| On May 31, 2000, a show by the name of Survivor hit | | | | islands for weeks on end, the term "every day" is the |
| the TV screen. It's been on for 6 years. On June 11, | | | | farthest thing from what these shows are. If anything, |
| 2002, another show by the name of American Idol | | | | most reality TV is more bizarre than your typical TV |
| debuted. It seems to get bigger and bigger every year. | | | | sitcom. And maybe that is part of the allure. Seeing |
| Add to these two shows like Fear Factor, Extreme | | | | real people in totally unreal situations and watching |
| Makeover Home Edition, Who Wants To Be A | | | | them turn into TV stars. And if you think none of them |
| Millionaire and a ton of others and you have the | | | | do turn into stars, do the names Richard Hatch and |
| biggest TV craze since Dallas and the string of night | | | | Clay Aiken mean anything to you?But maybe the |
| time soaps. The question is, why all the fuss? What is | | | | biggest allure of reality TV is to see just how far these |
| it about reality TV that makes more people tune into | | | | shows will go. Because they are depending on real |
| some shows than vote in presidential elections? We | | | | people for their entertainment, they have to come up |
| may not have the reasons but we're going to examine | | | | with some pretty far out scenarios and concepts to |
| some of the possibilities.To understand the fuss with | | | | keep our attention. Let's face it, for every Richard |
| reality TV you first have to understand what it is. | | | | Hatch there are a hundred nobodies who's names |
| Supposedly, it's TV that features real people instead of | | | | you'll never remember, let alone their performances, if |
| actors. In other words, your every day John and Jane | | | | you can call them that. Many a fan skips the first few |
| Doe. It's hard not to root for your next door neighbor | | | | weeks of American Idol just to get past all the horrible |
| unless he's blasting the stereo at 2 AM and you're | | | | singers that they'd normally have to endure. If it weren't |
| trying to get some sleep. So yes, it's easy to | | | | for Simon, the show would be unwatchable at |
| understand that you're pulling for the little guy here. | | | | times.And maybe the reason reality TV is so big is |
| Somebody who under normal circumstances would be | | | | because we simply have nothing better to do with our |
| working at a Burger King somewhere and not on | | | | time and we look for any excuse to sit in front of the |
| national TV during prime time. But there has to be | | | | tube and watch whatever is on. Sure, some reality |
| more than just that. After all, most people are pretty | | | | television is pretty good, but there is quite a bit of it that |
| dull to watch, especially doing every day things.Well, | | | | leaves a lot to be desired as far as entertainment |
| reality TV is far from every day. When you have | | | | value. Yet, we keep coming back week after |
| shows like Fear Factor where people eat bugs or | | | | week.There must be something to it. One day we just |
| shows like Survivor where people are stranded on | | | | might figure out what it is. |