2008 Woodie Awards
Viewers to blame for downfall in television
Tanya Redinbaugh
Issue date: 9/30/04 Section: Opinion
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Reality TV shows are the end of life as we know it. OK, maybe not life but it's certainly a downfall in the television industry. Who is to blame for this let down...you and me?
Do any of you remember the good old days when you could program your life around the numerous amounts of good quality shows? Well I do and I want them back.
All we have left to remind us of those enchanting days of good family-based television are reruns shown on TV Land and Nick at Nite or video-taped episodes you so wisely kept, not knowing that in years to come the programming on TV would be as value-based as watching a Jerry Springer episode.
This drop off in wholesome television entertainment began when the writers for the networks began retiring and new age writers began throwing out ridiculous ideas such as, "Oh, I know, lets have a competition on TV with real people and watch them live in a house for two months. Then, give them money for cheating and scheming everyone else."
Yes, just what we asked for, a show where we can sit on the couch and watch other people...sit on the couch.
Reality TV shows do offer some concepts to their viewers. I would like to let you in on them because I'm sure you missed them in between commercials for the next reality show to hit the screen and the journey to the fridge to get your next beverage.
On the show Survivor, for instance, people learned how to wear a bandana in five different ways. Who ever knew that reality TV could be so helpful to the fashion world? I didn't.
The Amazing Race helped us conclude that we should never enter competitions with our loved ones. We compete everyday with each other over the last piece of toast or the last coat in your size and that never turns out well, so do yourself a favor and stick to the small issues that don't involve money.
The Real World, in all its glory, offered us many lessons, but I will pick out one. Drum roll please...Public Intoxication is not OK. Countless examples of this are offered on every other episode so watch and learn.
For Love or Money? I know I don't ask myself this question too often but many out there may have to every now and then.
Lesson learned from this show, that tricks both sexes into thinking that each other have a large amount of money but don't, is that if you don't meet them while driving their Bentley through the bank drive through, chances are any mistake you make about their annual income is your own fault and you should pay the repercussions for your blatant mistake.
Last but not least, my personal favorite reality TV show offers the best lesson/concept of all. The Surreal Life, a show full of lunacy and madness, offers one life lesson that can be followed for ages. Don't kiss anyone with gold teeth if you're a big blonde foreign woman.
While we do learn some important lessons from our beloved reality shows, the shows of the past will forever rule the entertainment roost. My question, where are Lucille Ball and Archie Bunker when you need them?
Do any of you remember the good old days when you could program your life around the numerous amounts of good quality shows? Well I do and I want them back.
All we have left to remind us of those enchanting days of good family-based television are reruns shown on TV Land and Nick at Nite or video-taped episodes you so wisely kept, not knowing that in years to come the programming on TV would be as value-based as watching a Jerry Springer episode.
This drop off in wholesome television entertainment began when the writers for the networks began retiring and new age writers began throwing out ridiculous ideas such as, "Oh, I know, lets have a competition on TV with real people and watch them live in a house for two months. Then, give them money for cheating and scheming everyone else."
Yes, just what we asked for, a show where we can sit on the couch and watch other people...sit on the couch.
Reality TV shows do offer some concepts to their viewers. I would like to let you in on them because I'm sure you missed them in between commercials for the next reality show to hit the screen and the journey to the fridge to get your next beverage.
On the show Survivor, for instance, people learned how to wear a bandana in five different ways. Who ever knew that reality TV could be so helpful to the fashion world? I didn't.
The Amazing Race helped us conclude that we should never enter competitions with our loved ones. We compete everyday with each other over the last piece of toast or the last coat in your size and that never turns out well, so do yourself a favor and stick to the small issues that don't involve money.
The Real World, in all its glory, offered us many lessons, but I will pick out one. Drum roll please...Public Intoxication is not OK. Countless examples of this are offered on every other episode so watch and learn.
For Love or Money? I know I don't ask myself this question too often but many out there may have to every now and then.
Lesson learned from this show, that tricks both sexes into thinking that each other have a large amount of money but don't, is that if you don't meet them while driving their Bentley through the bank drive through, chances are any mistake you make about their annual income is your own fault and you should pay the repercussions for your blatant mistake.
Last but not least, my personal favorite reality TV show offers the best lesson/concept of all. The Surreal Life, a show full of lunacy and madness, offers one life lesson that can be followed for ages. Don't kiss anyone with gold teeth if you're a big blonde foreign woman.
While we do learn some important lessons from our beloved reality shows, the shows of the past will forever rule the entertainment roost. My question, where are Lucille Ball and Archie Bunker when you need them?