Friday, April 14, 2006

Reality Show Syndrome

In 2000, before the egalitarian promise of Internet fame via a viral video, there was reality TV.

Reality TV began in earnest in the '90's, but with Survivor's CBS debut in 2000, a new element was added: voting off. This led to cruel dating shows (Elimidate, 5th Wheel). It also led to Reality Show Syndrome.

What is Reality Show Syndrome? What isn't reality show syndrome?

Take American Idol. Please.

Pro: Amateurs can potentially become pop stars overnight. Audience can vote.
Con: Judges, not audience members, choose the singers

THIS is where the syndrome comes into play. Sure you can vote for your favorite singer or comic, but judges (or in Last Comic Standing's case, studio execs) choose the entertainers that go on the show.

Problem is, Simon Cowell only sees money. He plays close to the chest. So he would never pass a Bob Dylan or a Lou Reed. Hell, Jimi Hendrix probably never would have sang "Purple Haze" if Cowell crushed his psychedelic spirit.

The comedians on Last Comic Standing are also assembly-line quality. The entertainers from both shows sound like they are supposed to.


MY CONCERN:


Will the web suffer the same fate?

Answer: Not really. It is true that sensational, titillating virals that reference geek culture tend to arouse more interest than, say, dry observations.

But the ROUTES that people take to get attention make all the difference. Lip synching to a Eurodance song is sophmoric, but Numa Numa would have been too weird to get the greenlight from a studio exec.

Don't believe me? Look, I read Cringe Humor ironically - meathead comedy is great to laugh at (not WITH, at) - but I read this comedian's account of his audition for Last Comic Standing. This is what the exec said to another comic:

What the fuck do you think this is? Do you think it’s really a talent search? It’s reality TV. They already picked who they want. They already know. All they wanted with this was a line around the fucking block



A line of uncut Bolivian coke I bet. Fucking scum of thea earth.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The American singing competition show American Idol has generated controversy over the years in numerous areas. Many of the controversies have centered on the show's voting process and results, and in later seasons, gender bias against female contestants, as well as contestant comments. Another major source of controversy that has spanned multiple seasons has been the activities of contestants prior to competing on the show such as past recording contracts in contravention of the rules, and undisclosed criminal charges.

medico en linea doctor en linea psicólogo en linea veterinario en linea abogado en linea abogado España abogado chile abogado costa rica psiquiatra en linea mecanico en linea Season one phone-phreaks' power-voting[edit] Around 100 phone-phreak hackers with power-dialing hardware and software were reported to be able to place as many as 10,000 votes a night from a single phone line with the touch of a button.[1] However, FremantleMedia, which produces the show, contended that the hackers represented 'statistically insignificant' proportion of the overall voting, and Fox insisted that the system was fair.[2] Nevertheless, concerns were raised about possible unfairness in the situation of a tight vote.[3] One of the show's executive producers Ken Warwick later indicated that equipment was put in place afterwards to address this issue but it has not detected any such problem since its installation