The State of Reality Television

Whatever your opinion of reality television shows are I think we can all agree on one thing:  there is a tremendous amount of "reality TV" out there.  What originally started with shows such as Real World/Road Rules it has since blossomed into its own genre.  Some love it, some hate it, and some think it is just a fad that will go away.  The latter part: not going to happen.

Case in point:  TLC.  Once considered a cable television outlet where viewers could tune in and learn (hence the L in TLC) it has since gone bananas with the reality television craze.  Who can ever get enough of shows like my 600-lb life, 90 day Fiance, and the one show everyone loves to trash on...I'll give you three guesses

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mmm, I can just feel the quality of television beaming into my eyes

If you aren't familiar with the family in the above photo; 1) congratulations for being able to avoid it and 2) that would be Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.  Even the title of the show sounds ridiculous.  That is not the main show I was going to talk about. . . that honor would belong to Breaking Amish, a reality show that follows around an Amish family trying to acclimate their lives into the world separate from the one they are used to.  

TLC loved Breaking Amish so much the execs decided to order up not one, but two spinoffs! Do you really need to have two spinoffs of a reality show? I have seen extremely successful traditional serials attempt spinoffs with mixed results.  

I understand why cable's head-honchos prescribe to reality television.  It admittedly does draw in viewers and most importantly it costs roughly around a fourth of what a traditional show does to produce.  Cheap and popular.  It's a win-win situation for the executives.  Let's be honest here, how much are we learning by having these reality shows produced?

They don't provide much in the way of stimulating intellectual banter.  But what these shows do accomplish across the board, not just on TLC, is creating almost an irritating effect on the audience.  Viewers either love them or hate them which creates a buzz about the show, leading to it becoming more popular whether or not it actually provides much positive content.  

I'm picking on TLC not because I have a vendetta against them, but I feel like they have completely re-branded themselves which ultimately has hurt them.  What happened to shows like Trauma: Life in the ER ? It was dramatic, interesting, and you learned something from the doctors that would come on to talk about someone's certainly dangerous conundrum.  During its run from 1997-2002 it was TLC's top-rated show AND it created two spinoffs, none of which had silly storylines like following around the surgeon's love-life.  

This is what I feel like doing to myself when I hear Janelle and her mom yell at each other for the millionth time

Listen, I know reality television is not going away.  It is a successful genre that draws in viewers.  My only wish, is that whether it be on TLC or wherever would dramatically improve in content.  My guess, it will never happen.