Am I the only one who can't stand watching most reality TV shows?

I was going to ask, but you probably wont have, so I'll ask the general folks...

You seen the "Classical Music X Factor type thing"?

Someone in the Guardian got into a right old strop about it, but it's basically not much more humil than the real schooling you go through in the "young classical" world. Probably less so, as they are less likely to get their arse chewed for getting one bum note.

I talked about this on the Dragons Den thread yesterday. Cunts being mean to idiots is not my cup of tea. However, I've been watching Classical Stars on BBC2, but that's allowed because 1) everyone's really nice to everyone 2) no shouting 3) don't seem to be any massive egos and 4) everyone you see actually is insanely musically talented. xp

The shared shame thing is by and large enjoyed by the public at large think cf The Office.

and 5) they're not voted out by the general public but by snotty types who do know what they're listening for and talking about

Do I have to request mod permission to zing this one?

http://i.ehow.com/images/ehows/steps/tee3_L.jpg

Do I have to request mod permission to zing this one?

-- Noodle Vague, Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:33 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i think no-one's zinged it cos it's a hard target -- tuomas is, after all, the first person ever to stand up against the reality shows that Plague Our Culture.

Or, you could just respond in a non-zing way to the point Tuomas is making. Go on, give it a go.

PEOPLE BE LIKING WATCHING OTHER PEOPLE SQUIRM, DUFUS.

Will this do?

i wish tuomas could see a shot at love with tila tequilla.

I'm kinda interested less in the evils of reality tv, but in the idea of shared embarrassment. It's certainly the driver for a lot of comedy and realitytv these days, but it's not something I personally enjoy. holiday in other people's misery innit.

Thomas, do you like The Office or Peep Show or similar that use embarrassment as almost the prime driver, or at least a big USP?

tumoas do you know what flavor of love is?

i wish tuomas could see a shot at love with tila tequilla.

hee hee, I saw a trailer for a reality show where they lock up an 3 drug addicts and get them to go cold turkey for ages, and we get to see their mental breakdowns. I thought I'd dreamt it, but no, it's real.

^^^ok that sonuds genuinely awful.

yeah, I remember that one.

Less 'reality' tv, more a documentary. But slap the word "reality" on anything, pulls the punters in.

Plus, it gives you an 'in' for a celebrity version later.

Ah, punters. Of course. Let's all feel above the trashy junk popcorn (faux) reality docs because we don't appreciate "low culture" and must be above this, intellektuals we are. A bit like watching soaps, no? I'm not advocating watching these programs, but I don't necessarily think it's (completely) bad to watch these programs. Of course assuming this is reality would be rather silly but I think that most punters would agree it's not. In a way it is a good way to educate people: to make'em realize that a camera never records reality. Or something.

never watched one, never want to. don't disapprove or feel superior, just don't give a damn about TV.

Did you people bother to read my initial post? I explicitly stated that I don't think I'm "above" reality shows, rather than that it's the shared shame part of them I can't stand, and which I don't understand. This has nothing to do with me thinking I'm better than those who watch reality TV (a group which includes most of my friends).

watching people degrade themselves on some pseudo-celebrity nerdathon sounds awful to me, whatever.

But why the shared shame? You are assuming they should feel ashamed for displaying their private life. I am just wondering if it's your anti-capitalist stance which propels you to say it's shared shame. Also, what's wrong with letting the public see your private life?

i think most people who watch them feel 'above' the people on the shows.

it's all bollocks nathalie. it isn't their private life. i used to watch lots of it, i don't now.

I don't think I'm "above" it either. (xpost loads)

Yeah, I watch some, not all, of them.

At their best, they are a reflection of the indominatability of the human spirit.

At their worst, they can be a 'let's laff at the thickos'

At their most insipid, they can be a "see if you can guess where we nicked the procedures from" q.v "You're Fired/I'm letting you go" and so on.

i think i reached a point where having some tourette's sufferer bullying thickos on tv wasn't my idea of fun any more.

The appeal of being on one of these shows is based around "let people see you at your best/most amusing/personality/etc"

The actuality ends up being at your worst/most aggressive/angry/dislocated.

Take "The Apprentice"

I'd actually take issue with a lot of what SirAlan states as fact.

However, the apps cannot do this, they have to stay this side of the "of course you are wise sir alan" line.

The era of reality shows may well be drawing to a close over the next year or so

This is how a lot of shows in a category go.

Starts off with good intention.

Picks up viewers via word of mouth

Second series gets big publicity splash

Moves into 'laffing at the thick one(s)/ booing the 'evil' one.

And ends up with random viewer dealing street justice to the 'not nice enough' one.

The era of reality shows may well be drawing to a close over the next year or so

I'd be very surprised TBH

Unless you mean in the sense of the basic premise being distorted to the point where the 'reality' part has no real meaning, which I guess has been happening for quite a while. Ever since there started being celebrity versions of everything and since the non-celeb ones basically consisted of people who adopted personas for TV

Things change. Entertainment -- like everything else -- operates in cycles.

in the US the strike means *more* reality tv if anything.

in a way it is a good way to educate people: to make'em realize that a camera never records reality

do you really think that most BB watchers believe this?

to answer the question, no you're not tuomas, if you weren't aware of that. i feel sick watching reality shows, and so do most people i know.
i think the key may be in something mark grout said: "Starts off with good intention." that's never been true about reality shows ( i watched the first two big brothers), and it shows in every second of the programme. with stuff that's produced with less cynical intentions, like a lovingly-plotted and acted drama or intelligent doc, you can just feel the difference. it's not about snobbishness, it's about how much care and effort is put into the programme by the makers, and the intention behind it.

and yes, reality tv can teach us many things blah blah

My "Starts off with Good intention" was more about the Apprentice than BB, although that did start off with some sort of sociological aim (at least, that's what they said).

..at the very least, the contestants on BB1 had no way of knowing that the show would be a hit of any kind.

well i was pretty psyched for the reality era - i think there were a lot of people eagerly anticipating everything private going public - and it has been a hueg fucking disappointment!

the best they can do is put a bunch of bitchy narcissists in a room and have them perform inane dexterity tests and then vote who they hate the mostest? really? thats all you got?

(granted there has been some great art produced by this degraded era: jackass, celebrity sex tapes, the beckhams etc - but all thats waaay too few and far between)

do you really think that most BB watchers believe this?

As I said, most of us like to pretend the "plebs" are MORANS and can't think for themselves. I think one of the key things (that reality TV shows for example) have taught us is that we do need to educate ourselves (and kids) how to watch TV. I also think a lot of the criticism is just some vague form of kneejerk reaction against low culture because, oh my god, it's a commercial product so it can't be any good, now can it?

Tuomas, I am not necessarily attacking your viewpoint! Everyone's entitled to their own opinion (duh!) and maybe I am just being a bit of a contrarian. :-(

A factor in us getting rid of our TV was that there seemed to be a lot of reality tv shows on, and we both found them boring or annoying & not good to watch. So no, you're not the only one. Especially annoying was that a lot of progs seemed to pick out people who'd make for "great tv" ie complete prats. I don't miss it at all.

I do find the idea of everything private becoming public problematic

I'd have bet money on that being anyone but Tuomas posting that.

we both found them boring or annoying & not good to watch. So no, you're not the only one. Especially annoying was that a lot of progs seemed to pick out people who'd make for "great tv" ie complete prats

mainly this.

in the industry theyre known as inside out and they are booooring

I HATE reality tv. Makes it easy to turn the tv off except during football and baseball, so I have to tip my hat to the trend in that regard at least.

"shared shame" (is there an English word for this - you know, feeling ashamed when witnessing someone else being ashamed?)

Reality tv is so identified with schadenfreude/shame partly because that's certainly how it started -- I don't share Mark G's optimism about its intentions, this is an industry out to make $$$ after all -- so even if it weren't the case anymore, it'd still be tagged with the aura of shame.

However, relying solely on shame or schadenfreude, either on a season-long level or on the level of the entire genre, would be unsustainable. This is where Mark G is super-OTM, because without a moral center or contestant for whom audiences can root, a reality program really does become an exercise in cynicism. (The US Apprentice, for instance.) All of my favorite shows have to have an element with which I can sincerely empathize -- heroes/heroines are crucial to a lasting show.

For the US, I think that most reality tv series (the competitive ones, anyway) appeal to viewers because they are rooted in Protestant myths of work and justice and hopefully present a social system that works -- the heroes/heroines are the hard workers who buy into some myths of decency (fairplay (compromised but still intact), humility, etc.) and succeed, while the self-aggrandizing ruthless types become the show's de facto villains who are punished (e.g. denied the top prize). That's not always how it shakes out; Rich, winner of the first season of Survivor, was clearly labeled the villain from the get-go, but the show's producer Mark Burnett probably manipulated the outcome so Rich would win, in part because Burnett wanted to espouse an "edgy" for of gamesmanship that would attract viewers through its cathartic and controversial nature.

I think one of the key things (that reality TV shows for example) have taught us is that we do need to educate ourselves (and kids) how to watch TV.

Following on my last point to natalie:
Because "reality" on these shows get re-molded according to storytelling conventions, audiences aren't learning how to watch tv so much as tv producers and editors are learning how to shape the mundane happenings in a contrived situation into a long-form narrative.

i can't watch these fucking things really, because the visual and audio edits are so obvious and forced half the time. frankenbiting and all that bullshit: cut up the dialogue and distract from the audio edit by making a visual edit at the exact same moment.

i like some of 'em ok, the ones that require a certain amount of creativity, where the drama bullshit is secondary. top chef and top designer, for example.