Reality shows signals decline of quality TV

Ryan Plourde / Staff Writer / The USD Vista

““The Real World” is a show that defined a generation. It is arguably the most original show to hit the air waves since “Tom and Jerry” (honestly, whoever came up with the idea of a cat who chases a mouse is a genius). But it has also started a plague in American television. The reality television sensation rapidly developed after MTV’s hit show and has dominated the screen for the better part of two decades now. On the average weeknight an eager television viewer can see shows like “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge,”?“Real Chance of Love,”?“The Amazing Race,” “The Biggest Loser” and the list goes on and on. But what has happened to “reality” that requires writers and directors to produce it? Why is the American viewer subjected to Flavor Flav and New York on a regular basis? How has the American mind sunk to a level previously thought to be unreachable?

In the beginning it was okay. Reality TV was a blip on the radar, an interesting experiment in the eyes of a curious public. The first season of “The Real World” premiered in 1992 and introduced television audiences around the country to “seven strangers trying to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.” Aha! The beginnings of reality TV maybe were once based on real life, but this did not last for long. Soon spin-off shows such as “Survivor” and “Big Brother” were looking to bank on the “real” success shown by “The Real World,” but honestly how real is a group of suburbanites stranded on an island or a group of the craziest people on earth? Yes, producers make sure that these people are certified lunatics, living in a house hoping to vote each other out. Reality as real people knew it had ended; insert the reality where Bret Michaels is still relevant and good looking women actually find him attractive.

Before Tom could ever catch Jerry, the cinematic flu that is reality TV was here to stay.

And like flu symptoms that are not treated, reality TV got worse. In the short span of 16 years, reality TV has gone from a group of strangers living in New York to a group of women hoping to marry a millionaire who is actually a construction worker, Shannon Dorety scaring people, not with her personality but with her team of pranksters, and a group of young men fighting over a woman who actually fought over the illustrious Flavor. Reality TV may have been real once upon a time, but that time has clearly passed; trust that none of the above plot lines happen in real life.

The real question is why? Why is reality TV still here? Why is Coral still doing challenges on MTV? Why is Lauren Conrad better known by college girls than Lauren Hill? And why does anyone still care about Vanilla Ice, Ron Jeremy, Eric Estrada or any of the other B-list actors on? “The Surreal Life”?

For the answer to these pressing questions, one need only look in the mirror. That’s right; it’s America. The citizens of this great country continue to watch unending drama hoping to see if Kristin gets her own show just like LC. The truth is these shows are no more real than “CSI.” They are written in Hollywood basements and produced in Hollywood studios.

The only way to get rid of the runny noses that pass as shows is to stop watching them. So please, please stop; the seven strangers in the house would really appreciate some privacy.