Guilty pleasure confession: last week I stumbled onto episodes from the current season of The Real World (it's called Skeletons--apparently they've done away with the geographic subtitles?) and started watching. To be clear, I was a Real World watcher from way, way back. I think I didn't see the first season in real time--didn't have cable then, probably?--but I was solid watcher for many years, though I stopped somewhere a long time back. And it occurred to me as I was watching that both The Real World and Survivor are showing their 30th (!!) seasons, which is, frankly, CRAZY! (How am I this old?)
And noteworthy, no matter what your thoughts are on reality TV as a genre. Because, in many ways, for better and for worse, these two shows were the trendsetters, the pioneers of the mode. For all we now grouse that reality TV is about as "real" as faux fur, that first season of The Real World was ground breaking television. We're going to take a relatively diverse bunch of twenty-somethings and stick them together in a house without any responsibilities, turn on the cameras, and see what happens...? It could have been a disaster; it almost was. But it was also compelling, if far too laden with swearing for my taste (although now that first season seems positively demure in comparison to what gets said by your average Housewife or Next Top Model or resident of the Big Brother house). And Survivor took all that, tossed out most of the "real," threw in a million dollars, and upped the ante, spawning its own raft of the Biggest and Amazing Top Projects that followed.
And I have to say, I actually do like quite a lot of reality TV. It's funny, though, because I think I like it most now because it's the kind of mindless but still entertaining something I can have on in the background of my life without really paying that much attention. Some people listen to music; I put on the latest episode of...whatever happens to be available.
This week, as I said, what was available was the 30th season of The Real World. And can I just say I was shocked, SHOCKED to see how much things have changed? Long, long ago, the series went out of its way to avoid showing the cameras and production staff, trying to maintain the illusion of objectivity and distance you will now recognize from every reality show that has followed. Now, however, the cameras and the operators themselves are in the shots all the time. I feel like the cameras practically have their own story lines! No more editing out the parts during which the housemates talk about the cameras. Oh no, we are leaving that all in there now. And during "confessionals," we no longer keep up the ruse that these folks are just talking to the camera all alone. Oh no, now we hear the producer, complete with subtitles in case we can't hear her (and most often so far it's a her), asking pointed, leading questions of the person in question. In fact, it appears that the roommates have a bat line directly to the producers and so far they've talked to them at least once per episode. What the heck? (Again, I feel so old!)
And I saw this happening long ago, back when I was a regular watcher, but apparently now the only people who are interested in being on The Real World are all exhibitionist binge drinkers with anger management issues and loose morals, so watching them really isn't all that entertaining since they all manage to blow up, run around naked, get drunk, and make out or sleep with someone in the FIRST 48 HOURS so that's why they have added this season's twist to spice things up: periodically, someone from their past, usually someone they hate, will appear at the door to play roommate for a while, sending them all into a tizzy and generally creating new drama every couple of days. Wait, what now? All this blatantly contrived insanity kind makes you long for the tried and true, stable Survivor formula that has moved forward basically unchanged since the show began! To be honest, now I like the competition shows the best, particularly Project Runway and Top Chef in all their iterations. My boys like Survivor because of the challenges and the shots of wildlife, and I like The Voice because most of the singing in actually good, and Adam Levine is one of my new favorite people. In most of these, you really only have to pay attention to the last 10-15 minutes of the show when the judging/runway/immunity council takes place, which is efficient television watching at its best!
Now shhhh, someone's ex-girlfriend is knocking on the door, that green dress is really not so fierce, and I want to see how many chairs turn around!
And noteworthy, no matter what your thoughts are on reality TV as a genre. Because, in many ways, for better and for worse, these two shows were the trendsetters, the pioneers of the mode. For all we now grouse that reality TV is about as "real" as faux fur, that first season of The Real World was ground breaking television. We're going to take a relatively diverse bunch of twenty-somethings and stick them together in a house without any responsibilities, turn on the cameras, and see what happens...? It could have been a disaster; it almost was. But it was also compelling, if far too laden with swearing for my taste (although now that first season seems positively demure in comparison to what gets said by your average Housewife or Next Top Model or resident of the Big Brother house). And Survivor took all that, tossed out most of the "real," threw in a million dollars, and upped the ante, spawning its own raft of the Biggest and Amazing Top Projects that followed.
And I have to say, I actually do like quite a lot of reality TV. It's funny, though, because I think I like it most now because it's the kind of mindless but still entertaining something I can have on in the background of my life without really paying that much attention. Some people listen to music; I put on the latest episode of...whatever happens to be available.
This week, as I said, what was available was the 30th season of The Real World. And can I just say I was shocked, SHOCKED to see how much things have changed? Long, long ago, the series went out of its way to avoid showing the cameras and production staff, trying to maintain the illusion of objectivity and distance you will now recognize from every reality show that has followed. Now, however, the cameras and the operators themselves are in the shots all the time. I feel like the cameras practically have their own story lines! No more editing out the parts during which the housemates talk about the cameras. Oh no, we are leaving that all in there now. And during "confessionals," we no longer keep up the ruse that these folks are just talking to the camera all alone. Oh no, now we hear the producer, complete with subtitles in case we can't hear her (and most often so far it's a her), asking pointed, leading questions of the person in question. In fact, it appears that the roommates have a bat line directly to the producers and so far they've talked to them at least once per episode. What the heck? (Again, I feel so old!)
And I saw this happening long ago, back when I was a regular watcher, but apparently now the only people who are interested in being on The Real World are all exhibitionist binge drinkers with anger management issues and loose morals, so watching them really isn't all that entertaining since they all manage to blow up, run around naked, get drunk, and make out or sleep with someone in the FIRST 48 HOURS so that's why they have added this season's twist to spice things up: periodically, someone from their past, usually someone they hate, will appear at the door to play roommate for a while, sending them all into a tizzy and generally creating new drama every couple of days. Wait, what now? All this blatantly contrived insanity kind makes you long for the tried and true, stable Survivor formula that has moved forward basically unchanged since the show began! To be honest, now I like the competition shows the best, particularly Project Runway and Top Chef in all their iterations. My boys like Survivor because of the challenges and the shots of wildlife, and I like The Voice because most of the singing in actually good, and Adam Levine is one of my new favorite people. In most of these, you really only have to pay attention to the last 10-15 minutes of the show when the judging/runway/immunity council takes place, which is efficient television watching at its best!
Now shhhh, someone's ex-girlfriend is knocking on the door, that green dress is really not so fierce, and I want to see how many chairs turn around!
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