Reality TV

I remember when reality TV was born with shows like Survivor. As a general rule, I think reality TV is a mixed bag. Some of it is amazing. Some of it is schlock.

I didn't watch the first season of Survivor until toward the end. To this day, I can't stand Richard Hatch, the guy who won the first season. But I understand that he played a good game. But to me the game play is almost incidental on Survivor. While interesting from a psychological perspective, the thing I find most amazing are the challenges. Not the food challenges - those are just gross. But the physical challenges are often amazing. The creativity that goes into them is remarkable.

I have very much enjoyed shows like Top Chef and Project Runway. They cover two areas about which I know nothing - cooking and designing clothes. On Project Runway, at least, I can look at the clothes that are created and decide what I like and don't like. Sometimes what I like the judges don't. And sometimes what I think is awful the judges love. But at least I can bring something of a perspective to it. However, for Top Chef, I have really no knowledge to bring to watching. I don't cook - a little baking, but not really any cooking. And I am a quite picky eater. So most of the food they cook I wouldn't eat. And yet, I enjoy the show and make a point to watch it.

To me, these shows (and some others to come) represent the best of reality TV. The worst is much easier to find. First, I would nominate ALL of the dating shows. The Bachelor. The Bachelorette. More To Love. All terrible. Exploitative. But the worst, worst, worst shows are on VH1 - Rock of Love, I Love Money, Flavor of Love, Shot at Love. They are beyond exploitative to truly disgusting. If an alien landed on Earth, and that's all they watched as representative of our culture, I would be appalled.

American Idol is a powerhouse. Although its ratings have diminished somewhat in the past couple of years, it still wins its timeslot week after week. And for all that the rest of my family likes to make fun of it as a talent show - although I'm not sure that some of the talent shows from the '50s were any better, even Ed Sullivan - it has produced some artists who are both at the top of the charts, big money makers, and talented to boot. The judges drive me insane on the show, but I get past that to pay attention to the singing.

But my favorite - despite its judges again - is So You Think You Can Dance. First, unlike American Idol, during the audition shows, it doesn't spend weeks making fun of the bad contestants. While it does include some auditions that make you embarrassed for the dancer, there aren't that many of them and the dancers who can dance far outweigh those who can't. Once the competition actually starts, both the dancing and the choreography are just amazing in quality. Now, like cooking, I can't dance worth a lick. Well, I can dance to rock music, but that's just not the same thing. The kind of dancing on SYTYCD is just a level above. Honestly, I'm not sure that I even knew such dancing existed as widespread as it must in order for the show to get thousands to audition. One of the most interesting things to me about the show is that I am not a fan of contemporary dance troupes as a general rule. Sometimes they are just too avant garde for me. But the contemporary dance on SYTYCD is very watchable. It probably helps that the dances are reasonably short and set to vocal music, as opposed to instrumental. Tonight, they rebroadcast the top 15 dances - as chosen by the executive producer, Nigel Lithgoe. And it just reminded me why I love the show. Amazing dance. Amazing choreography. Just amazing.