Comments on: “Reality TV”

By: bowser

bowser — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:30:38 +0000

I really enjoy the “How Stuff Works” kind of program. Those can be fascinating, and I’ve learned a lot.

Some of the reality programs could be interesting. Gold mining, trucking, fishing would be just fine, but trying to stretch those out into a series with not so attractive characters was a mistake. It’s not there, I don’t give a rip about immature kids wanting to captain boats or their overbearing fathers yelling at them.

The Kardashian and Osbourne kind of shows I’ve never watched, don’t know anyone who has, and can’t imagine there being an interest. And I’m one who enjoys watching people like Charlie Sheen collapse and burn, not averse to following the more elaborate salacious meltdowns.

I think the Gosselin-type shows define the bottom line of US culture, sort of like looking at the magazines in the grocery store check-out lines. It is impossible to believe that anyone buys those rags, and impossible to believe they don’t.

By: ER

ER — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:16:41 +0000

Not really reality TV, it documents a real curiosities shop in Manhattan, its eccentric owners and its even more eccentric clientele.
The show has also spawned a San Francisco franchise, but I’ve never seen it.

The people are fascinating and the merchandise really bizarre, but I’m convinced its legit. Occasionally they deal with something I actually know something about, and they get it right.

And for some reason I really can’t quite wrap my head around, I find myself strangely attracted to Evan Michelson, a gothy, steampunky lady
who is one of the owners.

She’s well…interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddities_(TV_series)

By: Jody

Jody — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 03:43:58 +0000

Thanks for posting this Tom. I knew all of this because my son outed Fuck Dynasty back a couple of months ago, on Facebook, with a similar link.

THAT is the travesty of all things: NOTHING is what it seems.

However, to be fair…the Phil Shrill did give me a thrill .. It outed the holier than thou paranoid Christian literalist Bible thumping assholes on Facebook. My youngest brother included.

I am fed up to my sagging neck skin with people forcing their reality on me.

By: FrankC

FrankC — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 03:01:55 +0000

In the crab and ice road shows they create some exciting situations but somewhere in all that there are people doing an actual job.

Other popular reality shows that I have watched are Pawn Stars and Storage Wars. Pawn Stars started out showing what goes on in a Las Vegas pawn shop and Storage Wars was about bidding on storage lockers in California.

There is no reality left in either of those shows. The participants are just bad actors playing a scripted part with the particulars of the businesses involved having little to do with the show,

It is ridiculous. I was interested in objects pawned and objects salvaged from storage lockers but I have no interest in the participants as celebrities.