Meme Lemming: 30 Days of TV - 05

[partly]

Day 05 - A show you hate

I can't say that I hate any shows, mostly because "hate" requires way too much energy for me to expand on a show I don't like. Now that I've split the hair for today, I will attempt to answer the question.

I don't care for reality shows. Most specifically the so-called reality shows where fighting, bitching, sarcasm and belittling others is the mainstay of the show. I love my scripted shows full of conflict and tension but I absolutely refuse to watch shows where every single thing that is wrong and evil about interpersonal relationships is paraded around as entertainment. I know that people can watch these shows and find enjoyment there, but I can't. I just can't watch shows that are populated by people who, if Darwin is even the slightest bit right, should disappear from the gene pool in a generation. These shows put me in a foul mood and make me want to break my TV.

Comments

[talkingtocactus.livejournal.com]

do you mean stuff like judged shows where judges just pick holes in everything the contenders do, stuff like simon cowell's shows etc? i hate those shows. not so much for that, in fact i tend to think they're only interesting when the contestants are crap, otherwise they're kind of boring, but i just don't watch them i guess. also i love stuff like ANTM which can get quite bitchy (although frankly they'll never out bitch the australian version, that even shocks me!) - actually the bitchiness of that starts to grate after a while, once you've seen the bitching 2-3 cycles in a row it all gets the same!

there are a couple of great reality shows here that are done kind of differently. one is kitchen nightmares which i know has exported to america - gordon ramsay is a love or hate kinda guy, i like him, i think it's funny when he yells at everyone but he does have a nice side too and it comes out sometimes.

another really good one is a set of property shows by a pair called kirstie and phil (not a couple!) - i'm a bit of a sucker for property shows and their thing is that they help people who have real trouble finding somewhere to live, usually because they're too picky or too uncompromising or whatever. they definitely tell them what's what and almost always result in the helpees getting a grip, but they're nice with it and funny and sweet, they don't just yell. and they have great chemistry, they're always taking the piss out of each other, you can tell they're good friends. it makes it much nicer to watch. this clip is really bad but the last half of it kind of shows what they do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCMTmIGUwHc

my current favourite is mary queen of shops - she does similar to ramsay in kitchen nightmares i guess but she's a retail expert and deals with shops. the first couple of series were all fashion shops but this time she's branched out into other small retailers (bakers, grocers etc). she's very very direct, blunt etc, some people find her rude but i don't think she is, she's very understanding as well and funny too. and the best thing is that 9 times out of 10 she really does help them!

here's a compilation of her series...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-kOTX4APFQ&feature=related

unless you meant something else entirely.... :D

[partly.livejournal.com]

I totally LOVE Gordan Ramsay. He's never cruel for cruel's sake and he's really a softy when it comes to life in general. I can handle the tension and anger in his shows because it's part of a genuine conflict of the show -- taking a bad situation and making it better. I will have to look into "Queen of Shops" it sounds good.

The reality shows that I'm thinking about are things like "The Real Housewives of _____", "Jersey Shore," "The Hills" or any of the shows whose only purpose is to follow unlikeable and mean people around and watch them do unlikeable and mean things to other people. Or shows like "Bridzillas" and the like where you are shown all this bad behavior and where bad behavior is, in fact, encouraged and rewarded.

In the shows you mention bad behavior isn't rewarded. In fact, in Kitchen Nightmare, bad behavior will ruin you.

(I'm using my shiny new Boyd icon for the first time.)

[talkingtocactus.livejournal.com]

yeah i agree, the ones like ramsay/MQOS etc are harsh but only for a reason and they almost always get results so it's worth it. kind of like mentors or something. MQOS is good, what's lovely is that she always tweets live as it airs (it's recorded a while before) and she tweets stuff like "oooh i love this bit!", it's quite funny and makes the show a bit more fun to watch.

oh god i HATE those shows too, they're just pointless. what is the point of watching people go about their daily lives? if i wanted to do that i'd sit at a bus stop! although they wouldn't be as glamorous as on the hills. it'd be people in tracksuits drinking cheap lager from cans hidden in carrier bags :D

the other thing about those shows is that they're so obviously an exercise in "let's point and laugh at the idiot" which is funny for a while but after a little bit it just gets pathetic. it's playground stuff and we should have grown out of it.

yeah, that's true, shows where people throw a massive strop and then get their way because everyone else is too bored/fed up to say no again are REALLY irritating!

woo, love the icon :D