# "Reality" shows, really?



## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

OK so this isn't really a problem, just more of a question/discussion point.

What is the appeal of all of these "reality" shows?

Survivor:
Great concept but just shows how to lie/steal/cheat your way to win. Let's celebrate who can be the biggest scumbag. Makes me want to puke.

Bachelor/Bachelorette:
I really want my daughters to grow up thinking they should go on some television show and date a bunch of dorks at once to find a husband?? WTF?

"Real" Housewives of Wherever:
They are about as real a housewife as I am a porn star. They are barely really human between the fake hair, fake t**s, lipo, collagen.. ugh...

I'm not even going to mention Jersey Shore, what a joke.

Sorry if I am offending any of you, that isn't my intent, I just honestly do not get it.

Now, Deadliest Catch, or Ice Road Truckers, I get it! :smthumbup:


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

Survivor? Try a day in J'Burg. Half of them would be sold into sexual slavery and the other half would be dead. I'm always amazed at the first world problems these posers have to confront. So tragic.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Yeah, no kidding.

Here is my idea for a reality show. Take Michael Moore and Rosy O'Donnell and drop them in the middle of say Iran or Syria and see how long they live...


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## Undertheradar (May 11, 2011)

I agree with you.
I've said it a few times, how I feel that these shows send the wrong message to those who watch them.


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## MGirl (Mar 13, 2011)

There is no appeal. For me, at least. I have enough problems in my own life without wasting my time watching a group of idiots on TV whose lives are so fantastical it makes me want to gag.

My dad seriously watches Bachelor and Bachelorette. And then tries to talk to me about them. He's 62. And he loves them. Strange, really. 

Sorry to offend anyone, I just can't stand reality shows.

Give me Bones or House or the Mentalist any day over a reality show.


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## magnoliagal (Mar 30, 2011)

Don't people know they are all staged? I mean who really lives like that? 

No appeal to me either. Oh sure occasionally like a train wreck I've surfed past one and got sucked in. But then when it's over I feel like an idiot. Did I really need to waste 30 minutes of my life watching a show about a woman addicted to eating toilet paper? LOL!!


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## MGirl (Mar 13, 2011)

magnoliagal said:


> Don't people know they are all staged? I mean who really lives like that?


EXACTLY!! 

I have watched Bizarre Foods and Deadliest Catch though. They're considered "reality tv" but IMO, without the unnecessary drama and staging.


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## JessiTexas40s (May 28, 2011)

I believe some reality shows do have great entertainment value. I mean where else but survivor do you get to see a model with her skin destroyed by mosquito bites and hairy armpitts, love it! Big brpther is kinda fun too, kinda like a nascar, you just watch for the blow ups and knock downs. As for non-reality, DEXTER is the best by far, who would ever create a show where we, as the audience root for the serial killer, fantastic writers there!


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## incognitoman (Oct 22, 2009)

I always liked the biggest loser. Contest to get people healthy. Its amazing and inspiring.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

WhiteRabbit,

Yeah the hoarders shows intrigue me as well. But at least there you are seeing someone's real affliction. BTW, I like your cheaters show idea..


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

incognitoman,

Yes, biggest loser is also an exception. I don't watch it that much but at least there it is inspirational.

I even think Amazing Race, while having some of the deceit/etc isn't as gut wrenching to me as Survivor.


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## Mom6547 (Jul 13, 2010)

Undertheradar said:


> I agree with you.
> I've said it a few times, how I feel that these shows send the wrong message to those who watch them.


Presumably the people watching are grown ups and are responsible for their own judgement. Or they are parents making judgements for their children. Media should not be held responsible for "messages". Media sells what people buy.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Mom6547,

Yes and that, unfortunately, is the sadder commentary on the world we live in.. 

(Looking at this, is sadder even a word or should it be more sad?)


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## JessiTexas40s (May 28, 2011)

Mom6547 said:


> Presumably the people watching are grown ups and are responsible for their own judgement. Or they are parents making judgements for their children. Media should not be held responsible for "messages". Media sells what people buy.


:iagree:


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## magnoliagal (Mar 30, 2011)

I like biggest loser too but I do get annoyed with the staged infomercials they've started putting in them. "So what you are you eating? Oh hi Bob it's just some Quaker cereal. Well gee contestant that is an excellent choice" Gag and I know darn well Bob doesn't eat food out of a box. Oh well I guess they've got to make money somehow. Thank goodness for on demand so I can now fast foward right past that part.

I also like shows like hoarders, biggest loser, or celebrity rehab for the therapy aspect of it. They are all addictions and the treatment is the same. It's like my therapy for in between my therapy.


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## Mom6547 (Jul 13, 2010)

frustr8dhubby said:


> Mom6547,
> 
> Yes and that, unfortunately, is the sadder commentary on the world we live in..


What is sad? That some people different taste in entertainment than you do? That is all those shows are, entertainment. I don't care to watch them. But that some people do does not strike me as sad.


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## Amplexor (Feb 13, 2008)

Reality TV = Ethical Politics


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## lisa3girls (Apr 6, 2011)

:rofl:


frustr8dhubby said:


> Yeah, no kidding.
> 
> Here is my idea for a reality show. Take Michael Moore and Rosy O'Donnell and drop them in the middle of say Iran or Syria and see how long they live...


:rofl::rofl::rofl::iagree:


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Mom6547 said:


> What is sad? That some people different taste in entertainment than you do? That is all those shows are, entertainment. I don't care to watch them. But that some people do does not strike me as sad.


No that we as a "nation" seem to enjoy the misfortune of others. I am guilty of it as well at times. My wife loves all this crap so I won't diss anyone that watches it I just honestly do not understand the appeal.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

I like 'DR. G Medical Examiner'. Because almost always the cause of death is mundane and not some crazy plot or mystery. It's just sad.


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## nader (May 4, 2011)

people like to watch how screwed up other people are because it makes them feel less screwed up. Feel bad about the clutter in your house? An episode of Hoarders will cure what ails you.


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## incognitoman (Oct 22, 2009)

nader said:


> people like to watch how screwed up other people are because it makes them feel less screwed up. Feel bad about the clutter in your house? An episode of Hoarders will cure what ails you.


QFT! :rofl:


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

nader said:


> people like to watch how screwed up other people are because it makes them feel less screwed up. Feel bad about the clutter in your house? An episode of Hoarders will cure what ails you.


Sadly it can look all too familiar. 

"So that's what insanity looks like....this."


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

frustr8dhubby said:


> Yeah, no kidding.
> 
> Here is my idea for a reality show. Take Michael Moore and Rosy O'Donnell and drop them in the middle of say Iran or Syria and see how long they live...


Or take Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and dump them along the Korean border and see how they use rhetoric to dazzle Kim Jong.


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

Ok, I am the odd one here. I enjoy Reality shows, I love to watch the emotional interactions of the players, the fighting, how people handle themselves, even the lying, I know it is bad, but it makes it rather interesting, doesn't it. It is a game, so all is fair in game show antics. I find myself rooting for some of those CON players many times -like Russel and the 1st Survivor, I wanted Richard Hatch to win. I have missed the last couple seasons. I especially love the ending when they get to question the last 2 players about all the lies, and cons. 

I would much rather watch a reality show than a Sitcom. Maybe I am sick. I love Romance and all the pitfalls , and crazy things that happen in these Bachelor shows, I know most of this is just warm fuzzels of something new & exciting, they usually dont last, but I still enjoy watching them. 

I always get the biggest laughs out of *WIFE SWAP*. Now that one really does seem to help people see another side to living, they always pick the MOST EXTREME characters and switch them with another wife they would be completely opposed to her style of raising a family but generally when the show it over, they both learned a valuable lesson -to lighten up in some of those extreme areas. 

How true any of this really is, I have no clue, but I still enjoy them .


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

Japanese Game Shows RULE. There's one where they take people strip them naked and make them sit in the ocean, in winter. Last one up wins. There's another men get mildly electrocuted and the longer they can stand it the more clothes a female model removes. Then there's all the shows where people have to climb over obstacles, fall into mud, get run over by guys on rollerblades, jump into pools of oil and jello. There's one, I swear, where people just get whacked with stuff. I don't even think there's a prize. It's like taking strippers to Disneyworld, on acid.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

Runs like Dog said:


> Japanese Game Shows RULE. There's one where they take people strip them naked and make them sit in the ocean, in winter. Last one up wins. There's another men get mildly electrocuted and the longer they can stand it the more clothes a female model removes. Then there's all the shows where people have to climb over obstacles, fall into mud, get run over by guys on rollerblades, jump into pools of oil and jello. There's one, I swear, where people just get whacked with stuff. I don't even think there's a prize. It's like taking strippers to Disneyworld, on acid.


Can Ann Coulter go there? She's on Piers Morgan right now acting like her usual flipping lunatic self.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Oh, you might be on to something there. How about something like Big Brother but with Rush, Coulter, and the cast of the View?? 

And it would have to be hosted by John Stossel (my new hero)


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## bunnybear (Jan 13, 2011)

I don't like watching reality shows coz I find them too fake and so cheesy.


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## Amplexor (Feb 13, 2008)

Therealbrighteyes said:


> Can Ann Coulter go there? She's on Piers Morgan right now acting like her usual flipping lunatic self.



She'd just use it as a platform to prove there's no such thing as global warming.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

Amplexor said:


> She'd just use it as a platform to prove there's no such thing as global warming.


You won again, darn it!

:rofl:


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## MarriedWifeInLove (May 28, 2010)

For me - it's watching people make an a$$ of themselves and just how low they will go to win something - money or whatever.

It just cracks me up to watch people and how they really act when the chips are down or it's about money.

Money makes people do weird stuff.

I like Survivor, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Housewives of OC and Atlanta, Operation Repo (who wouldn't) and that's about it - all the other ones are ridiculous to me.

But I think it's true - people like watching train wrecks and most of the people on reality shows are just that - train wrecks or train wrecks in the making.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Amplexor said:


> She'd just use it as a platform to prove there's no such thing as global warming.


I thought they changed it to Global Climate Change now so that no matter what the change in weather is, Al Gore and the junk scientists still make money?


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## okeydokie (Sep 10, 2008)

okeydokies house is all sports, all the time


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Well there is where I am "unmanly" I guess. With the exception of football and occasionally hockey, I would rather watch reality TV than sports. Especially the NBA. Wanna talk about losers and scumbags making millions.... (Yes, I know I am generalizing, sorry)


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

frustr8dhubby said:


> Well there is where I am "unmanly" I guess. With the exception of football and occasionally hockey, I would rather watch reality TV than sports. Especially the NBA. Wanna talk about losers and scumbags making millions.... (Yes, I know I am generalizing, sorry)


Hey, they are lobbying to have pole dancing in the Olympics. Perhaps you could find this "sport" something worth watching?


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Haha, seriously? 'course it would definitely be more exciting than curling...


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## incognitoman (Oct 22, 2009)

Cops is still the best.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

frustr8dhubby said:


> Haha, seriously? 'course it would definitely be more exciting than curling...


I thought I was listening to Opie and Anthony for a moment, realized it was NPR and then thought do pasties and thongs count as a tax deduction? I mean other athletes get to write off their equipment.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

Cops was great.

BrightEyes,
Hmm, what about laser hair removal/waxing?? 

NPR for you, I never would have guessed...


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

I can only go by what we buy, DVR or, stream from Netflicks:

King of the Hill
Breaking Bad
The Office
Parks and Rec
Ghost Whisperer
River Monsters
Workaholics
Wicked Women (ID channel)
Twisted (ID channel)

And a slough of documentaries: Van Gogh, the British Monarchy, history of structural engineering, the Roman Empire, etc etc.


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## nader (May 4, 2011)

Ugh, how come Coulter still gets to be on TV???


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

frustr8dhubby said:


> Cops was great.
> 
> BrightEyes,
> Hmm, what about laser hair removal/waxing??
> ...


True, and clear heels!

Hey a political reality show would be hilarious. Take the worst of both sides and pit them together Amazing Race style. Instead of the starter pistol being fired, Anthony Weiner could just point in the general direction....if you know what I mean. Then they release the wolves.


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## frustr8dhubby (Dec 23, 2010)

:rofl:


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## nader (May 4, 2011)

Anthony Bordain is the keith richards of travel. All the other food/travel hosts suck and I hate them.

After awhile I just start to feel pissed that I can't afford to go to any of those places.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

nader said:


> Anthony Bordain is the keith richards of travel. All the other food/travel hosts suck and I hate them.
> 
> After awhile I just start to feel pissed that I can't afford to go to any of those places.


Samantha Brown sucks? She's like the sweetest, peppiest chick on the planet. What's not to love about her?!


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## nader (May 4, 2011)

I don't know all their names.. it's not even really their fault. Mostly I envy them for having the BEST JOB EVER and they just seem to rub it in my face. With Bordain, I feel like I am on a soul-searching journey of self discovery, and lots of beer.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

nader said:


> I don't know all their names.. it's not even really their fault. Mostly I envy them for having the BEST JOB EVER and they just seem to rub it in my face. With Bordain, I feel like I am on a soul-searching journey of self discovery, and lots of beer.


Ha ha, everytime I watch her show I think, damn....why couldn't I get that gig.

Bourdain has it pretty darn good too. His Beirut episode though was something I wouldn't wish on anybody. Yikes.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

nader said:


> Anthony Bordain is the keith richards of travel. All the other food/travel hosts suck and I hate them.
> 
> After awhile I just start to feel pissed that I can't afford to go to any of those places.


See, I really really really really hate that guy. We get it Tony, you did heroin with Iggy Pop and the Stooges at CBGB's. Really, we get it. You talk about it like 9 million times every show. Now shut up.


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## nader (May 4, 2011)

Runs like Dog said:


> See, I really really really really hate that guy. We get it Tony, you did heroin with Iggy Pop and the Stooges at CBGB's. Really, we get it. You talk about it like 9 million times every show. Now shut up.


:rofl::rofl:


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

Runs like Dog said:


> See, I really really really really hate that guy. We get it Tony, you did heroin with Iggy Pop and the Stooges at CBGB's. Really, we get it. You talk about it like 9 million times every show. Now shut up.


I'd take that over EVOO chick any day of the week. One is legit and the other is just good at using lame catchphrases and balancing 27 items for the three step walk she has to take.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

My kids watch Giada deLaurentiis, cause, well you know.


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

Runs like Dog said:


> My kids watch Giada deLaurentiis, cause, well you know.


I'm guessing because they don't like to eat vomit.


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## okeydokie (Sep 10, 2008)

Runs like Dog said:


> My kids watch Giada deLaurentiis, cause, well you know.


perkiness?


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## Therealbrighteyes (Feb 11, 2010)

okeydokie said:


> perkiness?


Well she DOES make a perky pesto.


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## Mrs.G (Nov 20, 2010)

My husband got me hooked on Celebrity Apprentice. It is fun laughing at the dead squirrel that lives on Trump's head. :smthumbup: Also, the antics of celebrities are hilarious. 

Those housewives would make excellent floatation devices. :rofl:

I LOVE 16 and Pregnant as well as Teen Mom. I think that they should show that program in sex education classes. The girls go through legal troubles, poverty and ill fated teenage marriages. It paints a grim picture of adolescent parenthood.


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