[Old Sarge]

1) They are not ‘reality’. Agreed.
2) They are contrived and scripted. Agreed.
3) They are way outside the norm on advertising with respect to content vs. advertising. Agreed.
4) Complete waste of time. Not necessarily.

Many "reality" shows are prime examples of how NOT to behave or operate.

For example, I point and laugh at many episodes of "Doomsday Preppers" (which The Bride and I refer to as "Doomsday Attention Whores"). Occasionally, we have a "Gee-I-Didn't-Think-Of-That" moment, but the amount of offal you have to plow through to find the nuggets is daunting.

[RedMonqey]

What I don’t get about “Doomsday Preppers” is they’ve on TV....

Telling everyone and their brother....

About their....

“Secret stashes”...

I’m know where my “doomsday stash” is(racks shotgun)

[Gaffer]

I look at those “prepper” shows as a future “coupon” store where you can get free shit with the right implements. First rule...never tell anyone what you have, never brag or advertise....

The most ridiculous show I’ve seen this season is that contrived “Castle” show... horseshit.