Posted on 06/24/2008 1:08:31 PM PDT by Renfield
Maybe you thought reality TV hit the lowest of the low when "Fear Factor" contestants devoured cockroaches, or when gold diggers paraded their wares in hopes of marrying a millionaire, or when Tila Tequila got a second shot at "love" with 10 guys and 10 girls.
Those shows look like "Masterpiece Theater" compared to what's coming.
Take, for instance, "Hurl," an eating-and-regurgitating competition in which contestants gorge themselves on everything from chicken pot pies to peanut butter sandwiches, then get strapped into spinning contraptions -- whoever vomits last wins....
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Well it’s not like it takes much for them to be financially viable. That’s why the networks like them. No actors, few writers, fewer directors. An entire season of Survivor (one of the more expensive reality shows because of the prize money and travel) costs about as much as one episode of Friends its last few seasons. Easy to be profitable then.
Some of the Japanese endurance shows are more about sadistic delight in torturing the contestants than in putting them through any real danger.
I’m reminded of a Japanese program that was hosted by Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Comedy Ultra Quiz show) “he had a busload of losing contestants lowered into the ocean by a large crane. An underwater camera filmed the desperate contestants clawing at the windows, while Takeshi, safe on shore, cackles with roguish delight” Shilling, The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture.
Isn't that the weight-loss commercial with Larry the Cable Guy?
-PJ
I absolutely LOVED Idiocracy!!!! I think the funniest part was the football player and the three hoochies he grabbed at the football game. After a phrase something like “I’m gonna do all three of you”, the picture popups of the family tree grew almost exponentially. Meanwhile the high IQ couple were relegated to blaming each other for no baby..... Great Movie...
Well, those shows dont reflect my reality.
Sorry. Don't follow what you're saying.
Have you seen Human Tetris? The first few made a pretense of having it winnable...the last few clips I saw, I don’t think a gymnast could’ve beaten tho.
If you go watch, keep an eye on the guy with the coke-bottle glasses...he’s a scream.
The ONLY reality show ever made that was worth watching was Junkyard Wars.
Michael Palin is a comic genius. Think I’ll watch some MPFC tapes tonight!!
What does that mean? I asked you yesterday but you didn't have the courtesy to respond. So I'll ask again, what does that mean?
For the record, when a post of mine is criticized in an ad hominen way, I feel obliged to explain and/or defend it. But in this case, I can't. Your criticism is incoherent. Now you can take your ball and go home and call yourself the winner or you can muster up the courtesy to explain your criticism. Your call.
Flycatcher
Mrs. RB and I love the soup Joel is funny. and he watches that crap so we don’t have too.
I don't know, there has to be a limit to the amount of gross-out, sexual perversion, and life-ruining that can be done on television. I guess once we have "Darwin Awards: The Game Show" we have hit rock bottom.
Hasn’t “Reality” TV been rock bottom already. Reality TV is a misnomer. They are just game shows.
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