Have reality TV shows gone too far? Every day, we tune into shows like Flavor of Love, The Real World or Date my Mom. We tune in for entertainment purposes. How can we be entertained by so much sexual activity, someone getting into a fight or hooking up on the shows?
What message are you receiving from these shows? There are no messages in reality TV shows. In fact, it seems almost all reality TV shows are negative.
Now there are a few reality shows that have a positive side, like America’s Next Top Model and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. These two shows are positive because someone walks away with a contract and the other gets a new home. You hardly ever see anyone fighting on Extreme Makeover.
Then you have your reality shows like Flavor of Love, which made no sense to me. Everyone made a big deal about the show. Hoopz and New York were the last contestants trying to win Flavor Flav’s heart, and the sad thing about the show is that Flavor Flav is single once again. The young lady he chose was Hoopz, and for some reasons it did not work out. Hoopz said they are still friends but it just did not work, according to 106th and Park.
People really tuned into this show every Sunday night. I watched once and said to myself, "Anyone will do anything for money." According to YahooTV, 169,000 viewers watched Flavor of Love, and we as viewers apparently really enjoy watching these types of shows.
Another reality show that does not make sense to me is Surreal Life. You have celebrities living in one house for at least eight weeks. What purpose did this serve? I did not quite understand the show, but I did watch one of the episodes with Omarosa and thought it was very funny just to see celebrates argue and fight.
However, all reality shows look the same, and we all better learn from that, Lloyd Braun, former ABC Entertainment chairman, told the Television Critics Association. He noted that reality TV is bad business- – except for the handful of "gold standard" shows like Survivor, American Idol and The Bachelor. Reality shows have become more costly because of rising production expense ($900,000 an hour) and the lack of audience interest in repeats, says Braun.
Soon we will return to regular TV programming because people will tired of watching the same shows. Once you have one reality show, all the rest are pretty much the same.
Jacqueline McKnight is a senior mass communication major from Saginaw, Mich.