Thursday, June 16, 2005

Reality bites...

What is up with reality shows these days? Have things not gone a bit too far? I never thought in a million years that I was growing up in the "age of the sitcom" and that age was soon to die out only to leave people watching reality television. I mean, what about the Cosby Show... probably the greatest sitcom I can ever recall. But I digress... where was I... oh yes, reality shows. Are these not all the same show with a different title and different setting? How many reality shows cannot be synthesized down into the following:

1) You start with a group of contestants (individuals or teams, or individuals that become teams, but later when there's only one team left go back to individuals...)
2) Week by week, people get elimated.
3) The winner gets $1 Million dollars, or a job working for some self-made millionaire.

I guess it all started with Survivor and from there the list goes on and on. Those who know me well know that the ONLY reality show I enjoy is the Amazing Race. And while it definitely fits this same pattern, I guess there's actually an honest element of competition to it that I appreciate.

I wonder how reality shows would work in other parts of the world... how about:

The Terrorist: 12 contestants compete to become the next Al Qaeda suicide bomber. Unfortunately, the producers are becoming very disenchanted... all of the potential contestants never survive beyond their audition tapes. I did watch the pilot episode though, it was a blast.

OK, this is pointless. We should bring back quality sitcoms (where no problem can't be resolved in 30 minutes, or the occasional 2-part episode). And game shows... bring back primetime gameshows! I'm too cheap to get digital cable so I can watch the Game Show Network.

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