TV provides no break from reality
Demitrius Watts
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Opinion
When I get home after a long day of work and classes, I like to unwind by putting my feet up and turning on the TV to take my mind away from my life for a moment. Look at it as an escape from my reality.
But when I turn on the TV now, I increasingly get reality-based TV. More and more scripted shows are being cancelled in favor of it.
The majority of TV is now reality programming.
We watch real housewives in Orange County, New York and Atlanta.
We watch washed-up celebrities looking for a date and we watch families swap places with other families, get their houses clean or even built.
The sad thing is that most of the programming is not even good programming and anybody can get a TV show (Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, I'm talking to you).
What happened to television?
I remember a time when television had mainly scripted dramas and comedies that provided an escape from reality - if only for a half hour or an hour.
Now we have to watch other people live their lives for our entertainment. That's not fun for me. I don't care about others' reality because I have my own reality to deal with.
MTV, which is supposed to stand for Music Television, is becoming more and more reality-based.
We have kids with problems ("True Life"), pretty rich kids with problems ("The Hills") and now a rich heiress who is lonely and needs a friend ("Paris Hilton's My New BFF"). Those are just a few of the awful shows that are on this network. What happened to the videos, MTV?
So I say this: Where are TV shows like "Martin," "Living Single," "NewsRadio" and "The Practice?"
Do we really want to see Paris Hilton look for a new best friend? Do we care about the Hills and Baldwin Hills? And, honestly, Diddy can have the making of all the bands he wants, but does anybody want to get a record contract with Bad Boy Records?
Bring back scripted shows and let these people live their lives off camera in private so we don't have to know about another person's "reality."
But when I turn on the TV now, I increasingly get reality-based TV. More and more scripted shows are being cancelled in favor of it.
The majority of TV is now reality programming.
We watch real housewives in Orange County, New York and Atlanta.
We watch washed-up celebrities looking for a date and we watch families swap places with other families, get their houses clean or even built.
The sad thing is that most of the programming is not even good programming and anybody can get a TV show (Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, I'm talking to you).
What happened to television?
I remember a time when television had mainly scripted dramas and comedies that provided an escape from reality - if only for a half hour or an hour.
Now we have to watch other people live their lives for our entertainment. That's not fun for me. I don't care about others' reality because I have my own reality to deal with.
MTV, which is supposed to stand for Music Television, is becoming more and more reality-based.
We have kids with problems ("True Life"), pretty rich kids with problems ("The Hills") and now a rich heiress who is lonely and needs a friend ("Paris Hilton's My New BFF"). Those are just a few of the awful shows that are on this network. What happened to the videos, MTV?
So I say this: Where are TV shows like "Martin," "Living Single," "NewsRadio" and "The Practice?"
Do we really want to see Paris Hilton look for a new best friend? Do we care about the Hills and Baldwin Hills? And, honestly, Diddy can have the making of all the bands he wants, but does anybody want to get a record contract with Bad Boy Records?
Bring back scripted shows and let these people live their lives off camera in private so we don't have to know about another person's "reality."
Be the first to comment on this story