Staged TV

[John in Covina]

The thing is with these reality shows is that they revolves around conflict and the more outrageous the behavior the higher the ratings.

The youth today see it as a nod to bad behavior and now redefine celebrity as acting badly.
It makes for a life of dodging ambushes and stupidity as the norm.

it rewards bad decision making and treating others like crap, how does that benefit humanity?

 

[scottyrocks]

I watch and enjoy COPS - have for many years. But the one reality show I do watch these days is Deadliest Catch. There may be some 'unnecessary' drama there, but the danger is there and its real. Captain Phil Harris' downhill struggle and death was as grimly real as it gets, afaic. I've watched the show since the beginning, and I feel like I lost a friend.

 

[Undertow]

...They're there to provide the thematic road map that will entertain the demographic that has been identified as the actual or potential audience for the program. Like Louis B. Meyer is famously alleged to have said, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union."

Quite right, sir.

And I don't think we can necessarily fault them for this. Many forms of entertainment, in any given era, have done nothing but appeal to the masses. Shakespeare, for instance, had a vested interest in presenting works that at least appealed to the masses. Granted, I think his reputation is a little more complicated. PT Barnum is probably a better example with his sideshow gaff hoaxes.

I think the real concern here is that these modern reality shows present themselves "earnestly" as actual reality shows. It's that abuse of sincerity that gets under our skin. It's also the fact that the shows have become so pervasive as a means of entertainment.

I also think the OP is bemoaning the fact that once reputable and relatively entertaining networks are now clogged with these half-cooked "reality" shows as opposed to quality programming.

Personally, I think reality shows are stupid. Not much else to say about that. I also think it's a darn shame so much of television is crap. But that's one of so many reasons the "vintage life" appealed to me - I'd rather be reading a book, playing cards, taking a walk or getting into drunken fisticuffs than watching someone else doing it on television.

 

[Rathdown]

I knew reality TV had eaten itself the day I saw a DVD release of The Osbornes marketed as reality television but containing "blooper reels". Uhm.....

I've seen some great reality TV - The Victorian House, The 1940s House, The Experiment (a BBC recreation of the original Stanford Prison Experiment).

All of the shows you've mentioned were carefully planned out months in advance, right down to the producers creating the situations which added dramatic content to the programs. And, just like Britain's Got Talent -- or any of the populist trash you've decried-- they were all carefully cast, with literally hundreds of families and actors trying out for the parts.

Most of it is populist trash, though. Still, wasn't that ever the case with TV in general? It is a shame, though, to see the machine churn out all these fame-hungry wannabes while talented actors, writers and crew go without work.

Your last statement is just little off the mark. I can't speak to "fame hungry wannabes" because, in the final analysis, due to the intimate nature of television these shows are character driven and the characters are cast, just like any other part in the show, to satisfy the perceived demographic attached to the program. Most writers on reality shows have a fair string of credits, and the average contract for 13 half hour episodes is in the region of $60,000. Good crews work all the time, bad crews flip burgers at McDonalds and complain that there's no work.

 

[BigFitz]

I watched part of Great Lakes Warriors first episode last night mainly out of curiosity and an interest in shipping on the Great Lakes. The "conflicts" seem so contrived and the reactions so over the top that it turned me off. Especially with all the bleeped out cursing. Maybe someone will make a true documentary on the subject someday.

 

[Undertow]

...Maybe someone will make a true documentary on the subject someday.

Haha, oh the irony... lol

 

[Edward]

All of the shows you've mentioned were carefully planned out months in advance, right down to the producers creating the situations which added dramatic content to the programs. And, just like Britain's Got Talent -- or any of the populist trash you've decried-- they were all carefully cast, with literally hundreds of families and actors trying out for the parts.Your last statement is just little off the mark. I can't speak to "fame hungry wannabes" because, in the final analysis, due to the intimate nature of television these shows are character driven and the characters are cast, just like any other part in the show, to satisfy the perceived demographic attached to the program. Most writers on reality shows have a fair string of credits, and the average contract for 13 half hour episodes is in the region of $60,000. Good crews work all the time, bad crews flip burgers at McDonalds and complain that there's no work.

Terminology issue, I think.... When I said "reality" I was using it in the broadest sense as the industry does (at least to we outsiders), i.e. to refer to a show which uses non-professional actors and is not documentary as such, but is not a scripted fictional show. It's late on Friday afternoon and I'm not articulating well, but you follow what I'm getting at? I've never thought of these shows having 'writers' as such, but yes, it makes sense that they would have someone specific on that task (as opposed to the director orchestrating it all). Bottom line: there are good shows out there among the trash. True, it's all a value judgement... "Crew" again, I'm probably using that term incorrectly, but I was meaning all the behind the scenes folks who aren't necessary on these types of show...

I don't think the industry will change of course - not until the market does. It seems over here that fatigue is setting in with a lot of the glorified karaoke stuff - it'll be interesting to see what comes next as the big thing. Big Brother came and went; UK Channel 5 has taken the license over for it, but it doesn't receive anything like the attention it used to. It's a pity what they did with it really - if they hadn't been so inane with it, it was a format that had promise.

One difference in have noticed between UK stuff and US product - comparing versions of the same show, like Supernanny (it was on, I'd misplaced the remote, Jo Frost is sex on a stick... don't you judge me! )... I notice the US episodes all have the same "some scenes created for dramatic purposes" disclaimer at the start. We don't have that in the UK versions at all, though I'm sure elements of that are no less staged. Is that an FCC requirement?

 

[Matt Deckard]

 

[Dixon Cannon]

At least they don't have LAUGH TRACKS!! These "pseudo reality shows" are second only to sitcoms in their banality.

-dixon cannon

 

[Bruce Wayne]

http://centraltendencies.com/2011/03/pawn-stars-is-fake/

 

[Dixon Cannon]

http://centraltendencies.com/2011/03/pawn-stars-is-fake/

Excellent expose'.

-dixon cannon

 

[LizzieMaine]

TV infested with phony shows? Somewhere Charles Van Doren is laughing.

 

[Feraud]

The worst fake show I've ever seen is Amish Mafia.. oy it's so bad!!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

As most of us here who are collectors can appreciate, the thing I hate about shows like Pawn Stars and Storage Wars is that it gives people a false impression about the value of antiques and collectibles because now everybody thinks they're sitting on a gold mine because "they saw it on Pawn Stars."

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

This genre of shows is one of the main reasons I loathe modern television and steadfastly refuse to get cable service. Who needs 100 and some channels of drek?? :eusa_doh:

 

[Stearmen]

I am sure we all saw this comming! It was only a matter of time, with the reality shows trying to one up each other. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/three-dead-discovery-reality-show-420090

 

[MisterCairo]

Can't figure out who watches these - no one I know will own up to it...

My guilty pleasures are Storage Wars, Storage Wars Texas, Storage Wars New York, American Hoggers and occasionally Duck Dynasty.

There. I said it.

 

[Duke of Buckingham]

I think the only television I watched this month has been the (reality show) Wartime Farm, which suffers from being far more contrived than the precursor, Victorian Farm.

My wife watches these awful Real Housewifes of shows. You could not come up with a better idea to denigrate women - they lounge around all day, getting facelifts and complaining about each other behind their backs. They are worth what their last husband is/was worth. Frankly, the people that put these shows together hate women. That's all I can think about it.

 

[MisterCairo]

Were Dan and Laura pleasant to meet?

 

[Hamlet]

This genre of shows is one of the main reasons I loathe modern television and steadfastly refuse to get cable service. Who needs 100 and some channels of drek?? :eusa_doh:

Amen.

I had the unpleasant experience of cable a few years ago at a family member's. It was maddening. 20 minutes of commercials per hour all timed so that if you start flipping you never see anything but commercials. And will never return the the original program. What was worse was dancing graphics plastered all over the actual show rendering the entire thing unwatchable.

Life is way too short for that BS.