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God I'm sick of reality shows.

They're friggin everywhere. About 3 years ago we turned off cable b/c we were a little short of cash month to month. I remember that reality shows were really starting to come into their own but you could at least turn on history channel and watch some good WAR stuff or comedy central and get some solid Crank Yanking going on.

We've turned cable back on in our home for the past year. Thank god for DVR or I would've shut that crap right down again. Even history channel is rife with garbage like "Pawn Stars" or "American Pickers"....Nagash dammit. WTF. I dont wanna watch reality...I wanna see naval battles and trivia about one of the world wars!!!!

...of course the GF is addicted (against her will she claims) so I wind up watching these damn shows while I'm painting or whatever.

So, last night I got to watch "The Captains" Will Shatner's documentary....but the GF wanted to watch "Rosanne's Nuts" so we interrupted my show (like I said...DVR) so that she could watch it at 9pm. I watched it with her cause I sort of think Rosanne is funny and the show is actually alright, but I drew the line when she continued with lifetime channel when this new crap "Dance Moms" came on. I went to bed. Heather follows me into the bed room and clicks on the tv in there to the same channel. (I really dont mind this as I'll fall right out anyway once I hit the pillow) ....and while this fat troll on the show is yelling at some 8 year old for not dancing right (as if this tub could dance for 30 seconds w/o having a heart attack...) I had an epiphany.

We all know that lots of these reality shows are staged and scripted. People in real life are generally not as gakky to each other as they are on these shows. B/c well....you can get your a$$ kicked..... However, you have to have drama in these shows, and the more people fight and argue over minutia the more these shows seem to be successful. Hence...."script some arguements over BS".

When I say that these shows are harmful. I'm wondering if in some cases these shows are influencing people to be more "rude" or suggesting that this sort of behavior is "normal".

Now I'm sure many of us here are like "What are you talking about? I'm not influenced by these shows...I know how to act."...and I'm sure that's true. Us gaming nerds are generally thinkers and non-aggressive polite people for the most part. (even if some of us think that Mountain Dew is one of the major food groups, and even more don't know what a bar of soap looks like) However, and I use these terms to illustrate...not to insult, what about the "white trash" out there and the people that are just generallyl stupider than the rest of us. I can see them living on a constant diet of reality TV. These people will come to act as if this sort of behavior is normal.

People can already be total jerks to one another. I live in VA and it's probably one of the most unfriendly places that I've ever lived. I don't know for a fact that Reality TV is to blame but I'm sure it has an influence on how some people act.

I'm not calling for a ban on reality TV or anything. (though I should b/c I pretty much hate it all) Just thinking out loud and figured this might be a good issue for discussion.

agree with all you have say.

No telly solves the problem

Unfourtunatly I think there is some random group of people watching Jersey Shore thinking that "normal" people act like them. Yes I think they do some small ammount of damage but nothing huge, and nothing that would justify taking them off the air. We can only hope that these shows will just burn themselves out.

The reason there is so much reality tv on the box is because we as viewers are willing to sit there stuffing doritos and a whole host of other gak down our face-holes while completely zombified in front of this moronic trash. And because the only way we can be bothered to complain is by farting into our sofas in disgust the TV companies will keep churning out this trash to appeal to the bloated and idiotic masses.

It's as much our fault for letting TV get this way as it the TV companies for being a bunch of profiteering Aholes





As you can tell, I am a great lover of reality TV, and avidly watch both teen mom and MTV cribs

Anyone else ever thought it was strange that a format where you sit some moron in front of a camera, tell them they're on a tv show and then manufacture a situation for them to react to (with the knowledge that they're on tv) became commonly referred to as "reality tv"?

Reality TV is a nice way of saying "Don't have to pay scriptwriters, actors, make up and costume, set design or SF!"
It's complete trash but people seem to lap it up. I mourn the loss of decent documentaries, because every numpty with a camera can go out and "interview" some pleb about a topic instead of producing something truly outstanding, but in the end I've just drifted away from watching TV and my life has been better for it. Anything I'm interested in I buy as a DVD boxed set now and watch at my leisure, in my own time. The idea of scheduling my life around TV shows is completely alien to me now.

I do particularly hate that breed of reality TV where someone is a massive jerk to some poor sod. It makes me cringe, even if I agree with said jerk.

Deadshane1 wrote:(even if some of us think that Mountain Dew is one of the major food groups,

It's not?




I agree with all you have to say, which is why the only TV shows I watch are: Castle, The Big Bang Theory, and 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow.

Carmine the Wolf wrote:Anyone else ever thought it was strange that a format where you sit some moron in front of a camera, tell them they're on a tv show and then manufacture a situation for them to react to (with the knowledge that they're on tv) became commonly referred to as "reality tv"?

The earliest shows were actually much more real. They started off (I think The Driving School was the first one) just following several people around and editing the footage to show the interesting bits.

Then came Big Brother and so on, which increasingly are structured around manufactured drama as you correctly point out.

Like most TV formats involving members of the general public, things went down hill quickly once self-selecting exhibitionists realised the shows are a way of gratifying their desire for exposure.

Many of the shows are now basically a modern version of visiting Bedlam to laugh at the sadly demented inmates.

However, as someone else said in the thread, the shows are on TV because people want to watch them.

In other words I don't think you can blame TV completely for a coarsening of peoples' attitudes and behaviour. It validates trends that already exist, rather than creating new ones.

Sorry... big brother is my countries greatest shame (IMO).

hold on there

Pawn Stars and American Pickers dont belong in this category.They're more like "Dirty Jobs" or "Deadliest Catch".

If you're talking about reality "game" shows then I agree with you

Cancel cable, keep internet, embrace e-sports and troll the hell outta forums sometimes, it's the way of the future.

Shows like dirty jobs, they are fine, but the stuff that... doesn't need mention, yes it's harmful. Watching trash does nothing for you, give me the history/discovery/animal planet/ect channel or give me nothing.

juraigamer wrote:Cancel cable, keep internet, embrace e-sports and troll the hell outta forums sometimes, it's the way of the future.

Shows like dirty jobs, they are fine, but the stuff that... doesn't need mention, yes it's harmful. Watching trash does nothing for you, give me the history/discovery/animal planet/ect channel or give me nothing.

I prefer to just watch anime and cartoons, nothing in reality interests me enough to watch on tv.