Reality TV: Where's it headed?

[bailadora]

Last night the hubs and I were watching The Running Man on Encore and he commented that when the movie was released, it was way ahead of it's time as there was no such thing as reality TV in 1987 . And yet, here we are some 22 years later where that genre comprises quite a huge chunk of air time. He also said he thought that at some point in the future, there would be some version of a Running Man reality tv show. I gave him an odd look and he said "Theoretically, you've got people sitting on death row who are gonna die anyway, so how hard would be for the powers that be to "justify" such a show?" When I said I hoped our society would never sink to that level, he reminded me there is precedent within history (Rome, The Colosseum and the gladiators).


I have to admit - that gave me pause. I would hope like hell we would never, ever degenerate to that level again - but I also realize when all is said and done, the veneer of civilization is very, very thin. Given that alot of programming these days seems geared towards the lowest common denominator - it's got me wondering: where is reality tv headed? How low will we go? Ideas, comments and discussion welcome.

 

[sugaredwalls]

A few weeks ago I read in TV Guide that one network was contemplating a reality show based on small businesses that have to downsize and let people go. The employees would compete to keep their job, the losers would not simply go home as they do in most reality shows, they would actually be losing their jobs.

Jebus, are we that hard up for entertainment?

 

[Eilan]

A few weeks ago I read in TV Guide that one network was contemplating a reality show based on small businesses that have to downsize and let people go. The employees would compete to keep their job, the losers would not simply go home as they do in most reality shows, they would actually be losing their jobs.

Jebus, are we that hard up for entertainment?

Was that gonna be on Fox, maybe? I remember seeing promos for a show like that. Pretty shitty, if you ask me.

I've never gotten into reality shows all that much, though I'll admit to occasionally watching those "Real Housewives" shows on Bravo and Nanny 911 (that one makes me feel pretty good about my kids' behavior and my semi-shoddy parenting skills ).

I think it can go a lot lower. Maybe not Running Man low, but close.

 

[sugaredwalls]

Was that gonna be on Fox, maybe? I remember seeing promos for a show like that. Pretty shitty, if you ask me.

I've never gotten into reality shows all that much, though I'll admit to occasionally watching those "Real Housewives" shows on Bravo and Nanny 911 (that one makes me feel pretty good about my kids' behavior and my semi-shoddy parenting skills ).

I think it can go a lot lower. Maybe not Running Man low, but close.

Think it was FOX, but not sure.

lol, yeah I have watched Nanny 911 as well, made me feel like mother of year in comparison.

I thought the wife swap shows were pretty bad but entertaining at times. I loved the ones where they would put hippy, liberal mom in to a strict, conservative Christian home and when the husband wanted her to be Miss Stepford, surrendered wife, she would basically tell him to go get stuffed.

 

[emap]

Way more than just the roman coliseum. The celts had burning man, which is what it sounds like, the mayans had a game of hockey like thingy that the losers were sacrificed, not to mention the sacrifices that were public shows.

There really isn't a level of depravity not reached long before.

Though I'm thinking they will start having actual sex in the reality shows before they start doing running man, not like they don't have plenty of footage of it already.

 

[VelvetDarkness]

In the UK a reality TV Big Brother star recently died of cancer. Her name was Jade Goody. She continued with her fly-on-the-wall docu-soap through much of her treatment and there was serious discussion at one point about recording and broadcasting her final moments. It sparked heated debate about reality TV and what constitutes entertainment as, when it became apparent that Jade's cancer was terminal and that her chemo and morphine rendered her confused and unable to really consent to constant filming, people thought a halt should have been called earlier than it was. Regardless of the ethics involved, many found a morbid fascination in watching her decline. She had a fairytale wedding and used the media to make money to provide for her sons but ultimately, she died very much in the public eye.

 

[sugaredwalls]

A while back some nutter proposed showing executions on pay-per-view TV as a way to raise money for more prison space.

Sadly, there would be people sick enough to pay to watch that.

 

[DarkBee]

A while back some nutter proposed showing executions on pay-per-view TV as a way to raise money for more prison space.

Sadly, there would be people sick enough to pay to watch that.

Could that 'nutter' be George Carlin, by any means? He had a brilliant skit about prison farms the size of some American states and also about live capital punishment, both to be broadcasted on tv.

 

[Quoll]

If you take into account the fact that nearly all television at it's base level is simply to sell advertising (in one form or another) to make money, then perhaps we have already gone lower than we think.
The outcomes of these shows are only relevant to the studios in terms of which outcome will generate the most revenue for the least expense.

 

[savethebest4me]

There's some reality tv show starting soon called Celebrity something and Rod Blagojevich's wife is going to be on it...supposedly the contestants get dropped into some jungle...has anyone heard of it? And WTF is Blagojevich's wife going to know ANYTHING about the jungle...LOL...oh, yea, she was in politics...

 

[NippleMuncher]

I gave him an odd look and he said "Theoretically, you've got people sitting on death row who are gonna die anyway, so how hard would be for the powers that be to "justify" such a show?" When I said I hoped our society would never sink to that level, he reminded me there is precedent within history (Rome, The Colosseum and the gladiators).

The Bush administration ...

Like you, I too hope that society doesn't sink to that level, however with the depravity that is daytime tv and most primetime programming, we're not far from it.

 

[OzArrian]

Sad to say ""Reality TV" will continue to be the dominant way in which commercial TV creates programming because (a) it's cheap (b) it's easy and (c) it's easy to manipulate. For every hour of quality drama such as "The Sopranos" that a HBO will produce, the masses will be fed 100s of hours of pure shite like "I Love New York", "So You Think You Can Dance" etc etc, and as younger generations believe this kind of entertainment (and the masses can achieve celebrity status without any talent whatsoever) then the less we'll see of a creative medium in commercial TV. I wouldn't be surprised if we get the likes of "Ow My Balls" from Idiocracy somewhere in a programmer's schedule down the track...

 

[PertPerth]

Reality TV isn't really a new concept - just think back to ancent times where watching Gladiators fight to the death was a common "family fun" event.

Personally, I find it very hard to watch any of it (I am usually out, reading, or on the computer, rather than watching TV). Most of it seems really cruel and I'd never take part in voting for who leaves the show. Even the Funniest Home Videos makes me cringe.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

I can't stand most reality TV (though I don't mind Funniest Home Videos most of the time), closest think I can enjoy is Australia's Got Talent (which is more Variety rather than Reality TV).

The concept of reality TV getting as bad as Running Man is probably going to last a long time. It's the basis behind the Unreal Tournament series (where the deathmatches started out as a way to quell unrest among deep-space miners, though by the time the games themselves are set; it's more like NFL or wrestling) as well as that game "The Club". I wouldn't be surprised if it gets used again, to be honest. Hell, I was planning to write an Unreal Tournament fan-fic at one stage that played up the behind-the-scene's sections; team organisation, dealing with the press and so on. Never actually got around to it though.

 

[silverwhisper]

interesting question, bailadora...my gut reaction is to say that it will continue to be be crass and vulgar, it likely won't get to the death-for-entertainment stage. i'll admit my reaction to that prospect can be summed up as, "no, not here!", but i see no logical reason to support that belief, in all honesty: the simple truth is that there's really no knowing until it's upon us.

certainly, executions are open to the public, and have been for a very long time. forget the romans: crowds used to jeer during the terror, following the french revolution. and in some cases, people who might otherwise be opposed to such things might well want to make an exception in certain cases (e.g., osama bin laden).

it's tempting to say that so long as there's a fox network to appeal to the lowest common denominator, one can't rule that out.

ed

 

[emap]

Actually any TV station could end up doing an executions show, if it ever happens it probably will be one that's new though really if one starts slumping and gets desperate they will show anything. Stations are at the bottom line, businesses, they want to make money, and they want to make more than they spend, ideally boatloads more.

For some strange reason, they always are more interested in making money than quality why there's so many reality shows, after Cops and Real World did so well there were a bunch of them that started up and failed fast, after a while with both of the above still going, they did survivor and well gee that worked so every station is on the bandwagon again, sadly they filled a niche that alot wanted filled so they are staying for a long while.

All of them cater to the lowest common, Cops did by default, I mean boring to watch cops doing calls to well to do houses where the brat down the street knocked over the garbage can, so they show the lowest common people being well themselves. The rest are just doing that, the only ones who are doing anything different is Fox with that foxreality channel, if it's still around, though their different is mostly sex, and did they or will they.

 

[Eilan]

All of them cater to the lowest common, Cops did by default, I mean boring to watch cops doing calls to well to do houses where the brat down the street knocked over the garbage can, so they show the lowest common people being well themselves.

I've learned that it's no fun to watch Cops with a (retired) cop. According to my husband, those cops seem to be doing a lot of posturing for the camera. Some of the stuff they do on film would get them an Administrative Investigation and likely some form of discipline if they worked in my husband's former division.

I rarely watch it, but I'm a bit disturbed by Cheaters.

 

[emap]

Me to, I can't figure out if they only air the weird people or prepare the two for the meeting after they prove that he or she is cheating but it's always the same thing. How could you what was I doing wrong blah blah blah.

 

[SweetErika]

I've learned that it's no fun to watch Cops with a (retired) cop. According to my husband, those cops seem to be doing a lot of posturing for the camera. Some of the stuff they do on film would get them an Administrative Investigation and likely some form of discipline if they worked in my husband's former division.

In elementary school, we went on a fieldtrip to the city hall and police station. Cops was new and wildly popular. Even then, the officer who spoke to our class said the actual job wasn't as it was portrayed on Cops at all - there were some exciting moments, but most of the time it was lots of sitting, waiting and paperwork.

I haven't seen Cops in years, but I'm guessing it's gotten more outrageous as time has gone on. If it wasn't terribly accurate in the late 80s, I'm sure it's more fiction than fact now.

I rarely watch it, but I'm a bit disturbed by Cheaters.

Now that is a show that caters to the lowest common denominator! I caught it once or twice to see what it was about, and was disgusted by the trumped-up drama and total tackiness.

 

[mentionME]

Running man was a great movie...

anyway, i can imagine reality shows getting bad but not that bad. i remember when terrorist were getting web time for beheadings and the media fire that caused and i just cant imagine we would let reality shows get to the level of public deaths and executions... violence is something i feel we will continue to lessen thanks to backlash of showing/allowing too much in the last decade (terrorist, school shootings, waterboarding, etc.)...

...i am curious to see if we'll start to allow even more profanity

 

[emap]

Eh cops is pretty much the same as it's ever been. I mean dang watching a new episode or one from ten years ago same crap same brainless people different hair, clothes and cars to some extent.

m&m I'm going to mention one little thingy. In the 30's kissing in a movie was porn, killings were done off screen if even mentioned. Compare that to the movies made now, do you still think executions are never going to be on TV?

 

[mentionME]

Eh cops is pretty much the same as it's ever been. I mean dang watching a new episode or one from ten years ago same crap same brainless people different hair, clothes and cars to some extent.

m&m I'm going to mention one little thingy. In the 30's kissing in a movie was porn, killings were done off screen if even mentioned. Compare that to the movies made now, do you still think executions are never going to be on TV?

honestly yes...i cant fathom the approval of such material getting high enough to warrant the risk.

i could be wrong tho. I've seen an episode of Drawn Together where they lead you to believe a male god was going to give oral sex to another man..didnt think the christian right would ever let something like that fly either (though that is a cartoon and comedy central so eh)

 

[bailadora]

Awesome discussion so far, people. I have to admit my gut reaction to death for entertainment TV is the same as Ed: "No - not here!" But I'm thinking that's probably pretty naive on my part. Kind of off topic, but related: I wonder what percentage of the market horror/slasher type movies comprise 'cause it sure seems like that's all I see adverts for. Really, when you stop and think about it - that's death for entertainment right there. I guess the only "saving grace" (if you will) being that its a fictionalized version as opposed to "real life". It strikes me as rather odd that the US regulating authorities are so much more lenient when it comes to violence, but get wigged out over a flash of nudity. Personally, I kind of wish we were aligned a bit more closely with the UK on that topic. Nudity and sex I can handle. Violence - not so much.

Quoll's observation about TV being all about making money is spot on, I think. But I also don't think we can blame it all on programming execs. We, the target audience are at least partially responsible. If a show doesn't get the ratings, it gets canned. Near the end of the movie, Killian (the TV host) tells Richards (the Running Man):

This is television, that's all it is. It has nothing to do with people, it's to do with ratings! For fifty years, we've told them what to eat, what to drink, what to wear... for Christ's sake, Ben, don't you understand? Americans love television. They wean their kids on it. Listen. They love game shows, they love wrestling, they love sports and violence. So what do we do? We give 'em *what they want*! We're number one, Ben, that's all that counts, believe me. I've been in the business for thirty years.

How freakin scary is that, because it seems like the absolute truth. While I don't watch the bottom feeder type shows such as Cheaters or The Bachelor, I will cop to watching Survivor and So You Think You Can Dance. The hubs sometimes watches drek such as Rock of Love or Fear Factor (when it was on). And when I asked him why, he said it was kind of like a train wreck: really awful, but you just can't look away.

And I guess therein lies the problem: shows I think are offal (pun intended) are someone else's quality entertainment. So who gets to be the ultimate arbitrator of what gets aired? If it all comes down to ratings: yeah - I think ultimately - we're screwed.

 

[Eilan]

So who gets to be the ultimate arbitrator of what gets aired?

If it were up to me, we'd be watching stuffy, pretentious period-piece films on every channel.

 

[bailadora]

If it were up to me, we'd be watching stuffy, pretentious period-piece films on every channel.

*laughs* - Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, oh my! Some might call that cruel and unusual punishment!