Don't worry, this isn't some polemic on the sanctity of the family or on how these supposed reality series pander to the voyeur in us all.
If I didn't appreciate the "reality" genre's constant attempts to raise the bar on degradation and suffering, our modern answer to the macabre "dance marathons" of the Depression, I wouldn't have watched the show, though I note several critics didn't let not seeing the show stand in the way of yet another sermon.
No, I understand that people find the degradation and suffering of others funny, particularly if the suffering isn't too severe and if the person is portrayed as someone who deserved a little comeuppance.
But, I did think FOX' latest formula was going to stretch too far for reality fans. Swapping moms between a poor black family and a wealthy polyracial family seemed too contrived, even for a genre where "the twist" has become as obligatory as Michael Myers not actually being killed.
Sure enough, the show went immediately to some hackneyed spots like the wealthy family taking their new mom, Al Mela, out for sushi so that she could make horrified faces. Tammy Nakamura, the kind of ex-cheerleader blond one often sees on shopping channels encouraged her new, poor kids to set college goals, telling them "this is America." FOX even tossed up some fireworks in a too obvious attempt to dress up that remark.
But the show started to pick up speed the next morning. Al Mela got up early and discovered that 72-year-old Nana, the live-in mother of the rich plastic surgeon, was the only one awake. They spent some time bonding until the others straggled out of bed, which meant...
Poor dad Anthony Biggins found his new wife, Tammy, sound asleep in the morning. He shook his head and closed the door. She later awoke, checked the clock, and went right back to bed. Eventually one of the hungry children woke her up.
Audio played of the kids talking about how new mom had promised to cook their breakfast as shots aired of the kids struggling to cook their own eggs on the stove while Tammy read the paper, but that was not the lowlight.
A later scene aired where a petulent Tammy, who apparently never cooked, ordered her poor husband to go out and buy her a sandwich. He tried to explain that he saves his dining out money for the weekends, but she was adamant. Then she said it was a shame that they didn't have any bacon so that she could have a BLT.
Cut to a shot of poor Anthony Biggins standing over the stove frying up some bacon for his useless new trophy wife. I was amazed he didn't bash her skull in with the skillet. Meanwhile she was dozing off in a chair waiting for her meal to be served to her. Unless she's diabetic we've got a new leader for "worst woman in a reality show."
And this being a reality show, their had to be a twist. No, no, not the hokey twist where the new mom gets to decide how to spend $50,000 on her new family, who gives a shit about that?! The Nakamuras spend that dining out and the Biggins' would probably use it for something smart like a better house or a college fund.
No, the twist I'm referring to is when the producer twists the knife in the back of his hapless victim. That is the degradation I mentioned earlier.
While shots aired of Anthony Biggins cooking patiently while useless new wife Tammy waited for him to serve her, FOX aired clips and a voice over of Tammy telling the producers how she would give her new family the benefit of her positive outlook and teach them a new way of looking at their world.
Un-fucking-believable!!
I can't wait to see what they do to Tammy next week. I want the epilogue where Tammy sees how the show was edited, preferable in front of her family and friends. Now that's what I call degradation.
We are now at the point where satire has become obsolete.
"There are limits to my comedy. There are things that I'll never laugh at. The handicapped - because there's nothing funny about them. Or any deformity. It's like when you see someone look at a little handicapped and go 'Ooh, look at him. He's not able-bodied. I am. I'm prejudiced.' Yeah, well, at least the little handicapped fella is able-minded. Unless he's not. It's difficult to tell with the wheelchair ones." ---David Brent, The Office
"Lots of links prove that you did your homework but they don't necessarily mean that your homework is correct." ---TBogg
Wasn't there a skit on Chapelle's Show called "Trading Spouses" that had the exact same premise, (except of course that sex was also implied)? Should't there be a lawsuit brewing? (Especially since this is the one time I wouldn't mind if an injunction prevented the show from premiering...)
Edit: OFB beat me by on the refence by 40 seconds or so.
(edited by EddieBurkett on 21.7.04 1842) You've gotta carry that weight...
I'm starting to wonder if the whole concept of reality TV isn't just one big joke that the common viewer isn't in on.
Maybe the joke isn't on the poor shmucks who take the money and humiliate themselves on TV, but rather on the clowns who watch it week after week. Executives sit around and challenge themselves not by coming up with quality programming, but by seeing how low they can set the bar and still get the rubes to tune in. Instead of the viewers watching and laughing at the people in the show, the REAL point here is for the execs to watch and laugh at the idiots who watch their show. Kinda like the guys who made themselves secret characters in NBA Jam; the real joke is for the writers' sake.
It's the only way I can wrap my head around this stuff. Then again, it's still funny to see what people will subject themselves to for a dollar, so what do I care?
Seems ABC spent over a year working on a show called "Wife Swap" only to see FOX get on the air first with "Trading Spouses."
"This is bad for the business, which should be finding new, pure, interesting and exciting new concepts", said ABC Entertainment chief Stephen McPherson.
No doubt critics of the lowbrow "reality" genre would encourage McPherson to look for "exciting new concepts" that don't involved humiliation and degradation.
No doubt McPherson wouldn't understand their objections.
TV: Love it, leave it, or change it.
Frank
"We're not a respectable network. We're a whorehouse network, and we have to take whatever we can get." - Robert Duvall, "Network"
Originally posted by BigVitoMarkI'm starting to wonder if the whole concept of reality TV isn't just one big joke that the common viewer isn't in on.
Maybe the joke isn't on the poor shmucks who take the money and humiliate themselves on TV, but rather on the clowns who watch it week after week. Executives sit around and challenge themselves not by coming up with quality programming, but by seeing how low they can set the bar and still get the rubes to tune in. Instead of the viewers watching and laughing at the people in the show, the REAL point here is for the execs to watch and laugh at the idiots who watch their show.
It took you how long to figue this out? We are dumb enough to watch. We quit, they change.
The biggest joke of reality TV is that reality tv shows actually have WRITERS. So basically, unscripted tv is scripted. The writing jobs on reality TV are non-union though, so the writers don't get union benefits while working on them. Recently GLAAD influenced FOX's killing of a reality show called SERIOUSLY DUDE, I'M GAY which would feature straight people trying to act gay. I met one of the writers for the show, Christian McLaughlin, at UT Hollywood Seminar who is gay himself...funny huh?
To show just how much the writers think of reality tv, McLaughlin jokingly hoped someone on Superstar USA on the WB would kill themself in order to stop the trend of reality shows.
"Don't compare my arm to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
Hollywood writers can't stand "reality TV" because ordinary people deliver better dialog than they can write. Spare us your protestations, you talentless, derivative hacks. If you were any good, people would watch your shows instead.
Frank
(That's a bit like Selig hoping for a WWE tragedy because he envies Vince's ratings.)
I watched the pilot for ABC's Wife Swap (Which like most reality shows is originally from BBC) And it was surprisingly good! It was heart breaking and the resolution was satisfying. Give Wife Swap a chance. Screw Fox.
R.I.P. Paul Bearer 1991-2004 Forever cemented in wrestling history
Originally posted by The Vile1The biggest joke of reality TV is that reality tv shows actually have WRITERS. So basically, unscripted tv is scripted.
Isn't this also known as Professional Wrestling?
"I'm very sorry the government taxes their tips, that's fucked up. That ain't my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. Look, if you ask me to sign something that says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it, put it to a vote, I'll vote for it, but what I won't do is play ball. And as for this non-college bullshit I got two words for that: learn to fuckin' type, 'cause if you're expecting me to help out with the rent you're in for a big fuckin' surprise."
Originally posted by The Vile1The biggest joke of reality TV is that reality tv shows actually have WRITERS. So basically, unscripted tv is scripted.
Isn't this also known as Professional Wrestling?
Y'see I dunno about that. I think there's definitely a distinction between the shit of reality TV and pro wrestling. Though there are times when I think wrestling is just as bad and I won't watch it. So maybe you got a point.
But the other thing is, in wrestling people are playing characters, they have gimmicks, its a show, a form of theatre. In reality tv, there's not really any of that, its just blatant, disgusting exploitation. So yeah, in the end I think there's a big difference between pro wrestling and reality tv. At least the kinds of reality tv we are talking about in this thread.
"Don't compare my arm to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
> You expect the hosts/narrators to come up with their own stuff?
Good point. Also anyone who doubts the importance of branding should look at all the excellent branding done in shows like Survivor and Queer Eye. Not just logos and catchphrases, though "the tribe has spoken" is our generation's "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!", but also the formatting of episodes into clearly defined and easily recognizable segments. People like cookie cutter formulas because they make it easy to follow along without paying strict attention.
Frank
(The music is an important part of branding, too.)
Originally posted by The Vile1 ... people are playing characters ...
In the first few reality TV shows I think you may have got just pure people, but now everyone has an agenda - so you could (and I do) argue that the above is now true of Reality TV as well.
For example how many really bad singers are trying to become the next William Hung (or whtever his name was).
G
Originally posted by Jeb Tennyson Lund• One of these days, when Triple H is in the middle of one of his long grunting promos, Jericho should just lean forward, stick his finger on the end of Triple H's schnozz and say, "poooooooke!" No one will know what to do.
"Wife Swap" originated on Channel Four in the UK. It's kinda like watching a bad accident. You know its wrong to stare, but....
There is talk of a new reality tv show in the UK (featured in most of Friday's UK newspapers) in which a woman chooses a guy on sex appeal, charm, wealth etc. (the usual stuff), and another guy is chosen on the basis of his genetic make up. They're (I'm not joking) going to have a "sperm race".
Here is the link, you may need to register to access it:
I don't read much TV Guide, and I haven't seen every show of 2002, but I think I gotta agree there. I'd give it to either 24 or The Shield. Of course, like I say, that's only out of the shows I've seen in 2002.