Unreality of Reality TV
Okay, so I got the scoop on what it's like being on a gameshow from my friends and what can I say? Call me totally naive but EVERYTHING is staged. Down to the friendly banter between contestant and host. Even the reaction of the spouse sitting in the audience is directed by the show. They say "we need more jumping, more excitement in the way you shout your joy" or "we need you to tell your significant other that you're disappointed in his performance." I kid you not! They were feeding my friend lines during the show. Also, when asked (before the show began) what they'd do if they won the big bucks, they replied that they would donate a portion to their church and charities. The producers told them that they couldn't say that because it was not good TV. Didn't they want to do something more fun, like take the family on a yearlong vacation? WTF???? I can understand keeping some things scripted because you don't want the host to have too many surprises and ruin the take. But come on people??? It's a freakin' gameshow. Why can't someone say what they really want to do with the money? And why can't it be something positive? I know as sure as I'm sitting here typing this that if my friend said she was getting a boob job, it would've been kept in. Hell, it would've been in all the TV trailers. I can't even imagine how much is staged on the "so-called" reality TV show. Ugh!!!
posted by J.T. Bock at 10:40 PM
4 Comments:
HAH, and thus the reason I don't WATCH TV....it's all about the scripting and what makes good television.
On the flip side...COOL that she even got anywhere NEAR being on TV! :D
Well, you can't scrap ALL TV shows. :P
Yeah, everything's staged, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with Lost and Heroes and Battlestar (for example) and those shows that aren't "reality-based." (and I use this term very loosely) Though I have to admit that some have sucked me in on occasion because of the train wreck factor. Sad, but true. On the plus side, I've actually gotten some story ideas from some TV shows and some of my favorite authors use it to find inspiration for how their characters look or talk or even act. Like everything, it has it time and place and too much can be hazardous to your brain.
I tried hard to watch reality TV once. Way back when. But when I started thinking about what hits the editing room floor and how much they screw around with the leftover tape, I figure what's the point. I can probably get more reality TV by watching Judge Judy, the the nightly news, or Sponge Bob Squarepants.
Yeah Sponge Bob! He totally rocks! Or is that floats ...?
I look at The Real World on MTV and it's like, let's get as many different TYPE A personalities together into one home and give them loads of alcohol and find out what happens. And you know we're seeing the worse and people act out for the camera. I just pray that most of those people on reality TV are exaggerated, because if not then this world is scarier than I imagined.
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