RobGrizzly  06/26/08

Deadliest Catch!
Lol. Well said.

I agree with your sentiments. I hate American Idol. I don't hate Dancing with the Stars, but I do hate the obsession over the show (b-list celebs who already have money and fame, so what is the point of winning?) And don't get me started on America's Got Talent...All these ratings should be going to Lost.

But I must confess, I am a sucker for So You Think You Can Dance. It's a well put together competition show that doesn't pander to the idiot mass. You either have what it takes, or you don't. Plenty of variety, insightful critiques, hot girls, and sick choreography. They should win Emmys for this stuff.

Rose Tyler  06/26/08

Deadliest Catch is a great show. I never thought crab fishing would be so interesting but I turn in every week without fail.

jersey_jen  06/26/08

I know this wasnt a blog on Deadliest Catch - but it IS a great reality show. My husband is a big fan of the show & told me how good it was & that I should give it a shot. I did & now I love it, too. At least it's an intelligent reality show.
I agree about the fact that it's sad that America is soo stuck on reality TV. However, I happen to be one of the many fans of the more "prominent" reality shows - like Survivor, The Amazing Race, Top Chef, Big Brother, Hell's Kitchen, America's Next Top Model, and Last Comic Standing. (Wow - I'm a fan of more reality shows than I realized!) I consider myself an intelligent person & I do agree that scripted TV is more interseting & thought provoking, but I'm not going to apologise for enjoying some of the"guilty pleasure" reality shows. I'm dont think that reality shows are responsible for screw up's or car wrecks (get off your damn cell phone's people!), but I agree that giving up reality shows wouldnt hurt anything. If they all went off the air tomarro I wouldnt shed a tear - but as long as theyre on - I dont think there's anything wrong with vegging out in front of the TV after a long day & watching some mindless TV along with my other more "challenging" fav.'s like Lost, etc. Of course ther are some truely assanine shows that I'd NEVER watch - like anything on VH1 or MTV, America's Got Talent (for acting like idiots on national TV), American Idol, or any of those new shows that have come out recently like Wipeout & that one about a Japanese Gameshow. I'd rather gouge my eyes out.
After all that, I guess I have mixed feelings about reality shows. But please dont judge me for the ones I do watch. To each their own.

double_agent  06/26/08

Jersey Jen:
I absolutely don't judge people if they watch reality shows. I just despise the shows themselves. To each their own.

t3hdow  06/26/08

First off, I wouldn't exactly call 24 a complex, thought provoking show. If anything, it's a wonderfully constructed thriller with enough well developed characters to offset its occasional ridiculousness (at least in the better seasons). It's a fun action show to watch and talk about, but not necessarily one that invites indepth discussion, like Lost, The Wire and Battlestar Galactica.

Anyway, reality TV is fine with me, as long as:
a) it's a somewhat competitive show, not including American Idol, dancing competitions and ambiguous talent shows (I spite all three)
b) it's not on MTV (True Life is still good though) or Vh1 (despite my enjoyment with Celebrity Fit Club and the White Rapper Show)
c) it doesn't have the word 'love' in the title

loglady  06/27/08

i really don't think that you can lump all reality shows together...as these comments have shown there are plenty of people out there who watch widely varying shows....i would never lump all scripted shows together, so why do that for reality shows?

24 is not 30 rock. Lost is not The Office. We all know they're different. Just as Top Chef is not Wipeout. American Idol is not Rock/Flavor/Shot at Love.

Point being there are reality shows that involve talent, actual talent that I'll generalize and state that most of us here don't possess (idol, sytycd, top chef) t
here are shows that possess talents that none of us will admit we have (this is where shows like fear factor or other stupid talent shows fit).
there are shows that has a modicum of talent involved (ANTM, deadliest catch, ax men, ice road truckers etc) i.e. shows that we all "could do" but really, we can't...i'm certainly not pretty enough nor burly enough, nor daring enough to be on those shows.
there are docu-reality shows (true life is the prime example and as much as real world has fallen off, it's there as well, as well as intervention, and the other A&E shows)
and lastly there is the garbage...many of those shows really aren't good, mainly there for the ridicule of others...i can agree with you dismissal of these shows.

after all this silly blathering on my part, my whole point summed up is that, don't just judge a book by it's cover...not all reality is created equally....

Salemskeeper  06/27/08

Lol. So we all LOVE The Deadliest Catch!!! What a show!
Problem is you can't put all reality shows in the same category. That's saying shows like "I Love New York" are on the same level as "deadliest Catch". That's just not true. There's the shows that want to make people famous, rich, in love, married, or with a new job. "Top Chef" wouldn't stand next to "Survivor" would it?
To say all reality shows suck is too broad a statement. It's true there are WAY too many out there, & A LOT are pure crap, but there are some juicy gems out there!

double_agent  06/28/08

I disagree. I believe that, other than most discovery channel programming, many reality shows are eerily similar. I split them into two groups: the competitions, and the ridiculous dramas. Most reality competitions, a la Hell's kitchen, Top Chef, SYTYCD, etc. are all shaped from the exact formulas from Survivor and American Idol. Basically, same show, different people and setting. The winner, I think, is picked very early on. Ridiculous dramas are any reality shows on MTV/VH1 (The Hills, etc.) and some rare idiocies among normal networks, a la Big Brother. Two shows that fall into both categories are Top Model and Proj. Runway. I get those confused all the time. Which one has Tyra Banks? Ridiculous dramas are where you put bad actors/actresses in erotic sitches and watch what they do with your script. These are successful because some people (more than we think, I think) watch just in case a scene of hardcore lesbian sex somehow gets through the censors. I'm not accusing you all of that stereotype, but that may be one reason Big Brother is still on the air. My point is, you CAN put them all together! They all have scripts (bad ones, at that.)and they all have the same idea. Believe it or not, I watched American Idol at one time, but was fed up at seeing all of the best and most popular singers lose (LeToya London) to someone levels below them. In my opinion, reality shows are cheap ways to get ratings and fill timespots, rather than pay all that money and take all of that time to create a truly imaginative and incredible show. Thank God for Lost!

loglady  06/28/08

while i suppose this will go into a never ending debate, perhaps best settled by agreeing to disagree, i think it is important to note that there are, even in your world, two different types of reality, actually three even in your world...

i don't think that you can exclude the discovery based reality as being somehow more real than those on other networks. yes....i will always agree 100% w/you that winners do tend to be chosen early one and the "script" does follow that, but clearly as this season of idol has proven (up to a point) the favorite doesn't always prevail, not to mention that survivor can in no way shape or form fall into that category, because it really is out of the hands of the producers...

i really can go on and on at length about this subject (don't worry, i'll spare you all!) but there will always be more than one "reality" choose to hate all of them if you will, but don't lump them (or fans of some reality shows) all into one stupid/moronic/unaware group...

Rose Tyler  06/29/08

Ok here's a big difference between the Discovery Channel reality based television and most of the rest. I usually learn something, something interesting, something worthwhile. I come away slightly better for it, not just entertained.

double_agent  06/29/08

Excellent point!!!! You know exactly what I'm talking about, Rose!

Salemskeeper  06/30/08

Good point. Just b/c I watch The Deadliest Ctach though, I don't watch that new show Black Gold from same producers. There are some reality shows I rufuse to watch: Project Runway, Shear Genius, Groomer Has It, Survivor, Amazing Race, Farmer Wants a Wife, Bachlor & Bacholerette, Celebrity Circus, Surreal Life, Big Brother...
Yet I love certain reality shows: The Deadliest Catch, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, The Mole... What I consider to be the "quality" shows in this category.

Salemskeeper  06/30/08

Oh yeah-my addiction is Jon & Kate Plus Eight

loglady  06/30/08

wow salem...you've found a reality show that even i've never heard of (groomer has it) and i honestly thought i knew of them all!!!!

i'm not trying to say that all reality is worthwhile, i'm just saying that you can't lump everything together as being terrible and then go back and pick out the handful that are genuinely good and worthwhile and exclude those shows from a blanket statement like reality television is a drug for the stupid masses....that's all....

i'll be the first to agree that watching the deadliest catch is in no way shape or form equivalent to watching tila tequila, one is really quality tv and the other is...well...what exactly it is i can assure you the filters on these boards won't allow it through!!!

double_agent  06/30/08

Yeah, I've seen Jon and Kate + 8. Great show: they're from around my area. That is something I can definitely stand. (she's a bit of a control freak, though).

Salemskeeper  07/01/08

Ya think??? Lol. They're in same state as me, close to where used to vaca. Tonight she took girls to pottery place to paint. first time she gave up control to let them be messy and she had FUN! lol. Most beautiful kids(leah the littlest is my fav).

double_agent  07/01/08

I like Aidan, the "professor," with his glasses.
I feel so, so bad for Jon. I couldn't survive that.

Salemskeeper  07/02/08

Me too. My hubby & I were joking that Jon will run off somewhere & have to fake his own death to leave Kate. Otherwise he'd be stuck with paying child support for 8 kids! Could you imagine? Takes a special kind of guy to put up with a wife who can treat you like a child. But they love each other & that's always what shows through.