I think reality television is taking over the world. In the 1960s the
shows were mostly situation comedies and spy dramas. That included
everything from My Favorite Martian and Leave it to Beaver to the
Avengers. In the 1970s and 1980s everyone seemed to be a private detective
or police officer. We’re talking about shows like Charlie’s Angels, Canon,
Columbo, The Rockford Files, Berretta, Hawaii 5/0, Hill Street Blues, Simon and
Simon, Magnum P.I, T.J. Hooker, Miami Vice and the list continues. In my
whole life I don’t think I have ever met a private investigator. Yet
television had us believing every other person was one. There were also
more comedies thrown in during that time like The Cosby Show, Family Ties,
M.A.S.H., Happy Days, Cheers, Night Court and so on. The 1990’s were
filled with dramas like 90210, Melrose Place, The X Files, ER and then something
happened. An obscure show called “Survivor” appeared in the late 1990’s in
which people were left out in the elements and forced to compete for a million
dollar prize. Along the way they would lie and cheat and swindle one
another while voting out members of the “Tribe”. I realize this show has
been a huge success and some people may not like this opinion but I find the
entire premise revolting. It is the ultimate example of the worst parts of
human nature and makes our entire species look downright evil. Enough said
on that point. Little did anyone know at the time that this was but the first
volley in what would become a war of Reality Television. Moving into the
new millennia, we soon had Big Brother and The Bachelor. The fledgling
cable networks have recently become involved with multiple gold mining shows,
fishing shows, military boot camp, pawn shops, auto restoration, singing shows,
modeling shows, designer contests, cooking shows, decorator shows, home building
or remodeling shows, matchmaker shows, oil drilling shows, moonshine shows,
Amish Mafia shows, pregnant teen shows, eating shows, traveling shows, investor
shows, garage sale shows, the Kardashians (Don’t get me started) and even one
about a rock singer renovating RV’s. Those are just the ones I can think
of off the top of my head. The basic premise behind all of these shows is
that there is not a script. (Though I’m sure there is one.) Supposedly the
people are just being natural while on film. This quickly reached the
saturation level and has now reached flood proportions. It seems like
every channel now has at least one reality show. I used to love watching
the History Channel. There was always something on about some war or a
historical event of some significance. The other night I turned it on and
Pawn Stars was on. I scanned ahead on my cable box and saw that it was on
for 3 hours and then 2 hours of American Pickers was coming on. What
happened to programing? Are we destined to end up watching ordinary people
wander around and do ordinary things? Worse yet, are we going to see
poorly staged “real life” events that just so happen to transpire while the
cameras are rolling? Television has hit an all-time low. Worse yet,
other countries and cultures around the world will see our programing and think
that’s what America is like. I can only hope it dies off sooner than
later. Thank God for books!
shows were mostly situation comedies and spy dramas. That included
everything from My Favorite Martian and Leave it to Beaver to the
Avengers. In the 1970s and 1980s everyone seemed to be a private detective
or police officer. We’re talking about shows like Charlie’s Angels, Canon,
Columbo, The Rockford Files, Berretta, Hawaii 5/0, Hill Street Blues, Simon and
Simon, Magnum P.I, T.J. Hooker, Miami Vice and the list continues. In my
whole life I don’t think I have ever met a private investigator. Yet
television had us believing every other person was one. There were also
more comedies thrown in during that time like The Cosby Show, Family Ties,
M.A.S.H., Happy Days, Cheers, Night Court and so on. The 1990’s were
filled with dramas like 90210, Melrose Place, The X Files, ER and then something
happened. An obscure show called “Survivor” appeared in the late 1990’s in
which people were left out in the elements and forced to compete for a million
dollar prize. Along the way they would lie and cheat and swindle one
another while voting out members of the “Tribe”. I realize this show has
been a huge success and some people may not like this opinion but I find the
entire premise revolting. It is the ultimate example of the worst parts of
human nature and makes our entire species look downright evil. Enough said
on that point. Little did anyone know at the time that this was but the first
volley in what would become a war of Reality Television. Moving into the
new millennia, we soon had Big Brother and The Bachelor. The fledgling
cable networks have recently become involved with multiple gold mining shows,
fishing shows, military boot camp, pawn shops, auto restoration, singing shows,
modeling shows, designer contests, cooking shows, decorator shows, home building
or remodeling shows, matchmaker shows, oil drilling shows, moonshine shows,
Amish Mafia shows, pregnant teen shows, eating shows, traveling shows, investor
shows, garage sale shows, the Kardashians (Don’t get me started) and even one
about a rock singer renovating RV’s. Those are just the ones I can think
of off the top of my head. The basic premise behind all of these shows is
that there is not a script. (Though I’m sure there is one.) Supposedly the
people are just being natural while on film. This quickly reached the
saturation level and has now reached flood proportions. It seems like
every channel now has at least one reality show. I used to love watching
the History Channel. There was always something on about some war or a
historical event of some significance. The other night I turned it on and
Pawn Stars was on. I scanned ahead on my cable box and saw that it was on
for 3 hours and then 2 hours of American Pickers was coming on. What
happened to programing? Are we destined to end up watching ordinary people
wander around and do ordinary things? Worse yet, are we going to see
poorly staged “real life” events that just so happen to transpire while the
cameras are rolling? Television has hit an all-time low. Worse yet,
other countries and cultures around the world will see our programing and think
that’s what America is like. I can only hope it dies off sooner than
later. Thank God for books!
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