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Reality TV- Make it Stop
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Hey, 5 years later and it's just gotten worse! 
I thought there was a more recent thread on reality TV than this, but anyhow...
Watched an episode of Appalachian Outlaws, the quest for ginseng in the hills of West Virginia. I'm sorry, but when opposing groups of hill billies are meeting up in the woods being followed by camera men, threatening each other and blowing up their trucks, it's entertainment, not reality.
I thought there was a more recent thread on reality TV than this, but anyhow...Watched an episode of Appalachian Outlaws, the quest for ginseng in the hills of West Virginia. I'm sorry, but when opposing groups of hill billies are meeting up in the woods being followed by camera men, threatening each other and blowing up their trucks, it's entertainment, not reality.
Hey, 5 years later and it's just gotten worse!
Watched an episode of Appalachian Outlaws, the quest for ginseng in the hills of West Virginia. I'm sorry, but when opposing groups of hill billies are meeting up in the woods being followed by camera men, threatening each other and blowing up their trucks, it's entertainment, not reality.
I saw that once.. couldn't get passed the introduction.
though I will say that American Pickers isn't that bad. At least they aren't trying to go the competition route like Storage Wars and the ilk are.
And while it was fun in the beginning to try to figure out what they were saying, watching a few episodes of Lizard Lick Towing was okay, especially for those 'Ron-isms', because some of those comparisons they use down in the South are just so far out there you're scratching your head, asking "....what?!!?".
Other than that, ever liked reality TV, and never will. I actually find myself watching VH1 Classic when 80s or metal videos are on, with a splashing of That Metal Show, PBS, and PBS Kids.
BL.
The question seems to be how much is real and how much is staged? For Appalachian Outlaws I can easily see them get together in the morning and plot out the drama for that day of shooting... I mean they carry guns. I don't think that is something a reality show producer wants to wing.
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There are so many brilliant ideas you can come up with to fill 100 cable channels, 7 days a week. TV will always be mostly garbage, with a few gems here and there. It's just there to sell baby life insurance and alert you to defective hip implants.
Hey, 5 years later and it's just gotten worse!
Watched an episode of Appalachian Outlaws, the quest for ginseng in the hills of West Virginia. I'm sorry, but when opposing groups of hill billies are meeting up in the woods being followed by camera men, threatening each other and blowing up their trucks, it's entertainment, not reality.
I haven't seen Appalachian Outlaws, but it reminds me of a show where they were making moonshine. Like someone is going to commit a felony, while being followed with cameras. Two of my favorite networks, have been destroyed by this crap, the history channel and the discovery channel.
I guess I am a TV snob, because I think people who watch this garbage, has the mentality of an eighth grader.
Watched some "The Haunting Of" show tonight, it was The Haunting of Penhurst Asylum on the Bio Channel. Tonight's show had 3 mediums constantly talking about what they saw, what ghost is talking to them, interspersed with reenactments, which turns me off. They helped usher some ghosts to the other side or so they claimed.
I watch Ghost Hunters all of the time and I can buy that, it's understated. Not helping is that I mistrust mediums, although I like the Long Island Medium show. The bottom line is that the viewer is at the mercy of the show. The viewer either buys into it or not... I'm not.
I watch Ghost Hunters all of the time and I can buy that, it's understated. Not helping is that I mistrust mediums, although I like the Long Island Medium show. The bottom line is that the viewer is at the mercy of the show. The viewer either buys into it or not... I'm not.
Everyone seems to hate reality TV, but the ratings suggest otherwise. As long as the ratings suggest otherwise, it'll keep getting made.
That and the fact that it's far, far cheaper and easier to cast a bunch of attention whores for pennies on the dollar than to have to pay intelligent, competent writers & story editors.
source: works in TV. often frustrated.
That and the fact that it's far, far cheaper and easier to cast a bunch of attention whores for pennies on the dollar than to have to pay intelligent, competent writers & story editors.
source: works in TV. often frustrated.
I think there are two types of reality shows - the negative kind that shows the worst of people and then the more productive kind that engages people constructively.
I prefer the latter and continue to enjoy shows where "real" people are doing something positive. While I don't like most of the singing contests, I do like some of the competitive cooking shows, any home construction improvement and the like such as the Property Brothers, older shows like "this old house" and then some.
As for "the Real World"....I highly suggest you check out Youtube and see Dave Chapelle's take on it.
I prefer the latter and continue to enjoy shows where "real" people are doing something positive. While I don't like most of the singing contests, I do like some of the competitive cooking shows, any home construction improvement and the like such as the Property Brothers, older shows like "this old house" and then some.
As for "the Real World"....I highly suggest you check out Youtube and see Dave Chapelle's take on it.
Not everyone, there are people that I know that eat this stuff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! That is all they talk about.
Sports is as far as I go..... All the other items. Not so much.
Maybe the most dangerous thing about "reality" TV is that the failures we see portrayed all belong to someone else. This can make any real failure on our part feel crushing instead of just a reminder that as humans, we're not perfect.
It's instructive to watch a child learn to walk. The pratfalls and headbumps are all part of the process, part of an actual reality, created and experienced by brain and body. We all got that far if we can walk as adults. What's sad is that so many of us may have forgotten that trial and error are what underwrote our earliest successes.
What Have You Invented Today?
Leave "reality TV" in the dust, I say. Just do something real today. One real thing. It's what drives the bus we're on. Live it!
It's instructive to watch a child learn to walk. The pratfalls and headbumps are all part of the process, part of an actual reality, created and experienced by brain and body. We all got that far if we can walk as adults. What's sad is that so many of us may have forgotten that trial and error are what underwrote our earliest successes.
What Have You Invented Today?
Leave "reality TV" in the dust, I say. Just do something real today. One real thing. It's what drives the bus we're on. Live it!
I refuse to watch reality shows, childish behavior is inherent in this type of show. Sadly, many people crave this type of behavior, which speaks of their own mentality.. birds of a feather and all..
The only reality show I followed was Mythbusters, mainly for the educational content.
The only reality show I followed was Mythbusters, mainly for the educational content.
Mythbusters isn't what I would qualify as reality TV. They don't follow them around their daily life or work life hoping to hype up something as dramatic. Then constantly interview them on their feelings. Then intersperse conflict.
They come up with experiments. Then test them, overview the setup and show the results in an entertaining fashion.
What the hell does Pawn Stars, have to do with history. They ruined one of my favorite channels.
Oh come one, you mean guys bringing in stuff from WWI, WWII, American Revolution etc. That is "History" gold my friend!
First there was Pawn Stars- Thumbs Up!
Then there was Cajun Pawn Stars and now there is Down East Dickering?? Niether of which will I watch.
Yes, one is enough although I'm familiar with the trend as there are seemingly hundreds of "Sell/Fix Up Your House" Shows. How many of those are enough? My watches them all the time. I infrequently watch them.
Then there was Cajun Pawn Stars and now there is Down East Dickering?? Niether of which will I watch.
Yes, one is enough although I'm familiar with the trend as there are seemingly hundreds of "Sell/Fix Up Your House" Shows. How many of those are enough? My watches them all the time. I infrequently watch them.
The first "home repair/improvement" show and my favorite, although I've not watched it for years.
The Canadian guy, Mike Holmes is good too.
Revived thread
Pawn Stars- I knew much of this was staged but this is over the line. I'm so dissapointed.
http://www.looper.com/2494/reality-...m_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_720274
![pawn-stars-is-pawn-staged-1444154152.jpg]()
PAWN STARS IS PAWN STAGED
While there haven't been any big bombshells hitting the Internet about how Rick, Corey, Chumlee, and the rest of the Pawn Stars gang are actually just a troupe of trained cockroaches in lifelike human suits, there's ample evidence of fakery for anyone who's looking. A blog post from 2011 reveals one episode's scam, in which a "customer" named Rod brings in an expensive 1960 Les Paul guitar, while an expert is called in to help appraise it. As the blogger discovered, both the customer and the expert actually worked together at a nearby guitar store in Las Vegas. But perhaps the biggest lie is how the title refers to the cast members as "stars."
Pawn Stars- I knew much of this was staged but this is over the line. I'm so dissapointed.
http://www.looper.com/2494/reality-...m_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_720274
PAWN STARS IS PAWN STAGED
While there haven't been any big bombshells hitting the Internet about how Rick, Corey, Chumlee, and the rest of the Pawn Stars gang are actually just a troupe of trained cockroaches in lifelike human suits, there's ample evidence of fakery for anyone who's looking. A blog post from 2011 reveals one episode's scam, in which a "customer" named Rod brings in an expensive 1960 Les Paul guitar, while an expert is called in to help appraise it. As the blogger discovered, both the customer and the expert actually worked together at a nearby guitar store in Las Vegas. But perhaps the biggest lie is how the title refers to the cast members as "stars."