Reality Shows will Bring the Death of Television

Features | January 19th, 2009 by Chips

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I sat down to watch television after some grueling Call of Duty: World at War action. I turned my nice HDTV on, and proceeded to flip through some prime-time programming. Disgusting! There’s nothing on. Nothing that is for me. I don’t want to watch American Idol… again…, or Dancing with the Stars, or any other reality show where people who aren’t good enough off get voted off.

Big Brother 10? We needed to have 10 seasons of Big Brother? I’m bored of that show, as well as the crap-load of others! Its not good anymore and certainly is not entertaining to me. I believe many other people feel this way as well. What happened to the great shows that we’ll be proud to watch in the future? Come 20 years down the road, what show is going to be the current generation’s fall back, nostalgic programming. Certainly even I Love Lucy reruns will slow down eventually.

Agony

What do we have to look forward to? Here’s a rundown of what its going to be like…

8 seasons of American Idol
7 seasons of Dancing with the Stars
10 seasons of Big Brother (and a new season on the way!)
11 seasons of Americas Next Top Model
13 seasons of Amazing Race

Or worse, all of these shows can continue to be produced and gain as many seasons as some competing Soaps, such as General Hospital, which has been running for a whopping 45 years with over 11,600 episodes so far. (I wonder if they make a complete box set…)

I bet most of our readers had no idea they sat through that many seasons of their favorite show, let alone remember anything prior to the current season. Currently, America’s Most Wanted is tied with MTV’s Real World for longest running reality shows, hanging strong at 20 seasons. Who remembers season 1? Nobody!

Ugh... No Thanks

We’re going to be watching reruns of Kelly Clarkson winning American Idol (she’s pretty much the only good singer I’ve heard of from that show so far)… does that sound very, very unpleasant to anyone else? What programming will be available for this generation that grows up. What shows are they watching? It will be the same shows that they’ve been watching. How many reality television shows are too much? Lets take away about half of them and we’d still have too much. Best yet, they’re all forgettable.

Here’s what really gripes me: a show titled “Momma’s Boys” actually being on television, and people enjoying it. This show is scripted, completely asinine, and totally forgettable. There are three mothers, and their boys who are “looking for love,” and want to make for an entertaining viewing experience by being stubborn, hardcore mothers. How many other shows can you name that have the same premise? About half of these reality shows are about “finding love.” Give me a damned break. I watched Momma’s Boys for 30-seconds before almost stabbing myself in the eye. Why do viewers give a damn about some of these people on TV? I certainly never will, not now, not anytime in the future; I have never cared for anyone on television reality shows.

So I ask this again: If our generation has one television show to carry over to the next generation, what would it be? When our generation is gone, what will people be watching? Which show will be our New Years Day marathon like The Honeymooners (1955)?

This current age of television is completely mediocre and boring. When I turn my television on 20 years from now, the only good, memorable reality show to come close to what I would want to watch would have to be: nothing. I haven’t got a clue because I already forgot which shows were worth watching. I don’t think any shows have made it long enough to be kept for future rerun consideration. In all seriousness, I haven’t turned on my television to watch a show since the Momma’s Boys incident. My next attempt will be after a much longer break between my cable box and I.

Sources: Wikipedia.org (Longest US Series), TVGuide.com (Top TV Shows), personal disappointing experiences.