Weekly Written Analysis 2

In the Newsweek article "REALITY TV'S REAL SURVIVOR," the topic of reality shows and just how much they've increased in popularity is discussed. Mike Darnell is the Fox TV executive that basically started the reality TV craze here in America with "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?", Rick and Darva Show, as well as shows such as "World's Scariest Police Chases," "Busted on the Job." etc. For a long time, FOX was the only network to actively pursue reality TV.

Now, about nine years later, it seems every network has at least 2-3 reality programs, and networks such as VH1 have actually built their whole existence as it were, around reality TV. The bottom line is, nowadays people just want to be entertained. When I was a kid, the big thing was soap operas. All my aunts just had to see what happened to Hope and Bo, or what Stephano has done now.

In my opinion, people just like watching the soaps because they were looking in on people's whose lives were worst than their own, and actually gave them something to feel better about themselves. Well, today we have reality TV and it serves the same purpose. It's amazing how many people actually watch and schedule their lives around ensuring that they do not miss the newest episode.

All I hear at work is, "did you see I love New York last night?" or I can't believe so-and-so was eliminated on Charm School or I love Money, just to cite a couple of examples. I cannot understand it because it seems so painfully obvious that these shows are crafted just for shock value and are not actually reality but only focus on bringing out the worst traits in individuals. Yet, millions of people are hooked. My own wife, who claims to dislike TV, was caught up in this madness. I could only shake my head because of the mindless stupidity portrayed on these shows in which people are so terribly addicted. My thoughts were echoed in the online article, "'Reality TV' Viewers Aren't Really Seeking Reality" where it mentions that people watch reality shows to escape reality with fantasy, just as if they were watching other television shows.

With that said, this article brings out that this is evident by the fact that viewers were so upset at the finale of "The Bachelorette" when she failed to pick one of the men and live happily ever after. The fact is, not only did she not connect with any of the guys and fall in love, but she also didn't fake a happy ending for the show. Although that is commendable, fans of the show where highly upset because she didn't meet their expectations. They had grown attached to certain characters and therefore felt that she should feel the same. The irony of this is that this is a reality show, and her feelings, or lack thereof, was real, but the viewers didn't want what was real; they wanted a storybook ending.




References:
Peyser, M. (2000, December 25). Newsweek. Reality Tv’s Real Survivor: You Though The Darva And Rick Show Was The Big Tv Disaster Of The Year? Think Again. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://www.newsweek.com/id/104977/output/print

Sci/Tech News Staff, (2006, August 15). Softpedia. Behavior/Humans: Reality TV Viewers Aren’t Really Seeking Reality “ they watch it for the escape and fantasy, much as they watch other shows”. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://news.softpedia.com/news/039-Reality-TV-039-Viewers-Aren-039-t-Really-Seeking-Reality-32882.shtml