Reality TV... WTF??

I'm an admitted couch potato. I love watching TV. There are shows that I just HAVE to watch when they're on. And then there are shows that I just don't understand how they made it on TV in the first place, and how they manage to stay on.

Let's start with Jersey Shore. From what I gather, it's a show that follows a bunch of under 21s through their trials and tribulations. This show has somehow managed to make "stars" out of these youngsters. I've had the "pleasure" of seeing them on a few late night talk shows. Funny thing, the show is called Jersey Shore, and none of them are from Jersey. And why exactly does anyone care what these people are doing? While we're talking about New Jersey, there's also a show called Real Housewives of New Jersey, with Real Housewives of other places that I can't remember also on the airwaves.

There's Hoarders, a show about people with an affliction that makes them keep everything they ever buy or find, creating a mess of their house and lives. While I have watched this show a few times, after a few episodes, it's all pretty much the same thing week after week.

Intervention is an interesting show. Basically, it's drug and/or alcohol abusers being confronted by their families and friends who are trying to get them sobered up.

There's a show following the Kardashians. I still don't know how this family is famous and got their own TV show. The three sisters don't seem to have anything other than looks and the willingness to do just about anything to get press.

There's one central theme that I believe has made these shows and shows like them so popular to the American public. Chaos. Viewers seem to love to watch the chaos of other peoples lives. And do you seriously think that none of this stuff is scripted? I'm pretty sure that Hoarders and Intervention aren't, but Real Housewives, The Kardashians, Jersey Shore, and other shows like them are most certainly scripted at points. And if they aren't, God help us at the stupidity of the human being.

Now don't get me wrong. I find a few of them to be quite funny. Family Jewels, starring Gene Simmons of KISS and his whacky family, is one of my favorites. While I'm sure some of that is scripted too, I find myself drawn to the show, mainly because it makes me laugh my butt off every time I watch it.

I think the main problem is the glut of channels now available for people to watch. When I was a kid, we got maybe six channels we could choose from. Now, there's two hundred or more. With so many channels, they have to put something on the air for people to watch. And the key to all these reality shows? They're cheap to make. And for some reason, people just can't seem to get enough of them. And they just keep making more.

I think the studio heads that decide to run these shows are living by the one saying that seems to have over run the TV industry: KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid.

'Til next time...