On Tuesday at 11pm we talk about things that aren’t video games, but I’ve decided to give it a name, instead of being all vague about it (I probably should have done this to begin with). That name is Off Topic. Today I have a question for you, and I’d like you to be honest! Who watches reality TV?
The above video has been doing the rounds on my Facebook. I was all set to blast everyone and call them a dummy for watching X-Factor, but then I remembered that I totally watched that new Don’t Tell The Bride show while I was eating my dinner last night. So yeah, I got off my high horse pretty quickly…
I actually think some reality TV isn’t all that bad. I sort of enjoyed The Amazing Race for the first two seasons. And every now and then I get caught up in one of the Karaoke competitions!
I’m not proud of myself, but yeah. I have watched reality TV.
What about you guys?
I used to work on Big Brother, so I've got a soft spot for it in my heart. (Haven't watched the new one, though.) I like The Amazing Race too, about the only reality show I watch these days. The quality of a season is always dependent on the contestants, though.
Big Brother in the early years (2001-2003?) wasn't so embarassing to watch because we had relatively normal people not generally making a ridiculous fool of themselves on TV. Nowadays, I feel this country's taste in tv shows has gone down the drain. The problem however lies in whether it's the tv channels that are to blame or the viewers (excluding me) who watching this crap?
I am also ex BB. Maybe we should start a support group?
Seriously though, its the same old, watched the first episode to see how Nine might re-invent the format, but it is the same thing that has been done to death for 8 seasons already. Every time a season comes around they promise everything will be different, and every time it is exactly the same. I am annoyed by this because a few years ago it ran the show into the ground and put me out of a job.
I think there was a Facebook support group a few years back. :P
I watch it when i'm at work since I'm a Tax Agent and need something to listen to while mindlessly doing data entry and ninemsn is probably the only place I can think of where I can stream videos without risking viruses etc, but when I'm on my own time I rarely watch TV.
"ninemsn is probably the only place I can think of where I can stream videos without risking viruses etc"
lolwut. Aside from every major channel having a streaming service of equal, or in the case of SBS and ABC, superior quality. I can say with some degree of confidence that it is not the case that every person that logs onto youtube comes away with a hardrive full of malware. So you can watch what ever you want, or continue to make excuses about why you watch god awful television.
Not the slightest bit interested in it. My wife doesn't mind shows like The Biggest Loser, and she's a fan of Bridezillas and Ace of Cakes, if you can call those reality shows (I guess you can), but yeah I avoid it if at all possible, especially talent shows. The one thing that annoys me the most about the talent shows them is that they almost purely focus on singing and voice talent. A a musician that's not necessarily a singer myself, I'd probably watch them if they actually focused on creating a real band, finding guitarists/drummers etc in addition to vocalists, or perhaps have bands that were formed independently and have been together a while facing off against each other.
Then again, I don't watch a lot of TV to begin with apart from a few select shows and some sport.
"talent shows them" should just be "talent shows" and "A a musician" should be "As a musician".
Leave me alone, it's 11am and I'm tired.
My life isn't uneventful enough that I need to watch someone else live out a fake life #condescend
Oh whoa, I hate that show but geez thatr girl has a great voice. Needs to run away from that show though and do her own thing.
I watch competition reality tv shows, like survivor and big brother. You get more interested in how the game is being played rather than how big of an idiot the producers can find.
Very rarely. If i do though it's usually to give me a little bit of a pick me up be seeing all the nuff nuff's out there in the world and thinking 'well it could be worse, i could be that!'.
I went right to the bottom of the cess-pool and watched season 1 of FLAVOR OF LOVE, then ROCK OF LOVE. And I watch Jersey Shore because my gf has it all on DVD. It is suprisingly entertaining, but I totally understand why people would hate it if they didn't know the people's personalities.
I watched one and a half seasons of Rock of Love. It was like one of those fabled train-wrecks you can't look away from.
Sometimes I'll watch Amazing Race or Master Chef but other than that I'm not really a fan of reality tv. A lot of the concepts they're built around bore me, such as the new Don't Tell the Bride (which I also think is an amazingly sexist show to have in 2012). I wouldn't mind watching the singing or dancing in shows like Idol or so you think you can dance but I hate all the boring stuff inbetween the singing and dancing, the rehearsals, the contestants talking about their relationships etc, and I hate the judging.
If they got rid of the judges and cut back on all the filler between the performances I'd be much happier to watch the shows.
My family gets together and watches Masterchef a lot. It's a bit rubbish but we have fun ridiculing everything most of the time, because we are horrible people. Otherwise, I don't watch much TV at all, much less reality TV.
I dont mind masterchef. I'm not overly interested in the reality tv aspect, but damn. that food...
That was pretty hilarious, she sang better then all 4 of them put together.
I don't watch a lot of TV altogether let alone reality tv.
Shows like Big Brother or The Shire (if that is reality) are disgraceful because they seem to celebrate idiots. I might sit through something like Master Chef on occasion because I like cooking. I also don't mind watching the final episode of Biggest Loser because I like seeing how much they have changed, but generally don't watch the series because it's mostly fat people crying.
Masterchef is the only I would watch.
I usually end up having MasterChef on in the background when it's on but that's all the "Reality" TV I can stand. Most of the time I'm trying to work out all the tricks and techniques they're using to try and subvert your expectations, manipulate your emotions and try and make you care about the contestants. It's sad that at one point it was about the food, then it just became about who cried the most.
Worst trend on tv at the moment is an over-saturation of talent shows.
Australian Idol, Australias got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice, Young Talent Time... too many shows showcasing not enough talent.
Other reality tv, like Border Security, Bondi Rescue... I dont see the appeal.
Then theres the real tripe ilke Big Brother & The Shire (reality is relative in this case). Just rubbish.
Unless sports count, no.
My co-workers on the other hand seem to think that the actions of the contestants on these shows are some of the most important events they've ever witnessed. I remember hearing in my infancy about watercooler gossip. People gathering away from their desks to discuss the events of the latest Seinfeld episode and whatnot.
I didn't realise how annoying it was when people came to your desk (or the desk of someone nearby) to talk about these things.
I used to dislike celebrity gossip when I was unemployed. Now I loathe it because I actually hear it.
The inability of Australian tv to produce anything BUT reality television is pretty much why I gave up on it all together and now just download my tv shows (mainly HBO/AMC). I haven’t even bothered to buy an antenna cord for my tv. The only "exception" is that I stream ABC iView and SBS on demand for news/documentaries.
We watch Masterchef with the kids.
And then when the kids are in bed if we need to watch something light we'll watch Top Chef or Top Shot.
Top Shot is probably my favourite reality show, mostly for the slo-mo shots of bullets exploding things. It's one of those elimination reality shows, but for marksmen so they get to play with a whole bunch of different weapons.
And since I started learning how to sew, I've been watching Project Runway as well. I am unashamed in my love for that show.
I think as I get older and more weighed down with my responsibilities, I tend to enjoy just switching off my brain and watching reality shows a bit more often. I find people who demonise reality shows as the death of great TV to be a bit silly, really. There's no shortage of great TV, in fact these days there seems to be more amazing TV shows than ever. So I definitely do not feel guilty for watching reality shows, like many people seem to think I should.
Yes! Top Shot is the best!
And generally (because they do play with weapons) you don't really have insane people on the show so it's really more about the awesome challenges and weapons. Most of the time everyone is a good sport as well and while you might get nominated for personality conflicts if you're the best shot (or the luckiest shot) you can still get out of danger and potentially win.
And I agree about your comments about Reality TV, obviously some of it is atrocious and need to be killed with fire, but most of it is just fun. While I love serious shows, sometimes I just need to turn off my brain for a bit and that's where reality TV comes in. And I refuse to feel bad about that.
The only reality tv I watch is sport. Unscripted and unedited. If it's not live I don't watch it.
Live sport is fantastic.
I love "Turtle Man" and "Swamp People". Am not sure though how much reality TV they are <._.>ppp
Reality shows ROCK!!
Its about the only time where my wife wants me to piss off and play video games. (generally so I stop bitching about her shows)
Not me.
I loved Battle Royal. That's my fave reality show.
Class Of...
...was not as bad as I thought it'd be. I'm not going to watch it again, becasue I work there. But based on the first episode, it's more of a documentry than a 'reality' show. & thats not a bad thing.
The Amazing race has been the only reality tv show that has managed to keep my interest beyond two seasons.
I watched the first few seasons of the apprentice, but it became clear soon into the second that there would not be much variation from season to season, and that it wasn't a show where the contestants themselves could make a big difference in the quality of the show.