| Reality
TV: Just a fad or here to stay? |
| Posted: August 1st, 2002 |
| By:
Colin Coates |
 |
One would either have to be deaf and blind or
stranded on some remote island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
(email Jade for precise coordinates) , not to be swept up by the recent
wave of reality television show. Shows like Big Brother and Survivor
have gripped the nation and sent viewer ratings crashing through the
roof. Do you think reality TV has lost the plot or are you a die-hard
reality TV addict? |
Shocking as it may seem to some, reality TV is
the all new craze on the box. In the past few years television has
become something that we make rather than just watch.
Big Brother, Survivor, Fear Factor, Eden, Temptation Island, Bar Wars,
The Mole and even Pop Idol are just a few reality TV shows that just
roll off the tongues of people from all social backgrounds. Reality
TV is the new buzzword and that was confirmed on the last day of Big
Brother 3 when Channel 4 left the BBC and ITV trailing in the ratings
as a record 9.9 million people tuned in to watch 22-year-old IT consultant,
Kate become the first woman to win the show.
It also broke its previous record of votes with a staggering 8.5 million
votes cast on the final night alone. That’s a hell of a lot of phone
calls and text messages. A further measure of how big it is can be
found all over the Internet.
I performed a search for ‘Reality TV’ and 1,650,000 documents were
found that matched my search on one search engine alone. The figures
understandingly baffled the critics, who relentlessly embarked on
a long-term vociferous campaign of disgust against the show and its
viewers.
TV viewers are captivated
No matter what anyone says about reality TV, there is something intriguing
about watching these kinds of shows. The idea of watching the lives
of ordinary people unfolding before the viewer's eyes is without question,
a spectacle of immense interest. Its drama without the script. And
its real life.
The celebrities have been demoted and in step the everyday people,
men and women just like you and me. The rewards for the participants
differ in amounts, depending on what show it is, but the 15 minutes
of fame for everyday people as predicted by Andy Warhol back in the
day is now obsolete. Participants or half-wits, as some branches of
the media describe them walk into these shows a nobody and come out
a celebrity even if they don’t win.
This reality TV thing is BIG! Not just here but all over the world.
Even celebrities are beginning to fight back to win back the hearts
of the viewers by succumbing to the call of reality TV.
In the US the anarchic British rock star Ozzy Osbourne has got America
glued to their TV sets watching his wacky version of in your face
non-rehearsed television in MTV’s hit show ‘The Osbourne’s’ and his
hilarious antics have even got him invited to meet George Bush at
the White House.
Don’t be too surprised if our very own Tony Blair is seen entertaining
Jade at Number 10 Downing for a lesson on how to be a two-faced liar
with little knowledge of what’s happening around you and have the
nation love you for it. She might even make his day and inform him
that Westminster is town in Washington DC.
Media assasination
Jade was probably the final straw for the critics and the haters. The way she was being treated by the media was a serious cause of concern. People were suggesting that when she come out of the house and finds out what has been said and written about her, it could cause her to have a break down or even worse commit suicide. The critics finally had their motive for their dislike of reality TV shows and they did have a point.
The moment Jade decided to give the country a lesson in geography, it was execution day everyday from that moment onwards and the noose was firmly fastened around her neck. The tabloid press and even channel 4’s own Graham Norton show showed no mercy to the young dental nurse from South East London as they ripped her to shreds whenever they could. The poor girl couldn’t even blink without provoking journalists to pull out their note pads and pens.
The ridiculing of participants was a contentious issue and it has added further fuel to the fire that says reality TV shows will one day end with a big bang and even leave some TV stations starring down the barrel of litigations from people who claim their life has been ruined by appearing on their show. That’s neither here nor there. A law suit is hardly going to dampen the demand for reality TV shows, so TV stations will simply carry on producing them but they will just hire more lawyers to cover their back.
Give me a piece of the action
The BBC is one television broadcaster that is yet to swallow the mysterious
red pill, opting to remain in the matrix and shunning real life for
a fantasy world of low-budget dramas. However, the BBC have shown
symptoms of reality TV fever lately and it seems as though they are
testing the water and hoping that regulatory bodies and organisations
that scrutinise their every move won’t blow the roof of television
centre, furious that license payers money is being used for such ‘Bad
quality programming’ and threaten to pull the plug.
The BBC is currently broadcasting their own version of reality TV,
which hasn’t exactly got the nation chin wagging. Its called ‘Life
of Grime’ and is an informative documentary/fly on the wall/reality
TV show, which follows groups of council workers from Salford around
the town as they grime bust the littered streets and fix holes in
the street. A feeble and cheap attempt at testing the water by the
BBC but there are signs that they will one day swallow the red pill
if just to keep up with the ratings of other stations.
If the BBC does take the plunge they will have to raid the vaults
because audience-captivating reality TV shows don’t come cheap, despite
what you might think.
Shows like Big Brother and Survivor are programs that a lot of work
has gone into. They might not have to pay some swellheaded celebrities
or actors ludicrous amounts of money for their time, but beaming live
pictures to the nation seven days a week and 24 hours a day on the
internet for a straight nine weeks or transporting a whole film crew
and 12 contestants to a faraway island in the middle of nowhere is
a project only affordable by those with very deep pockets.
You decide
So where do we go from here? The only way that reality TV shows will cease to exist is if we all decide to switch off and refuse to watch. In the short term, demand for reality TV will probably increase but who knows what will happen in the distant future. What do you think about reality TV? Is it just a passing fad or is it here to stay? YOU DECIDE! |
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