Reality shows....are they all evil?

[Brian Fein]

I watch some reality TV.  I have never watched Survivor or Big Brother.  They seem stupid and full of lame backstabbing and drama.

I like Biggest Loser, Hell's Kitchen, etc. 

I CAN'T STAND Jersey Shore.  Hate it!  I feel that making these buffoons into A-list celebrities just for acting like buffoons is glorifying buffoonery.  That bugs me.  Plenty of other people are more worthy and deserving of the big pay-day, because they've done well with their lives, but the recognition goes to jack-ass d-bags who waste their days "GTL"ing   LAME.

[SportsChick]

and now we're subjected to that t-shirt time crap at Panthers games

[fyo]

Hell's Kitchen tows a line between the two.  I get frustrated with how fake it is, but I like the premise and wish they'd take it more seriously.

Gordon Ramsey has the "more serious" version as well, it's called Master Chef (originally a British concept). First season was last year (and was very good, IMHO) and it's been renewed.

I'm not sure I really consider a show like Master Chef "reality TV"... I guess there's a huge grey area, but without the personal drama, voting each other out, backstabbing etc., it has more in common with a game show than Big Brother or Survivor.

Mythbusters is no where near "reality TV" in my book.

Deadliest Catch is slightly closer, but still far from what I consider to be "reality TV".

[Pappy13]

I have never watched Survivor or Big Brother.  They seem stupid and full of lame backstabbing and drama.

Try Survivor, I think you might be a bit surprised.  Sure there's backstabbing that goes on, but there's also a lot of real competition and just plain downright surviving the elements.  They are not provided food to eat except for a small portion of rice they have to cook themselves.  Any additional food they have to hunt, fish or gather themselves.  They are also not provided water to drink, they are told where they can get fresh water but it's up to the players to get the water and since there's not much in the way of containers to hold the water normally they set up a rotation of when it's each person's turn to go get some water each day.  They aren't provided matches to make fire the first day, they can either start a fire on their own someway or if they don't have fire after a couple days they are given something to start a fire, but then they must keep it going.  If the fire goes out they are screwed, so keeping the fire going becomes a big deal.  The competition normally lasts about a month, so by the end those there have usually lost a lot of weight and don't look much like they did when they got there.

Most of the locations are tropical or jungle in some form or fashion.  It rains a lot and goes from hot in the day to cold at night.  They have to build their own place to live and usually it's nothing more than a few sticks tied together with something covering it.  There's not much in the way of blankets and stuff, so they don't often get much sleep.  Camps are normally set up near some kind of large body of water so at least they can bathe, but there's no soap or anything like that so they all look pretty rough just a couple days in.

It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination.  The people who do the best are the ones that are able to make the best of the situation forming alliances with others and just outlasting those that get tired or sick and almost force the others to get rid of them.  I like the show a lot.  I always try to pick who I think will do well the first couple of episodes and people will sometimes surprise you.  People that you think don't have a chance will sometimes last way further than you expect and some you feel should do good end up being gone quickly.

I really enjoyed this last season with Jimmy Johnson.  No one knew who he was at first, about a day or 2 in someone thought they recognized him and he said that it was him.  Some of the people didn't believe him and just thought it was someone that looked like him.  He is actually the oldest person to ever be on the show, he's 67.  He got sick the first night, I think he tried to overdo it a bit, but hung in well and after the first couple of days they started to fear him and got rid of him on day 8.  He tried to explain that no one was going to give him a million dollars, but it didn't matter, they didn't want him around.  All of the participants must pass a physical to be on the show and Jimmy didn't pass the first time he tried.  He had to lower his cholesterol and lose weight to be on the show.  He credits the show with probably saving his life since he had to get in better shape to be on it.

If you haven't seen it, I recommend you watch it at least once.  I'm not a reality person, but I enjoy it.

[Sunstroke]

I CAN'T STAND Jersey Shore.  Hate it!  I feel that making these buffoons into A-list celebrities just for acting like buffoons is glorifying buffoonery.  That bugs me.  Plenty of other people are more worthy and deserving of the big pay-day, because they've done well with their lives, but the recognition goes to jack-ass d-bags who waste their days "GTL"ing   LAME. 

I just stood up at my desk and gave you a standing-O... Bravo!!

"Glorifying buffoonery"...man, I sure wish I'd coined that phrase.

[bsfins]

Other Shows, that I watch,that might be thought of possibly in the Genre...Top Gear (BBC version),Dragons Den,was very interesting to me, I liked Storm Chasers a lot because they seemed like they were in my back yard alot.... (I was getting on a roll, and almost listed Graham Norton  )

Again I watched the first few seasons of survivor....and it kept getting worse....Australia (the last full season I watched),skipped Africa (first 5 minutes of the first show),and the one with Rupert/Rudy (5 minutes of the first show)....Watched part of all Stars (a few episodes)...Still hated it...

I also thought Top shot stunk....I thought the idea was pretty cool,but the show felt too reality showy....

[Frimp]

I just stood up at my desk and gave you a standing-O... Bravo!!

"Glorifying buffoonery"...man, I sure wish I'd coined that phrase.

Just as long as you didnt spit your drink all over your monitor.

[JVides]

I only watch the Amazing Race and Top Chef.  I love to travel, so that lets me pretend I'm doing just that.  I also love cooking / eating, hence Top Chef.

My wife, however...Survivor, Amazing Race, Top Chef, Project Runway, Real Housewives of X,Y, and Z (she doesn't watch Atlanta), Jersey Shore (lately), The Bachelor/ette, Dancing With the Stars...God, what else...16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, My Life on the D-List.  She was all about Jon & Kate Plus 8 and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.  She also watched the Girls Next Door (only worth it for me on DVD because the nudity blur edits were not there on the DVDs, but even then, not worth it).  I even caught her watching those worthless Denise Richards and Tori Spelling shows.  Basically, she watches nothing but reality TV, so we now for the most part don't watch TV together.

It's another thing I just don't get.  Why care about these idiots?

[Brian Fein]

I forgot about Amazing Race!!  This is my favorite show on TV.  Honestly.  LOVE This show!

[AZ Fins Fan 55]

I also thought Top shot stunk....I thought the idea was pretty cool,but the show felt too reality showy....

I liked this show just because of all the intersting and different weapons they were required to use in the different events. I am actually looking forward to the 2nd season which starts up in two weeks.

[bsfins]

Face off on SyFy was pretty interesting, It's premiere episode was tonight, and on again in a half an hour.It's make up special effects artist competition...A couple of the designs were really pretty cool...It has a feeling alot like the cake baking competition....

[Dave Gray]

I hear a lot of love for Amazing Race.  I've never liked it.  It plays like the same "game show" garbage as the others.