why are reality shows still popular?

K

KrangPrime

Master Member
I will never get why these things are a hit.

It's pretty much proven they are all fake and setup and pre scripted. even the reality game shows I believe.
So, why do people, mostly women, get so into these shows? Are they people with no lives of their own, that feel the need to live through other people?
are they just that interesting, even if the shows are fake?

are the personalities involved so engaging that you just have to see what the karkrapshians do next?

can someone explain it to me? on my TV downstairs is a CONSTANT stream of reality shows. 600 pound life. little people. Say yes to the dress. that show with the guy who has five wives. long island medium. and other stuff so weird i've blocked it, like the karkrapshians and kocktails with klhoe.

It can't be healthy to watch nothing but reality shows.
 
There's also another factor to consider. Reality shows are ridiculously cheap to make. Almost no creative energy - even when scripted.
A reality show doesn't have to be that popular to remain viable.
 
dascoyne said:
There's also another factor to consider. Reality shows are ridiculously cheap to make. Almost no creative energy - even when scripted.
A reality show doesn't have to be that popular to remain viable.
Click to expand...

This. They can throw these things together fast and cheap and so it's a volume model. If one out of every 5 finds an audience it's a win. And although many are total crap, some can be pretty compelling. My favorite one right now is Naked and Afraid. Sure the people are not likely to perish and the show provides enough to keep the episode moving, but these people really SUFFER, it's like what Survivor was the first few seasons where people wasted away from lack of food.
 
I also consider reality TV to be "the great flood" of tv.

It came along and cleaned the slate for networks.

As bad as reality TV is, it came along at the same time that tv also got REALLY good. We now have episodic masterpieces like mad men and breaking bad. We have netflix making gritty superhero shows that would have never happened in the days before reality tv

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
 
Bryancd said:
And although many are total crap, some can be pretty compelling. d.
Click to expand...

the only ones Ican stomach, are the ghost hunting shows. .and even then, only if the cast is compelling to watch.

Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures are two polar opposites of each other, wich make them fascinating to me. And Dead Files if goofy enough to keep my interest.

But I can't get into any of the other ones. any time I see those freaks and geeks on TV it just rubs me the wrong way for some reason ...
 
There are a handful of "reality" shows that I enjoy. ("reality" in quotes, because I wouldn't consider all of these to be "reality shows," but they technically would be considered that).

*Amazing Race: It might be scripted, it might not. But I love seeing the different places they go, and the challenges that have to do with unique cultural aspects.
*Survivor: I really only care about the challenges, because, again, they can be fun to watch.
*Treehouse Masters: I love watching them design and build the treehouses. I wish I had the money to go on the tour at Treehouse Point, but it's too much for me to justify (like, $20 per person)
*American Restoration: People bring them old stuff. They restore the old stuff to how it looked when it was brand new. How can this not be cool?

I'll occasionally watch Pitbulls and Parolees, too.
 
Lord Boron said:
You'll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I came here to post lol. They're popular because most people aren't looking for intellectual stimulation and/or have no taste.

Having said that, I enjoy an episode of Comic Book Men now and then. What can I say? I'm a philistine.
 
cayman shen said:
Exactly what I came here to post lol. They're popular because most people aren't looking for intellectual stimulation and/or have no taste.

Having said that, I enjoy an episode of Comic Book Men now and then. What can I say? I'm a philistine.
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I love Comic Book Men, but I wouldn't lump that in with a lot of the other rubbish. At least in that show and others, like the restoration shows, you can actually learn stuff and get to see some cool things.

Completely opposite to that is utter trash like Housewives of here, there and everywhere. My wife loves this tripe, loves it. Whichever city or country they're in, its all the same. Bored women arguing over trivial nonsense. I don't get the entertainment of it all.
 
How ironic. Has it come to the point where we're so anesthetized in our daily lives that we find ourselves starving to witness extremes of normal human behavior on the television as a surrogate for personal life experience?

It reminds me of a quote from Louis Malle's "My Dinner with Andre" (1981) - "Things don't affect people the way they used to. I mean it may very well be that ten years from now people will pay $10,000 in cash to be castrated just in order to be affected by something."
 
I don't watch reality shows but I think I understand why people watch them. How much money is spent for writers, actors, and producers to try to create characters on a TV series that people will love, hate and follow? With these reality shows, the personalities are already there and they are real people. If you follow or listen to people that do watch these shows, they are really watching because they either connect or dislike or something but they really follow the characters on the shows.
 
Well, at least reality shows are over in an hour.

Personally, I would ask this same question about video games. How someone can just sit in a chair and play a video game for hours and hours and hours on end is beyond me. Get off your lazy butt and go outside and actually do something!!
 
EmmaInCandyland said:
I never watch TV, and I truly believe that kind of show is garbage. I don't have cable, and I'm just fine with it x)
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This.

Only reason I own a tv is to use it as a monitor to watch films/play games. Stopped watching TV years ago due to commercial breaks ruining, EVERYTHING.

Laspector said:
Well, at least reality shows are over in an hour.

Personally, I would ask this same question about video games. How someone can just sit in a chair and play a video game for hours and hours and hours on end is beyond me. Get off your lazy butt and go outside and actually do something!!
Click to expand...

:lol
Because not all games are candy crush? A lot are actually like an interactive film. Some games are even better than a lot of films.
 
The Terminator said:
Because not all games are candy crush? A lot are actually like an interactive film. Some games are even better than a lot of films.
Click to expand...

I still wouldn't consider that a valid reason for spending hours and hours doing it. Video games still make more couch potatoes than reality shows.

I'm not saying reality shows are better--they are mostly crap also. Both have led to a generation of kids who wouldn't know how to go out in the back yard and play if their life depended on it.
 
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