Not in this Reality

This morning, I heard a segment on BBC's World Service radio program which was about the winner of the tv show The Apprentice. It caught me off guard since I was not aware that our very own Donald Trump mega-hit version was also spun-off and has become a very popular UK program. The host interviewed a sociologist who discussed why Sir Alan Sugar made the decision to hire Simon Ambrose. The sociologist discussed why the selection was such a shock to the viewers, media and even to the chosen one- who seemed to be caught off guard.

I have never been a fan of reality television shows. Occasionally, a few come along that peek my interest. However, very few. One of my favorite reality shows is The Amazing Race. But, I am not sure that I would consider that a true reality show? It is almost like a sporting program or tri-athalon spread out over several weeks. Sure, we get to see a camera in everyone's face and watch how the couples deal with unbearable situations. I am beginning to think alot of these little vignettes are staged for dramatic or is traumatic purposes?

Due to peer pressure, I did begin to watch Project Runway and the cooking equivalent which is Top Chef- a popular show that has returned for yet another season of food fighting. There are so many types of reality shows. For those of us who watched the first few seasons of The Real World on MTV, this was reality tv. A bunch of young adults cooped up in a house somewhere on the planet and forced to deal with each other's crap. How real can you get?

Take that show and multiply it over and over, add a few spices and you get a such a mess of spin-offs. Is it Real World #27 this year? It was the Amazing Race 11- does that mean 1 per year? There is a saying "if you build it, they will come" or is it "if you have a hit reality show, do it again and again"?

I could list all the different types of reality shows, but I came up with a better idea by pointing you to the Wiki of reality television programs! Are some on the list considered reality programs? What is reality? According to Webster's the definition of reality is:

1: the quality or state of being real2 a (1): a real event, entity, or state of affairs (2): the totality of real things and events b: something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily3: television programming that features videos of actual occurrences (as a police chase, stunt, or natural disaster) — often used attributively
— in reality : in actual fact

As we see, even the dictionary makes the case for reality TV. Even though it would be unusual to see a reality tv show based on a natural disaster on the FOX Network with Paula Abdul as the host?

Had enough of reality TV? Or are you looking for more more more? How about a show about 6 men who spend several weeks wooing a sexy woman? Sound good? Sorry, that show is already on the list of possible shows that will make even Milo raise an eyebrow.