Reality Shows Are Evil

Every time I turn on the TV I have to flip through channels for what seems like forever just to find something decent to watch. I understand that there will always be reruns and sports programs that don't interest me, but my biggest pet peeve is reality shows. I think they are the worst of the worst of "trash TV." At least "The Jerry Springer Show" pretended like it was helping society in some way. Shows like "Jersey Shore" and others promote nothing but ignorant, destructive behavior. The evils of reality shows are innumerable. Most people never even realize that reality shows hurt the economy as well. No one thinks about how many talented actors and writers are out of work because of the popularity of reality shows.

I lived in Los Angeles for many years. When I moved there, reality shows weren't as popular as they are today. But the longer I lived there, the more I saw the effects of reality shows on the Los Angeles economy. Here's the thing. Reality shows are dirt cheap to make while scripted shows can cost in the millions of dollars. Networks make money from advertisement. The more people watch a particular show, the more they can charge for the ad time during that show. That's what essentially pays for the show. Well, what network heads have figured out is that if they can get the same number of people to watch a reality show as opposed to a scripted show, they make a lot more money. And to increase their bottom line even more, they don't have to hire union writers to write a reality show. Any monkey with a pen can write a reality show. As the national economy gets worse, I think we will see more and more reality shows popping up on our TV screens. And that's a lot of very talented writers on the unemployment line!

Warhol said, "In the future everyone will have their fifteen minutes of fame". In the age of the reality show that couldn't be truer. A reality show doesn't need a talented, trained actor. Anyone can be a reality star, given they are willing to make a fool of themselves in front of millions of viewers. Men and Women who have spent a lifetime perfecting the craft of acting now find themselves with nothing to act. Scripted

...