First of all, It is sad to think this is my last post outside of the final reflection. It’s been a good long run blog, it’s been real and it’s been fun. Anyways, in Reality TV Breeds New Star System, Brian Lowry gives his input on what seems to be the ongoing battle of celebrity versus uncelebrity. Lowry says, “No channel has been more aggressive about wringing additional uses from its reality chattel than VH1, which saw that strategy conspicuously blow up in its face. Ryan Jenkins, who committed suicide after allegedly murdering his ex-wife, model Jasmine Fiore, had appeared in “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” which the channel abruptly pulled after only a few episodes, and the third edition of “I Love Money,” which has also been scrapped” (Lowry 2009). I feel like this is a good observation on the difference between a reality “star” and just garbage. I honestly do believe that some people from reality TV can be considered stars, someone who repeatedly boosts the ratings of a show and is able to maintain their career over various shows without the world turning on them has at least some skills. MY problem is with shows like those mentioned by Lowery where the network spews out 20 new shows that all get cancelled before anyone ever is aware of their existence. i feel like if television must keep producing reality TV, they could at least have it be well thought out and not just worthless spin offs of their old shows and half baked ideas. here is my favorite examples of one of those half baked spin offs:
For those of you already familiar with I Love New York, please save yourself the time and don’t watch this video. For those of you lucky ones who have never seen it, I’m sorry I have to put you through this nonsense.
Now not only is I Love New York a pointless spin off love search for a contestant who didn’t win on a previous show, the previous show, The Flavor of Love, was just as pointless also! I am not hating on Public Enemy but we all know Flava Flav is not looking for love and if he were I wouldn’t care to see it. so why do I care about someone who didn’t even win the show??
Essentially, I feel like when reality television is done right, it is ok for “stars” to stem. My problem is when they start spewing out one too many shows to the point where you can’t even keep up anymore. Why waste the time to write a show thats going to get cancelled anyway. Maybe if they took some more time to think these shows out, I would have got to see Bromances before it was cancelled shortly after being released, which I am just positive was a work of art.
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Lowry, B. (2009). “Reality TV Breeds New Star System”. Variety.
