I ask this question because I don't mind the concept of a "reality" television show as long as:
1) The subject matter is of interest to me (or someone like me or you if you want to maybe discuss a show that I wouldn't be interested in),
2) There just happens to be something to do or whatever that makes the show timely, provocative and/or not a snooze fest and
3) It does not insult my intelligence.
Let me flesh this out...
I will go further than not minding the concept of a "reality" show and will admit that I actually like it, in theory. Here are the problems as they relate to the above conditions:
1) The subject matter has to be interesting to me. Now, I know that different things interest different people so don't get bent out of shape if I ridicule a show or type of show that you think is hot but I'm going to toss out a few examples of shows that I think are stupid and that I think are either good, might be good or could be good.
I like a show that either places its characters in danger, observes them when they are doing dangerous stuff as part of their everyday routine or otherwise puts them in a situation where they have a lot at stake and then lets you in on what they do to deal with this stuff. For instance...any type of show that has members of the armed forces in combat. That is an extreme example, I know, but there it is. Poker tournaments are like this, too, because the money and everything about it is real. These are authentic situations.
On the other hand, there is no way in the world that I am going to find "Storage Wars" of interest. I could not possibly care less if the guy from New Jersey or a pair of women from the Bronx win an auction for a storage container and then get to paw around in someone else's abandoned sh*t. Big deal and who cares? Not me. And I will say the same for any of the remodeling/decorating type of crap that is on HGTV or DIY. Watching someone get all nuts about picking between two different shades of white paint is, to me, boring. If it was my house I might find it interesting but why anyone else thinks these types of shows are "must see tv" is beyond me. But mrs. trapeze likes them so more on that later. Trailer trash shows and or anything else that seems to derive its audiences by making fun of people or their wretched circumstances is, again for me, beyond the pale.
2) I don't care for shows that just make sh*t up just to force dramatic and/or comedic situations. The characters should be doing what they normally do and not what some gay producer or writer thinks would make an interesting situation.
Here is where I will probably piss somebody off...I have watched several episodes of "Duck Dynasty" and for the life of me I do not understand why this is a hit show. It could be interesting. They could show some real life situations for the owners of a multi million dollar company...stuff about the business aspect of their lives and what they do to enrich themselves. But no, instead we are treated to utter nonsense and BS. The characters looks like total idiots who are barely able to feed themselves let alone build a financial empire. That's just stupid that they are made to look like retards...southern retards, at that.
Again, I go back to some of the military based shows. These guys have some interesting stuff going on all of the time. It's life and death. And they are highly trained and highly skilled professionals doing their jobs to the best of their ability.
I could offer more examples but I'm kinda saving them for the next bullet point...
3) No one likes to have their intelligence insulted but most of these shows don't even try to cover up the crap that they are spewing.
Example: mrs. trapeze is a big fan of all things Alaska. Why? I have no idea. It's a romanticized ideal or something. So anyway, there are a couple of Alaska based shows that she insists on watching and, quite honestly, they demonstrate an absolute contempt for anyone who thinks. One of them is "Alaska: The Last Frontier" that follows the lives of a family (a couple of generations of them) as they practice subsistence living in a harsh environment. That sounds good but it loses something in translation. First of all the people aren't even close to poor. They have some ungodly huge tract of land...something like six or seven hundred acres...maybe more. It's a lot of land. People who practice subsistence living generally don't live on The Ponderosa like the Cartwrights. Second, these people have sh*t. A lot of sh*t. They have heavy industrial equipment like track hoe excavators, bulldozers and a big frickin' barge-like boat to move the stuff down the coast when they need to. They also have lots of other stuff that poor people generally don't have like ATVs and all kinds of other stuff. Where does the money come from to buy these things? How do they pay for gas? For taxes? For everything that doesn't come out of the ground?
One of my biggest complaints is that they pretend that the camera crew doesn't exist. Another Alaska show that I am forced to watch from time to time is "Ultimate Survival Alaska." This show's premise is that they have a handful of outfitters/guides who are dumped in the middle of nowhere with almost no food and nothing other than what they carry on their backs and they have to travel over land and water to a destination or risk being stranded (gasp!) in the Alaskan wilderness. Except that there is a camera crew with each of the two or three man groups that they inexplicably divide up into for each show. No one (who thinks about it) would believe that the camera crew is going to be left behind but that's what they want you to think. I guarantee that the camera crew is not living off of bugs or whatever that they characters scoop up to eat. I am also willing to believe that the camera crews are extremely well armed in case of a bear attack. But the show attempts to leads you to believe that the camera crew simply does not exist.
But you see that time and time again on every single one of these shows where they pretend that the camera simply isn't there.
I'll add another thing that's insulting: Fake contests. Or rigged contests. mrs trapeze also loves the HGTV show where they take a group of sociopaths who also happen to work in the interior decorating field and pretend to make them compete for a tv show opportunity. I say "pretend" because I guarantee that the "winner" is known in advance. This is the same type of "contest" or "competition" that the Food channel has for the "Iron Chef" show. Totally rigged and biased from the word go. Why? Because the judges know exactly whose work they are judging. There is no chance of a blind judging situation on these shows and that makes the notion that these are actual competitions a total farce.
Here's another situation that treats you like you are an idiot...the show "Sister Wives," which is TLC's love letter to polygamists, wants you to believe that one guy...who is totally obnoxious and seemingly not very bright or talented...can financially support four women and their litters of children. This is patently absurd. And the really stupid thing is that this show could be interesting if it did show how they manage to pay their bills but it doesn't go there. I suspect that there is a massive amount of welfare fraud going on plus the "wives" must have to work at something in order to pay bills and, yes, even buy brand new houses. But this is never explored. Instead it's pure mormon fantasy and wish fulfillment. mrs. trapeze watches that one in a way that resembles a person driving slowly past a bad car accident.
Okay, rant over (for now) but if there are some good reality shows out there I would like to know about them and what makes them good.
