Posted on 09/02/2013 6:22:23 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
TV Reality shows have become incredibly popular the past few years. However, some Reality Shows are more real than others. Therefore, rate the TV Reality Shows in terms of how REAL they are.
At the bottom in terms of reality, I have to list "Amish Mafia." Even its name sounds unreal. And even more unreal than the sound of the show title is the show itself. Yeah, like Amish folks are going to pay protection money to Lebanon Levi. The show is soooo unreal as to make the viewer laugh which is why I watched it during the first season. But any relationship at all with reality is pretty much missing.
At the other end of the scale I would rate "Deadliest Catch" as the among the most real of the Reality Shows simply because you can't goof around too much on those boats catching crabs. Too dangerous. Of course, that doesn't mean it is completely real. Anytime you have a camera on people, that fact alone will make them act as a bit different.
My personal favorite TV Reality show is "Storage Wars" in part because I used to do that years ago for a time. Okay, perhaps the storage bins are seeded but I did once buy a bin for just 10 bucks and found a few hundred bucks worth of Black Hills gold jewelry in it. I also like "Storage Wars Texas" but "Storage Wars New York" is unbearable. Not only does the location seem wrong, I just don't like the characters. Is it still on the air?
Finally, some of the shows I have a hard time getting into. Like "Jungle Gold." I mean do you really want to travel all the way to Ghana to lose your shirt to chase dubious gold deals? I just don't get it.
Have only watched a few: First 48, Gold Rush Alaska and Dual Survival (these last two are classic “manufactured crisis” examples).
First 48: Stopped watching as it became too depressing seeing decent people killed by the ferals. I felt the detectives and police were shoveling against the tide.
Gold Rush Alaska: Outraged over the blundering Hoffmans, until I realized it HAD to be for entertainment. NOBODY could be that stupid. (No lead man to check if bridge could take the loaded trucks, running key equipment until it broke, shutting down the operation and waiting for an untried piece of equipment, etc.) Liked some of the crew and the kid, but got sick and tired of the narrator and his phony tensions of “It MIGHT, it COULD” mantra of bad things that never happened.
Dual Survival: Only watched one episode, which IMO, was a masterpiece of contrived danger. It was where they were on a small island and had to swim to a bigger nearby island. OK, I’ll accept the shark danger and that they were probably ferried to with a few yards of the shore, but . . .
1) Made a fire below the high tide mark, then had to scramble to keep the incoming tide from dousing it - by building a small rock and sand dam (???) instead of using a coconut shell to move it inland, as they did later on. Come on.
2) Made a big production of getting water - in an area where it rains from 69 to 178 inches a month - (a squall threatened to put the fire out at one point). Went through a convoluted procedure to turn scuba tanks into a still.
3) At the end of ONE DAY they are rescued by a passing fisherman (cough). No attempt to show techniques for catching fish, opening coconuts, etc.
Maybe some of the other shows were a little more true to life, but as others mentioned, there is no real reality involved, only staged entertainment - except for the above First 48.
I remember years ago reading a book about a horse trader, the claim was made that this man was such a good trader he could leave home in the morning with nothing to trade but a pocket knife and return home the same evening with a fine horse.
My 11 year old grandson loves Searching For Sasquatch. I have watched it with him a few times and I hope my grandson is the age group it is intended for since it is pretty silly.
I have never watched “Pickers”, lol I have two of my own. My daughter and granddaughter love to go picking.
All of the restaurant/bar/hotel reality shows amaze me. If I were an owner they would have to pay me enough to retire to get me to put my business on their shows. Talk about a failing business- who wants to go to a restaurant that had filth/rodent/insect infestation even after a clean-up remodel if it has the same owner? Who would want to go to a hotel that stated they did not even have working fire alarms? Shoddy management is shoddy management and if the owner of the local dine and die or hotel waiting for a fire to crispy everyone closes up and opens a remodeled restaurant/hotel I am still not going.
Siberia
I know. And the worst thing about those restaurant/bar/hotel remodel shows is that they humiliate you so much. I guess that’s why people watch. I saw one yesterday that was like that. Restaurant Impossible. The host just browbeat the guy until he started crying. Again, I guess that’s why people watch.
1. "Iron Chef"
2. "Chopped"
3. "Love It Or List It"
I don't really know why.
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I am repulsed by:
1. "Honey Boo Boo"
I confess that I have never watched the show-I've just seen commercials. It's disgusting.
Is that the David- something show?
While EVERYONE on Hardcore Pawn is worse, I hate the old guy on Pawn Stars.
That whole show is nothing but a promotional gimmick for Gordon Ramsay Enterprises. He's an ass, his show is fake, and his "help" is about as useful as a wet match.
Most Real: Duck Dynasty.
Least Real: The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Yes, David Tutera, the fairy wedding designer. I love seeing the clothes and the amazing décor. It doesn’t make me wish I’d had a different wedding, but I would like to be a guest at one of his blowouts!
He’s very talented, and he seems very sweet. I watched his show for a while, but then found that I was up to date. I should check in to see if there is anything new.
Netflix just added a new season on streaming video. He does seem very kind-hearted, and he really wants to design gorgeous weddings ... for these people with absolutely no taste! As a mother, I really feel the pain of trying to do something good for people who insist on doing the wrong thing no matter what.
I too really like the show but use Google Earth to look at their land. They’re just to the east of Homer, Alaska and live on Kilcher Road (of course!).
The area is not 1/10 as isolated as they make it appear on the show. They could be in downtown Homer at McDonalds in about a ten-fifteen minute drive. No need to go 60 miles across rugged terrain on a snowmobile to ice fish some small trout when a Fillet-o-Fish is 15 miles away...
Still, I like watching it. Even bought season 1 on Amazon prime.
The Singer Jewel is Atz’s daughter, did you know?
I agree with you but I do think most people believe at least part of it so it is sure bad PR for the owner. I hope they are well paid.
I’m not sure it qualifies as a reality show but my very favorite food show has to be “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.” Just saw the show about Houston and I am dying for some of that locally raised Kobe beef that was featured. Andrew ate it sushi style sans cooking.
Exactly, where else can you get totally humiliated in front of millions and get bad PR for your business at the same time? I hope they are well paid but it would not be worth it to me.
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