Is anyone else sick of reality shows?

[mykpart]

How about some nice light comedies? I like Reba, but I can't stand Cops, Survivor, Simple Life, etc. and some are getting ridiculous. And why can't Donald Trump with all his money get a decent hairstylist?

[loveable liberal]

1. reality shows are for the lifeless

[brisker]

38. Ah, the milk of human kindness...

"...but if I were ever to pass you along in life again, and you were laying there, dying of thirst, I would not give you a drink of water."

Glad to see that these shows bring out the very best in people.

Pardon the low post count - I gotta start somewhere.

[medeak]

2. totally!

a so sick of this genre putting REAL writers and REAL actors out of work.

[Droopy]

3. I was tired of them when they first hit the scene

It's one of the reasons why I don't watch much tv.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

4. I don't like ANY shows on TV

I hardly watch it at all except for the Daily Show. I watch dVDs. I really don't get the appeal of the "reality" shows at ALL. They AREN'T reality.

Now I will admit I enjoyed the series on PBS: "1900 House," "1800 House," etc. Did anyone catch those? But they were well done and historical and I dig that shit.

[mykpart]

7. I watched some episodes of the PBS series

1900 house. But I got sick of hearing that one little English girl piss and moan. I also watched some episodes of Colonial House and enjoyed it somewhat, but would have been happier seeing old reruns of Murphy Brown.

[Gore1FL]

5. I'd have to watch one first

n/t

[coloradodem2005]

6. I can't stand them.

About the only new shows I watch are "Father of the Pride", "Scrubs" and Law and Order stuff.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

8. " Growing Up Gotti " makes me GAG !

Although I admit , I do like " Queer Eye For The Straight Guy " .

I have always been a fan of the " The Real World " every since the first one ever in 1992 in New York . But I have not watched it since 2000 . Las Vegas season made me gag , Paris was boring , Chicago was not needed , the second New York season I thankfully did not see . Its now time to take this show off . The people they put on these Real World seasons now , they have no personality at all . Just bland blah . Same episode every season . Move in , get drunk , hook up with one of the roommates , shag , get mad when they get someone outside of the house , they get a job that they bitch and complain about , they get a nice vacation and have a argument during the vacation , then someone threatens to leave or actually leaves , that person still calls the house because they like attention , and then end of the season . So predictable ...

The Apprentice is highly overrated ... even The Donald is a sellout . Who knew ? / sarcasm

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

9. Ooo I forgot about Queer Eye, LOVE IT!

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

11. I 2005 they are doing a " Queer Eye For The Straight Girl "

Too bad you have to live in the Los Angeles area because I surely need some help . Nah I just want to see Kyan in person LOL ... / darn all the good ones are taken !

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

14. OMG Kyan is SO DAMN SCRUMMY

too bad he's gay and I'm married, eh?

DAMN. I could break me off a piece of THAT.

[mykpart]

13. Just watching the trailers for Growing up Gotti

makes me gag! And BTW, WHO watches the Anna Nicole show?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

15. Uh, I used to

I even started a thread about it. It's like a train wreck to me, cannot avert my eyes. She is a living train wreck.

[jdj]

18. I am boycotting this show.

And I am a sucker for them, this one would be especially fascinating to me because I am a southern country girl, so watching folks so different from me would be fascinating.

But out of respect for the families of the victims whose lives people like John Gotti destroyed, I can't watch this. I think the idea to have this show is abhorrent, especially considering that Victoria Gotti has repeatedly praised her father publicly, and at best says she is "in denial" about his crimes.

Is it worse than "The Sopranos", which offends many Italian Americans? I don't know, but it makes me nauseated to think we've sunk so low that we can glorify the life of member of a mob family, thumbing our noses at the victims...

[JSJ]

10. 'reality shows' are scripted, too- and they are getting stale, fast nt

[medeak]

12. Curb Your Enthusiasm

and smart writing like that is what I miss....

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

16. We should pay attention

Reality shows are part of the cultural wave that Republicans get and Democrats don't. Families are becoming more workplace-like, workplaces are becoming more familylike, and privacy, even the desire for it, is becoming a thing of the past.

By presenting a twisted image that mirrors the middle class family devastated by these conditions, the Republicans make themselves into "comfort food" politics.

If only Dems could present themselves as the ones to REVERSE the trend, to give Americans home and private lives again...

[jdj]

17. I love reality shows.

I love them and I always have.

I was ADDICTED to Rescue 9-11, one of the first and best. I would watch re-runs over and over.

I like them because they are more real, however staged any of them may be, than fictitious sitcoms.

I like them because you see fat, droopy, bald, saggy, people on them, and sometimes these people out shine the heterobot aryandroids that regular tv throws at us.

I like them because sometimes women out manever men, and sometimes men are shown to be gossipy back biters while women are the strong silent types, where men are compassionate and not afraid to cry while women are steely, pokerfaced and stoic.

No matter how staged, life is stranger and more interesting than scripted fiction.

(I don't do the romance shows, the plastic surgery shows, or the eating gross things shows). those I think are stupid.

You know, I find it odd that that people go on and on about privelege and affirmative action for the rich, etc, yet dis reality shows for breaking down the hierarchy of the beautiful and putting ordinary people of all colors, sizes, sexual preferences,etc, on the screen instead of the eurobots that have been served up for 50 years. I don't get it. I love watching tv and seeing a normal looking schmuck, and seeing them absolutely triumph, like Rupert from Survivor did. I loved Rupert, and I VOTED for him to win the million dollars which he DID.

And how can so many people who claim to love documentaries dis reality tv. I loved the reall world when it started, especially San Francisco with Pedro, that was amazing television.

I don't know, I don't know where we are going, but it is better than where we have been. I like it because it shows the complexity of real human beings, which fiction fails miserably to do, because it is to inundated with a single point of view, and with fantasy, which kills authenticity.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

19. Yes , the first seasons of the Real World were great !

Especially the San Francisco season with Pedro .

[jdj]

22. What happened.

In the beginning, they threw in the puck asshole type just to make it interesting...now everyone on there is a puck asshole

(And people have gotten no less interesting).

The world has gotten alot more confrontational. But I don't consider that kind of behavior interesting at all, I consider it regressive, as in, should have been left in adolescense.

But actually, the cast of this season's Real World actually seems to have some sense. So far, they are my favorite since I guess, New Orleans. I thought New Orleans was really good, with Melissa and Julie. Especially Julie, she grew so much.

That is what Philadelphia reminds me of, the house has a similar layout, and the people are somewhat intelligent.

Las season, San Diego, was one of the worst, almost all of them were complete morons, except for Jacquese. The only part I liked was where they went to Greece, and everyone thought he was a rapper. Jah was funny, but the rest of them...oy vey.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

28. I tell you what happened : vanity over brains and common sense

Yes I agree Jacquese was the only person who had common sense on that show . I don't even want to get started about the Las Vegas season . Everyone should have been tested upon leaving that show . I did not like that season at all . Maybe I was raised different but I was also raised to not be judgemental but it looked like Sodom and Gommorah on that season .

I only watched a bit of the latest Philadelphia season . I am afraid to watch because I fear my head will explode with the actions of these castmates .

I think they pick people who have no experience outside of there parents' homes and their dorms in college . Some of them come straight from home or straight from college without jobs and they have not started their careers yet . They go from being babied into a a nice living arrangement of not having to hunt for jobs and be turned down like you do in the " REAL WORLD " and they live in nice comfy Ikead out apartments without having to pay rent- and that does not happen in the " REAL WORLD " . Their biggest problems are getting drunk and not remembering who they hooked up with the night before . That storyline is getting old and they should just end the Real World on MTV with this season ... thats a wrap .

The first New York , Venice Beach , San Francisco , London , Miami and Boston were my favorite seasons .

I like Hawaii now because of the way Ruthie really changed herself . Way to go .

By the time the New Orleans , New York , Chicago , Las Vegas , Paris and Sand Diego seasons started , I gave up . Even if they are in my age group , I can't relate to anything on that show anymore because my problems don't involve drinking and risque activity . I wanna see them try to get a job and a appartment on a entry level salary : now thats the Real World ... (Truuuuuuueeeee story )

[maveric]

20. Growing up Gotti. Thats some quality family programming.

Glorifying the offspring of a viscious, psychotic murderer. Is this a Fox show?

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

21. HA ! It should be lol

But its an A&E show .

[jdj]

23. Thank you. It is really shameless.

If she had not gone on and on about what a unique man her father was, I would mayber forgive her.

But it is impossibly tacky.

[maveric]

24. When will the daughters of John Wayne Gacy have a program

showing his sensitive side and artistic talents.

[loveable liberal]

25. reno 911....now thats a show!!!

[imax2268]

26. I can't stand them anymore...

it goes to show that the major network writers have gotten lazy and can't come up with anything original...

[TSIAS]

27. Certainly, there are too many

The only reality show I've ever followed is "Survivor". I acknowledge its shortcomings, but I still find it very entertaining.

This stuff seems to go in periods. A few years ago, it was game shows. Now, they're almost all off the air. I will concede, though, that reality shows may have more staying power.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

29. Ok one of the worst had to be " Temptation Island "

Why not go ahead and break up as a couple if you are going to go on that show ?

[Skeet]

36. I watched

the first one religiously. I was cheering on their infidelities.

I still watch Real World and the Challenges. Las Vegas turned me off for a bit, as I didn't finish the season and didn't watch Paris. But San Diego brought be back. Randy, Brad, and Jaquese were awesome together.

[maveric]

30. Da Ali G show is somewhat a reality show.

He interacts with real people who unknowingly think he is legit.

[ibegurpard]

32. That show is hysterical!

I highly recommend it.

[LDS Jock]

35. OMG.. that is probably the funniest thing on tv

You have to see it to believe how funny it is.

[Swamp Rat]

31. Since you asked...

I think they appeal to the reptilian part of our brains, and yes, I am way past sick of "reality" shows.

The concept itself bugged me when I met one of the German TV producers that started this long ago in Europe. She asked me what I thought about the idea and if it would catch on in America. I said, "a reality show hmm... that's an oxymoron. Yes, it will become very popular in America." She thought that was funny. Now I am :cry:

My brother and I took our brainwashing box and cut out pictures of sharks from National Geographics and made a shark aquarium.

[izzie]

33. 5 min. is all I have looked at.

Also I live a reality show so why watch one.

[peach720]

34. Yes, I can't stand them.......

Big Brother,Pop Idol, Simple Life, How Clean is Your House etc.

I do like Wife Swap though!!

[hlthe2b]

37. I watched the first season of Survivor, which was ok, but that was it....

I haven't watched more than 30 seconds of any other. I find the entire genre to be obnoxious. They emerged as an answer to the writer's strike of a few years back, and unfortunately, the tv viewer got snowed. Cheap to produce and profitable, the networks are now reluctant to give up the cash cow and we are the suckers for it, IMO.

Frankly, I hate it when any genre takes over, but there is rarely anything creative about reality shows. Novel, perhaps, but not creative. Here's where I'll really get some detractors, but I think "reality" tv largely dumbs down America even more and adds to the narcissism and superficiality that is already the stock and trade of REPUG politics (e.g., the Apprentice and all those ridiculous cosmetic surgery makeover shows).

[UdoKier]

39. I was sick of them after "Real World 1"

What a crap genre of programming.

[skippysmom]

40. Some good, some not so good

The best of the genre are really good -- Survivor, the Amazing Race, the Apprentice -- they're entertaining, feature interesting people, and are beautifully edited.

I just wish they would weed out the wheat from the chaff -- I can't even stomach the promos for Fear Factor. And I hate the reality dating shows.

[SarahB]

41. Nope, I don't watch them.

I don't watch much TV at all. NOW and Frontline on PBS, a few things on HBO, occasionally things of Discovery, and that's about it. Don't watch 'em, don't care. I have trouble sitting still to watch TV anyway, if I do, I have to read (or snack which isn't so good for me) at the same time.

[jonnyblitz]

42. the only one I ever watched was the first Survivor with that

OBNOXIOUS gay dude from Rhode Island. That is it.