Reality Television has burst onto the scene and has made television viewing like a trip to the zoo. People in their cages showing off and little to no need for writers and composition. So why did Reality TV become so popular? I mean we don't go to the zoo that often do we? But yet, being able to sit on your couch and watch humans in a zoo is somehow attractive to us. Reality Television has been around as early as 1948 when Candid Camera came onto the scene. A show in which weird things happened to regular people who were being filmed without their knowledge. After that a couple of shows appeared here and there including the widely popular COPS. But then the one which really changed the landscape of Reality TV and made way for the blow-up we have today is that of MTV's long running series "The Real World". The premise of which is to throw seven strangers into a house and see what they do with their lives. This simple yet riveting look into people's lives has spanned 19 seasons and has had twice that in spin off content. But it was such shows as Survivor and American Idol which really threw the the reality world into a frenzy and has created almost any type of show imaginable. So now that Reality Television is here and will probably be here for a while, what if any of the shows are actually worth watching and which should you when having the option between the show and the plague should you choose the plague? Well here's my picks on that. Note, I really don't watch that much reality tv, and many of these I have only seen once.
Good: American Idol (America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing).
I don't actually watch American Idol, but I have watched the recent seasons of America's Got Talent and Last Comic Standing. The thing that is good about these shows and a couple more which could be considered like it, is it's truly a show which takes on a stand that the fans make the talent. The judges of course choose from the hopefuls but ultimately it's the mass public's decision on who will be the winner. That in itself, the ability to have an audience make lives is a very interesting concept. American Idol as I said I don't watch due to the fact that I'm not much for singers. America's Got Talent however can show america that such a thing as ventriloquism is something America still wants to see. Don't believe me? Go to youtube and type in Terry Fator. He was the winner of this year's competition and the only person I've ever voted for on one of these shows. Last Comic Standing is Stand Up Comedy and once the finals start, the judges go away and you get to vote just based on performance.
Bad: The Moment of Truth
This show is just a new one that came out within a couple of weeks of writing this article. Contestants are asked a series of questions hooked up to a polygraph machine. This part is not shown, but then the contestant is put in front of his family, his friends and the world, and wins money based on how many truthful answers he gives. The higher up in money the more deviant the questions. For instance one such question asked of a man, "Have you ever thought of cheating on your wife?" Now he's stuck. Only if he hasn't thought of it will his marriage not be ruined. For if he has, he can say yes, and move on, or no and it will reveal to be yes. Of course in terms of this show the one saving grace is that the contestants do know what they are getting into. So if they ruin their lives for money, they knew the possibility was there in the first place.
Good: Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
This is a new reality show done by Dr. Drew Pinsky. A show in which celebrities with drug and alcohol addictions are filmed in the rehab process. This show is not for the faint of heart, as it is real people coming off addictions and showing what happens when they turn sour. What is good about the show is it is showing the real trouble that addictions do cause, and it makes you the audience cheer for these people in whom you would not normally cheer for, because they are going through very real and human problems. It is perhaps in my estimation, the best thing to have come out of reality television, in that it is a deterrent to using drugs and alcohol.
Worst: The X Effect
MTV has brought on a slew of awful reality tv, from Next, to Date My Mom to Parental Control and lastly to the worst reality television show ever. The X Effect. Imagine if you will that you dated some girl (Replace genders if appropriate) and you had a nice sexual relationship but for whatever reason you decided to break up. A couple of months later you started dating this other girl and found out that your ex-girlfriend also found a new boyfriend. Then one day due to one of these four people contacting MTV about being in some sort of reality tv program, MTV invites the four of you to have a weekend with the four of you at some really nice resort. When you get there the person in charge takes you and your ex-girlfriend into the resort but says your current lovers are going to a different part of the complex. You and your ex are ushered into the building and left alone to do whatever you want for two days. After two days of being with your ex, getting massages and hanging out in the pool, lots of alcohol and all that your current loves are brought back and you find out that they were put in a private bungalow and were able to watch and listen to your every move. Hope you were faithful in such temptation. So now you have to decide, do you want to stay with your current love, or go back to your ex? But choose carefully cause if you choose your ex but she doesn't you, well then you don't get either one. Wow. Sucks to be you. MTV just ruined your relationships! This is the most awful excuse for a television show. Somehow they decide it's okay to ruin people's lives by putting them in tempting situations. It's even worse then you might think, they put the two in a suite with only one bed, they give them opportunities to do chocolate massages on each other and lick it off. This is the ultimate drivel of reality television, but alas, people watch it, and people like it, and it'll forever be on television.
So here's to hoping you and your significant other, don't find yourself on the wrong side of "reality television".
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