Random Thoughts #35: "Reality T.V. Has Run Its Course, Don'cha Think?"

I think it is time for television executives to get their writers together and start creating new TV shows- non-reality shows, actually. While I am not a big fan of 1/2 hour comedies or hour-long hospital dramas, the market needs fresh shows, while at the same time we need to stop making "stars" out of classless, uneducated nobodies. I will admit, I may be the biggest reality show fan of everyone I know. I not only base my schedules around shows like "Survivor", three nights of "Idol", "Big Brother" and "Amazing Race", I've also engaged in guilty pleasures like "Real Housewives (fill in the blank)", "Top Chef", "Top Model", "Surreal House", "I'm a Celebrity- Get Me Outta Here!", the Kardashian and the Denise Richards "Our Lives Are a Slow-Motion Train Wrecks" series.I think I've watched at least one episode of every reality on every channel- HBO, MTV, VHS, TLC, TNT, TBS, etc. I've watched people win scream-acting roles for "Saw VI"; I've seen people lose 250 pounds in 12 weeks; I've seen one-bedroom lean-to's turned into Beverly Hills mansions, and I've seen ugly swans turned into uglier swans, only with bleached teeth, fake boobs and hair extensions. I swear, at times it feels like we've elected our President through a reality show premise; see which contestant can convince a larger number of people through lies, deceitful promises and fancy speeches and win the largest financial reward in the world- the opportunity to screw up one of the world's largest economies. The time has come for these reality shows because the damage is now outweighing any social good it may have claimed to have early on. Because they do not require acting skills whatsoever, the "stars" are just people who walked off their jobs in order to get their 15 minutes of fame. Many of them have no careers whatsoever, and only hope that the exposure gleaned from a show gives them an opportunity to bare it all for Hustler or Playboy. Nice career planning! That success might even lead to info-mercials, or better yet- porn! Many of the contestants have very little background investigations done, and as a result, two men who have been recent RS "stars" have been charged with murder. Many have lied to get on these shows- married people looking for love with Bret Michaels- while many still have ulterior motives in their pursuit, whether it is a screenplay, a novel, or just old-fashioned acting gigs. Most recently, we've endured that sick Colorado family whose sole purpose in life the last several years has been trying to get a reality show gig. To achieve this, the parents were willing to fake the possible death of their own son and then market the family's dysfunction. They instructed their children to lie to authorities including the police and F.B.I. in order to cover-up this fake balloon caper, and it affected the child so much, he threw up on national television. The only reason cretons like this family are even in the news is because of people like me who tune in to watch them eat cow testicles, or hold on to a tractor until they pass out, etc. I am through with them, and the studios should be looking to getting back to the paying skilled actors, who at least have dedicated some part of their life to the craft. Meanwhile, another hospital drama where their patients consist mostly of hospital staff members who at some point feel better enough to go to work, only to have more seizures until the doctor who was about to release the patient, suddenly realizes that they were mis-diagnosed now have some potentially fatal and contagious disease. Happens every show.