Reality TV - On every channel!
On almost cable channel in America, at almost anytime of the day, you can find some sort of reality TV show. Hollywood and television seem to have found a niche in American culture. This crazy time in television seemed to start in 2000. Whether you like it or hate it, for right now it is here to stay. You can see anything from boxing to wanna be models competing for their fifteen minutes of fame on some reality TV show. You can watch celebrities battling to lose weight, men and women desperate enough to subject themselves to trying to find love on national television, and even people coming from an Amish background and being thrown into a big city setting!
Reality TV has us watching for the next great singing sensation each week on American Idol. Half of the fun of watching that show is seeing what Simon will say to each contestant.
Fear Factor is one of the extreme reality TV shows that have candidates doing really gross things each week like eating worms and diving through piranhas. Another extreme reality TV show is The Amazing Race where teams race all over the place like a gigantic treasure hunt. Survivor is one of the oldest shows where people of various backgrounds are put on some remote island and forced to live together and survive as a team while secreting trying to get their team members voted off. Another extreme program is people boxing each other hoping to be the next Contender.
Reality TV also has its share of beautiful people. On Top Model, women wanting to become supermodels have to do different, sometimes weird things, hoping to be the one! On Dancing with the Stars, a star personality is paired with a professional dancer and is given lessons, and each week the pairs compete to see who wins. On the Bachelor and the Bachelorette, one woman and one man (on the respective shows) become the center of attention while 25 candidates vie to become his or her true love.
There are different makeover shows on reality TV. There are the shows that rip apart someone’s house while their friends change it. There are the reality TV shows that take an ugly duckling person, and basically alter their whole appearance with plastic surgery and make them beautiful.
The Apprentice is another successful reality TV show. Donald Trump gets to look all-powerful while very successful business people vie for a space to work for him. This competition can get very nasty.
It is very difficult to search television for real shows if you aren’t into voyeurism. Whatever happened to wholesome, fun shows like Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons?