Reality shows are taking over TV

Originally posted by extraterrestrialentity

Finally. My sister actually thinks it's real.

my sister and her sons both think it's real too. And I tell them it's not and they go why do you think everything is fake?. I do watch 2 reality shows storage wars (I know it's fake) and Swamp People. I used to watch pawn stars and they got pretty irritating pretty fast. and American Restoration until that show became more about drama than the product that they were restoring. I watched Ghost Hunters too and thought they were legit until the Halloween Scandal and quit watching.

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


your post reminds me of a guy i once knew, who swore wrestling was real and if you told him it wasn't he would want to fight you over it.

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


Did you just wake up,


These shows have been flooding our airwaves for over a decade now, when was the first Big Brother?


As others have said, its cheap by not having to pay professional actors and if the public like a certain identity the industry can easily use them and create a star out of a Reality TV Participant.

Hell look at some of the names that were made simply from appearing on Jersey Shore or something there about.

Its the industry seeing how easily they can manipulate a person and make a puppet to perform.

Seriously, it's like a virus taking over television!

I'm glad I don't watch television anymore really. I still have cable and all since my roommate watches it, but every time I tune in to browse the programming I find myself quickly bored and amazed at the ridiculous shows they have.

It has been booming since the late 90's to early 2000's and I have disliked most of those shows. They call it "reality" television but if you really watch some of those shows and the situations they're in, it's not reality at all!

You can bet good money on the fact that most of those shows are scripted on some level...

Why did they name them reality shows anyway. I think it was done to make us aware that the reality we live in is about as real as those shows.

reply to post by sandman441

I watched Ghost Hunters too and thought they were legit until the Halloween Scandal and quit watching.

Lmao, I remember that, that scene where his jacket collar was "pulled" was analyzed all over youtube

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity


actully i think it started getting worse back in the early to mid 2000's, when the actors and writers went on strike.
sure some of the shows were already on, but i think the networks felt that they got pretty beat up by the screen actors guild, and screen writers guild.

i noticed that the seasons started getting shorter, and that there wasn't as many of the little screen actors staring in shows. and then more and more reality shows started.

hell i can remember when a tv season lasted 26 weeks and then there were reruns. now they are about 13 if your lucky and it's a year before any new episodes come out.

reply to post by extraterrestrialentity

Reality shows are taking over TV

It basically reflects the culture that has been cultured in this nation... we no longer care for simple, innocent humor. It must be either political or vulgar or angry. The same goes with other things. Reality shows allow people to betray those around them for the greed of winning the end sum... which was all staged to begin with.

We are no longer a class act as a society. We have devolved from a family-oriented people to one that might be said to prefer tossing chairs ringside at a wrasslin match.

GFlad I won't live to see it all fall in on itself.

what was considered the first "reality show" to start this trend , was it suvivor around 2000 ??

Originally posted by sandman441

Originally posted by extraterrestrialentity

Finally. My sister actually thinks it's real.

. I used to watch pawn stars and they got pretty irritating pretty fast. and American Restoration until that show became more about drama .

edit on 15-5-2013 by sandman441 because: (no reason given)

when i found out that pawn stars isnt really a store , just a front to sell t-shirts for the show and such i stopped watching, but i do love american restoration & counting cars

Originally posted by blackz28
what was considered the first "reality show" to start this trend , was it suvivor around 2000 ??

Its already been mentioned that it was probably MTV's "The real world"

reply to post by blackz28


actually there a wiki about that.

Reality television saw an explosion of global popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the successes of the Big Brother and Survivor/Expedition Robinson franchises.

Reality television

Yeah, you forgot stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, etc.
And the news is just ridiculous. I don't watch that anymore, it's like a soap opera.
I kind of like the reality television - at least there is less drama.

In all, I don't watch T.V., I use Netflix or other websites when I do, or do something else, like gaming or reading. I get my news from off-shore sources like BBC News or here.

Originally posted by Berzerked
I dont see how people can watch these shows, ever other word has to be "beeped" out, so its like.. .Hey, where the beep to you think your beeping going you mother beep...

Yes! I can't get out of the room fast enough while my parents are watching one of those shows, because the constant censor bleeps grate on my nerves so much.

I actually think the actors do it on purpose to show off, because I never hear people swear that much in real life. Even if they're angry.

Originally posted by ThePeaceMaker
If I watch tv it's usually a good documentary usually about wild life or Ray Mears survival. I can't stand when I over hear people banging on about the newest reality show I think to myself ... Jeees do you have nothing better to do

I love the bounty hunter shows and Discovery and History channel have some spectacular reality shows.

Originally posted by darkbake

Yeah, you forgot stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, etc.
And the news is just ridiculous. I don't watch that anymore, it's like a soap opera.
I kind of like the reality television - at least there is less drama.

Interesting thing about Storage Wars... Dave Hester (The "Yuup!" guy...) filed a law suit against A&E and Original Productions, claiming that the producers staged entire units, planted items in lockers after having them appraised weeks in advance, and funneled cash to weaker teams to buy lockers they could not have otherwise afforded. Source (Wikipedia)

Whether true or not, I strongly believe that these "reality" shows are always scripted on some level, people shouldn't take them too seriously...

Maybe we should call them "1/2 reality shows".

Originally posted by Berzerked
reply to post by sandman441

 

I watched Ghost Hunters too and thought they were legit until the Halloween Scandal and quit watching.

Lmao, I remember that, that scene where his jacket collar was "pulled" was analyzed all over youtube

yeah and when I saw it, I was like they really didn't do that did they? you could just tell it was faked. It was embarassing.

Originally posted by blackz28

Originally posted by sandman441

Originally posted by extraterrestrialentity

Finally. My sister actually thinks it's real.

. I used to watch pawn stars and they got pretty irritating pretty fast. and American Restoration until that show became more about drama .

edit on 15-5-2013 by sandman441 because: (no reason given)

when i found out that pawn stars isnt really a store , just a front to sell t-shirts for the show and such i stopped watching, but i do love american restoration & counting cars

It is a legit pawn shop, but I guess they do have a ton of merchandise there now too. And I heard their pawn store prices are way too expensive. Was in vegas a few times after the show started but had no interest in seeing the store at all. They just all got on my nerves for the most part. Did American Restoration stop doing the drama stuff?

Originally posted by darkbake
Yeah, you forgot stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, etc.
And the news is just ridiculous. I don't watch that anymore, it's like a soap opera.
I kind of like the reality television - at least there is less drama.

In all, I don't watch T.V., I use Netflix or other websites when I do, or do something else, like gaming or reading. I get my news from off-shore sources like BBC News or here.

edit on 15-5-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

I have a few shows I watch that are usually from the 80's-90's. Newer shows I only watch Supernatural. Dexter, Californication, True Blood, Spartacus, Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And the 2 aforementioned reality shows. Otherwise it's shows from the 80's- 90's.

Originally posted by Dominar

Originally posted by darkbake

Yeah, you forgot stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, etc.
And the news is just ridiculous. I don't watch that anymore, it's like a soap opera.
I kind of like the reality television - at least there is less drama.

Interesting thing about Storage Wars... Dave Hester (The "Yuup!" guy...) filed a law suit against A&E and Original Productions, claiming that the producers staged entire units, planted items in lockers after having them appraised weeks in advance, and funneled cash to weaker teams to buy lockers they could not have otherwise afforded. Source (Wikipedia)

Whether true or not, I strongly believe that these "reality" shows are always scripted on some level, people shouldn't take them too seriously...

Maybe we should call them "1/2 reality shows".

Everybody knew that they staged lockers, If you go on any board that buys lockers they just say how fake they are. I only watch Storage Wars because of the things they do find some of it is interesting, but it doesn't make me want to go out and buy a storage locker or think I'm going to triple my money like these guys do.

I find it very humorous when others try and defend those brain-washing t.v shows. Those shows are used to manipulate people into thinking the way a certain group of people want you to think and act. That is why most, if not all, promote partying, boys and men acting like disrespectful f#, girls and women acting like idiots and being waay superficial. Most of society thinks this way now. Where do you think most of everyone is getting these kind of influences from. Parents want the best for their children. I highly doubt that parents are all teaching their kids to drink and smoke and party and not give a damn about anything. Tell me who your "friends" are and i can tell you who you are.

Is this a conspiracy?

No, it's simple economics. They are cheap to make, yet can reap huge returns.

Not all reality shows are horrible though...some are pretty good. Others are guilty pleasures, while many are simply unwatchable. Different strokes for different folks.

I was even on one once . (TLC's A Wedding Story) Being behind the scenes is kind of funny really, because now, when I watch such shows, I can tell when the producers had them redo a spontaneous moment, etc.

what was considered the first "reality show" to start this trend , was it suvivor around 2000 ??

For modern prime time reality, perhaps, but reality shows have been around since the dawn of television. One of the first, that wasn't a game show, was basically like COPs, but followed a particular town's police force, if I recall correctly, and this was before my father was even born.