"But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."-- Newton N. Minow, Federal Communications Commission chairman to the convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, May 9, 1961.
Ole Newt was arguing for more Sesame Street type programming by FedGov, so he wasn't really a good guy. But he was spot-on with this remark, even though he couldn't have even conceived of "reality" programming. Also, what a quaint notion -- "until the station signs off." Not today. Gotta keep pumping out drek 24 x 7.
I always find it quirkily amusing to think about Minow’s 1961 “vast wasteland” statement. Compared to the depths the culture has sunk to nowadays, 1961-television looks like aesthetic nirvana.
As for reality-shows, I’ve never quite cottoned to the contrived nature of the genre. It’s been a barrier for me to really get into any of them, even “Duck Dynasty” to a certain extent. Nonetheless, I’ve gotten genuine laughs from watching “Duck Dynasty”... something that no sitcom or network variety show has given me in well over ten years.
And although the reality show genre presents some of the absolute worst that television offers, it’s also one of the only venues on television (besides reruns of old-time shows like westerns and such) that serves up a little “americana.” Anyway, rather telling that during this whole DD hubbub, NRO sees fit to take the story and springboard it in the direction of a reality-show condemnation, off all things (rolling my eyes).