stay up late and watch the free "After Dark" live feeds, for clues as to what may happen in the coming episode. A lot of viewers don't care to see returning house guests. I live for it! I could watch Dr. Will and Mike Boogie over and over - there will never be another alliance, in all of Reality TV, like "Chill Town". There is a reason that all of those alliances and house guests are still talked about, today. This last season, four past house guests were brought back - Thank God. If I had to sit through another season of the whole house voting together, every single eviction, I may have begun to boycott. What happened to the alliances? What happened to the sneakiness and making big game moves? In the words of Rachel Reilly, "you better grab a life vest, floaters" - because that is what seems to be the plan for most new house guests. Snooze fest! That's not what viewers want to see - yet they also complain that they want new house guests. News Flash, these new players don't have the balls. For the first time, in four seasons, they finally brought back some old house guests and finally we got to see some action! It is a serious long time coming for a Big Brother All Stars season. I hope that one is in our near future.
It seems like every major channel now has some type of dating show - mimicking the original dating show, The Bachelor (2002). However, that's a show that I do not dabble in. From the reviews that I've read on this season's contestant, Corinne, I'm still thankful that I never got into this one.
Both Survivor and Big Brother are shows that I started watching, as a family, with my parents and siblings. Then there is the show that most 90's teenagers quietly watched, hoping their parents wouldn't notice - MTV's The Real World (1992) - "The true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped. Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. The Real World..." Who cannot recite that intro?! Probably not most young millennials and definitely not the even newer generation - because beginning four seasons ago (after twenty eight seasons) they changed the intro to some sort of awful techno beat. It's gone from a show that mainly focused on getting to know the seven strangers, to a show mainly focused on fabricated drama - due to the stereotype casting that the liberal station produces. The intro is no more, no longer do they show the jobs of the house guests, and if they still take a vacation then I have yet to notice. They even did away with the show's logo! Yet, still, they're managing to produce some serious conflicts between the roommates - but that seems to be all that they're producing. They've listened to their viewers, asking for more a more diverse cast. They've cast more African Americans, yet put them in the houses with the biggest redneck's they could find - and during election season, at that. Coincidence? Unfortunately I think The Real World is slowly losing viewers, but maybe production can pull it from the grave in the following seasons.
With The Real World, comes MTV's The Challenge (1998) - a show where they combined members from The Real World casts with cast members from Road Rules (1995). Unfortunately, Road Rules is no longer a running show. This means that The Challenge is slowly losing its number of participants to choose from - and having to resort to picking from the Are You The One? (2014) pool, a show where 20 people are put in a house and try to find their "perfect match" in order to win some cash. The Challenge just happens to be my favorite Reality show, of all time. I'll save the full description and review for another day and another blog - I have lots to say about it, of course.
Moving on, to some other somewhat famous (and favorite) Reality shows...
Even some of the talent shows are trying out new and improved techniques, but those may actually be for the betterment of the contestants! American Idol (2002) was the first talent show that I can remember watching. The contestants were full of talent and the judges were pretty spot on about weeding out those who didn't have "it". Each year, the Top 12 were all different and diverse - and that was appreciated. The crown wasn't going to the same Britney Spears wanna-be, every season. In 2010, American Idol lost its most honest judge, Simon Cowell. From there, it was "bring in the mainstream". Unfortunately we got judges, like Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, who were more focused on the in-house conflicts rather than the actual contestants. Let's just say it like it is - that season was a shit show. Year after year, they kept crowning a winner, but no singles were making it. Then there was Phillip Phillips, a southern boy, with a rock and roll rasp, and a comfy wardrobe. I think his season (season 11) made a lot of loyal viewers realize that American Idol had become more about raking in viewers with the mainstream look, rather than actually seeking out true talent. Phillip Phillips went on to win, but not without letting the world know how American Idol truly worked. How they dressed you up to "fit the part" and took more than their fair share of credit. Thus, The Voice (2011) was created - a show where the judges can't see the contestants, they can only hear your voice. After a few years of The Voice, American Idol finally stopped rolling.
"Praise the Lort" for shows like The Amazing Race (2001), TLC's Little People Big World (2006), HGTV's House Hunters (1999), and MasterChef (2010). All four of these shows still hold true to their original formats and not surprisingly, they're all still big hits on television! The Amazing Race is still one of my favorites, as well - even to the point that I have applied several times (yes, I'm that woman). Travel the world, compete in culture-based tasks, and be with someone you're closest to? Count me in! Another Reality show that is near and dear to our heart, due to the little bit of red that we have in our necks - History Channel's Swamp People (2010). There is nothing better than some good ol' Southern accents and nature. That could be the reason we also took a liking to CMT's Party Down South (2014) and MTV's BuckWild (2013)... those are our types of people! RIP - Shaine Gandee
VH1 did have one long-running reality show, that I watched each season of (although I had to Google it to recall the title), The Surreal Life (2003). The Surreal Life was kind of like The Real World, but for washed up celebrities. From The Surreal Life, VH1 then used lots of previous cast members to create short-lived spin offs: Flavor of Love (2006), Rock of Love (2007), and I Love New York (2007) - all of which bit the dust after just a season or two, Did that really surprise anyone though? How long can you actually stand to watch Flavor Flave swing that clock around his neck or put up with Brett Michaels' eye liner?
Another breakout network, known for it's Reality TV shows, is BRAVO! They of course house The Real Housewives franchise (2006). The franchise began with Orange County and now runs seasons for New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Potomac, and Dallas. Both Miami and DC were cancelled. If you don't watch The Real Housewives, you might be missing out on some laughter. Of course the show is nothing but a bunch of rich women and the stories of their lives - but some of the ladies' character just kills me. The Real Housewives has produced fourteen spin-offs, on Bravo. Some spin-offs were just one time deals. Others, like Vanderpump Rules (2013) and Don't be Tardy (2012), are still raking in the viewers! If you like the drama of The Real Housewives, then you'll love what Oxygen's Bad Girls Club (2006) brings to the screen. A group of self-proclaimed "bad girls" put in one house - cuss words, hands, and short dresses are sure to be thrown around often. I've actually applied for this show, more than once, and made it into the later application rounds. The questions that production asks you are "deep", you could say. That's not always the case for the women that they actually cast. I will have to get that application uploaded, for all that are curious, in the future!
Wrapping it up with a few more teenage-hood favorites, from MTV.
One of MTV's longest running shows, True Life (1998), follows a particular topic each episode - such as drug addiction, homosexuality, or pursuing a specific career. Over the years I think they've slowly ran out of things to document. My husband and I were looking for something to watch, recently, and settled on True Life. The episode was titled "Being a Feeder", a phrase we has never heard of. For those of you who don't know, this seems to be an obsession, that obese women have, with being fed. It also documented a woman who recorded sexual videos, of herself farting, for those with an obsession. After a few blank stares and each of us asking "what in the actual hell is this?' - we changed the channel. Something a bit more mainstream: What teenage girl didn't watch Laguna Beach (2004) or The Hills (2006)? Both shows focused on the life of high school graduate, Lauren Conrad. If you watched the show, you know of the infamous reality couple, "Speidy", and anytime you hear the pronunciation of the name "Steven" prolonged, you cringe. They recently did the 10 year reunion for The Hills and needless to say, it made me feel old; as do all of the growing babies, from Teen Mom OG (2009) and Teen Mom 2 (2011). These two shows originated from the series 16 and Pregnant (2009), where underage teens and their pregnancy drama was documented for the world to see.
Clearly Reality TV is taking over the television world, slowly but surely. I don't mind it, as most of our regular cable television shows are getting more monotonous by the minute - but my message to productions is: Please don't ruin our pillars! Leave those for the die-hard fans and start something new for all of the whiny viewers. By now you should be able to tell that I am a nerd for Reality Television! January is off-season for most television shows. So if you're a fan of spoilers, like me (and just cannot wait) check out Vevmo.com - those should hold you off until the premieres and blog reviews begin!
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