I admit it. I just don’t get the mania over American Idol, Survivor, Next Top Model, or any other such show. I’ve watched a couple of episodes of most of them, usually not by choice. Mostly I’ve observed incredibly shallow people with delusions of adequacy transparently plotting against one another. I find them less exciting than watching paint dry.
When I first heard about Survivor I was intrigued. The idea of an endurance contest in exotic locations under extreme conditions was a good one I thought. Later, I found out that the winner would be determined, not by actually winning, but by having the other players vote each other out of the game. I did, and still do, find this to be one of the stupidest premises for a television show ever. A high school popularity contest is still a high school popularity contest even if it’s taking place in the tropics.
There is too much going on right now to justify the majority of the nation passing its time with this mindless crap. Naturally, a lot of these folks spend their rare non-TV time bitching about how the country is going to hell in a handbasket.
Furthermore, to call these accursed things “reality shows” is a crime of Orwellian proportions against the English language and the concept of reality. Who names these things? The Ministry of Clarity with the words “Specificity is Whatever” emblazoned on the walls? Perhaps the Playboy and Spice Channels can produce an entire series of chastity shows.
And while we’re at it, what’s with things like the Weather Channel and the Food Network? What’s next? The Scenery Channel? The Breathing Channel? The Paint Drying Channel?