Reality TV show.. Are you sick of it yet. (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

John, if you're going to slag a show, at least know what you are talking about, and not what your predisposed ideas of the show might be. That's the ignorance in your stance. I'm pretty tolerant of other people's intolerance of "reality TV" as long as they know what they are intolerant about.

Nowhere have I felt my stance was "just" (I don't have to to be entertained or not entertained by a show), so if you're going to offer an opinion, make sure it's an informed opinion, otherwise, it'll be called an ignorance one, and justly so.

And again, don't like the programming, change the channel. Just moaning about it here does nothing. Write to the main broadcast networks, tell them you won't support the sponsors of any "reality TV" show, hurt them in the pocket book, which is pretty much the only leverage a viewer has. But to simply slag a genre based on your "just" views and predisposed ideas of said genre isn't going to make for a convincing argument.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

But, Patrick, that's just it you see, I believe that my opinion IS informed. I've seen enough of these shows and have read enough and heard enough things about them to form what I believe to be an accurate depiction of what they are at their nucleus.

That's where our problem here lies, you think i'm wrong, I think i'm right, so what do we do now? Go around and around and get nowhere.

What is this thread for anyway if not to discuss the pro's and con's of these shows. Of course i'm going to offer up my opinion even if it's a very negative one, that's why we're here right?

 

[AnthonyC]

Exactly. I don't care if other people like them. I like them and that's what matters to me. What bugs me is when people who don't seem to watch or understand them try to say they're trash. I'll admit; I watch Big Brother but it's one of the lamest shows out there. If it were on during the regular TV season I probably wouldn't watch it. Same with The Apprentice; the first season was gold because Trump truly looked for someone to do the job, while the second he fired people on a whim for ratings purposes. We ended up having a Bill clone getting hired at the end.

The whole motto of Survivor is to outwit, outplay, and outlast. That involves deception and lying. Most people get upset when the smart strategists end up winning instead of the hard workers/survival experts. But I get upset when an UTR/coattail rider wins over the strategist.

The point is people have differing views on what constitutes outwitting and outplaying (although I'm sure we all agree on what it means to outlast). John, you think that the honest hard-working individuals should be the winners. That's great, and I respect that. I'd rather see someone who played the game end up winning. That's great too.

As a wise man once said, opinions are like buttcracks. Everyone has them, and they all stink.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

And with that, i'm out. You guys have said your piece and i've said mine, let's move on now shall we.

 

[MikeH1]

I agree 100%. And I thought Jery Springer 10 years ago was a waste of an hour, little did I know that he was just a warm up for today's television.

 

[Nick]

Saw this article thought you guys might want to read it.

Fox Says

 

[AnthonyC]

Well, Fox reality shows (except American Idol) DO suck. They should be banned from the genre.

 

[MarkHastings]

This statement especially shows Fox's ignorance as to what's good:Unexpected Hit??? Obviously they didn't realize what a hit it was when it was on the air. :rolleyes

 

[Nick]

Remember "Firefly" it became a big hit when it hit DVD after they cancelled the show.
Now they're turning it into a motion picture.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I sometimes wonder if there is a website that lists all the comercials being aired for a particular show so a person can see who sponsors it and possibly write emails of protest against them. I personally find the entire premise of reality television to be false as there is a money incentive and camera present which will always alter people's behavior and editted for entertainment.

Btw I would like to see a show with the premise of the running man as some of sickest people in jail being stalked by the victims family would appeal to most people's inter-personal fantasy of revenge (this in my opinion would be a really cool reality TV though I know it won't happen), I'd buy that for a dollar!

 

[Jason Seaver]

So if "they" called it something else - "unscripted" or "competitive" or "sports" - would it be OK? The phrase "realtity TV" is mainly used as a strawman, it seems.

 

[AnthonyC]

As Mark Burnett said, he doesn't produce reality TV; he produces "unscripted situational drama." He readily admits that he creates situations but that the contestants' reactions are real.

 

[Nick]

With all the technologies we have. Why can't they have a tv with built-in chip that send the signal to the headquarter (ananymously of course) and track which show is the most watched.
HOw many of you are Nielsen members. So, many good show got cancelled but doing good on DVD.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’m not sure of your point Nick, but many of us would object to paying for something that tracks our viewing habits. I did read your word ‘ananymously’ (sic), but I think that technically if your TV (and home) were connected to a network it would be pretty hard to keep your identity anonymous.

Right now the Nielsen ratings are paid for by the industry (and advertisers) and are (mostly) used to set ad rates for networks and individual shows. Shifting the burden to the consumer makes no sense to me.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Actually I always thought it should be called a "game show" since it's competitive and always has a prize at the end (job, spouse, or money).

 

[Nick]

Lew Crippen I'm not really sure how the Nielson rating works. Do you have to be a members ? How many members do they have ? So those members pretty much decided which show is a hit and which show is a miss ?
If that's the case why are they still making them reality show when some of it bomb in their first episode and some didn't even get that far. I know they're cheap to make but maybe some of us had enough of it.

 

[Shane Martin]

Neilson often sends out boxes to people that track what you watch. They don't do it unless you ask.

Now tracking what Tivo records is another story and that is Tivo's business.

Neilson OTOH, actually asks you and send you a box. I've had to deal with several of their customers with our channel(I work for a major tv channel).

 

[Jason Seaver]

According to nielsenmediaresearch.com their national sample is 5,000 homes (which is, what, 10k-15k people?), which is boosted to 20k for sweeps periods. It's a sizable sample, although clearly not perfect. They choose participants randomly.

And, yeah, this is what most broadcasters use to determine a show's success/failure. It's not the best system - it's been accused of undercounting ethnic minorities and the nature of sweeps seems to pervert the schedule - but it's considered good enough that nobody sees spending the money to replace it as being worthwhile.

 

[MarkHastings]

I just saw the documentary on "Reality Shows" that was on the Running Man DVD (which is a MUST see for anyone here) and it was quite relevant to this topic. In particular, this quote:It was also interesting to note that the producers admit that reality tv is a form of entertainment and that they'll do whatever they need to do to make the show entertaining (even if it means 'altering' the reality).

Not that this is much of a surprise to any of us here, but it's sad that there are people who believe it is all "real".

 

[Pete_w]

Yes