Snow Melt

Reality TV - Very Little to do with Reality

The April 22, 2013 prompt for "Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum"  is
Reality TV: Trash or Treasure?

I don't think reality TV has much to do with reality, at least, not the reality I'm confronted with on a daily basis. Most of the reality shows on network television has mediocre entertainment value. Some of the reality shows on cable television may have some educational value, especially if they show a life style different from mine or reveal intriguing facts about unusual items; however, I'm still not sure about their entertainment value. Some of the shows may have entertainment value for people interested in specific items or life styles.

There are some reality shows I enjoy watching if I have nothing else to do when they come on. I enjoy Swamp People on the History Channel. Sometimes I watch River Monsters on Animal Planet. Other shows I enjoy periodically are Counting Cars, American Restoration, American Pickers, and Pawn Stars, but I don't watch any of them on a regular basis because I usually have other obligations or more important things to do with my time. As to whether reality television is trash or treasure; some of the shows are trash with a small percentage being treasure and most of them fall somewhere in between.

Thought of the Day: "In the voyeurism of Reality TV, the viewer's passivity is kept intact, pampered and massaged and force-fed Chicken McNuggets of carefully edited snippets that permit him or her to sit in easy judgment and feel superior at watching familiar strangers make fools of themselves. Reality TV looks in only one direction: down." - James Wolcott