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May 17, 2005 12:20 AM   Subscribe

The Best Shows on TV. Fake reality tv. Clips from an upcoming series on VH1.
posted by Kattullus (20 comments total)
 
via Neil Gaiman
posted by Kattullus at 12:28 AM on May 17, 2005


Those are awesome, thanks!
posted by Balisong at 1:09 AM on May 17, 2005


wow, vh1? thanks, scumbag!
posted by puke & cry at 1:19 AM on May 17, 2005


box bride hero fry duper first
posted by quiet at 2:16 AM on May 17, 2005


Oh VH1, you're so clever! This is going to be almost as good as the series where future has-beens and never-will-bes try to wax irreverent about has-beens and also-rans from preceding decades.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:19 AM on May 17, 2005


"Can you fill this with vodka?"
"No because that would be insane."
Then they proceed to egg the box. Funny.

Of course, the next natural evolution of reality tv isn't more realistic reality, but obvious parodies of patently unrealistic reality tv. Could this perhaps be a sign that reality tv has reached its apex and is about to fade away like every other phase? Probably not, but one can dream.

The Come Fry With Me show would go over real big in Texas.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:54 AM on May 17, 2005


In other words, reality TV will eat itself?
posted by alumshubby at 4:03 AM on May 17, 2005


I like the box one best too. Why do you hate my box?
posted by yak sox at 4:04 AM on May 17, 2005


Reality TV won't go away. It's too damn cheap to produce....
posted by dersins at 5:09 AM on May 17, 2005


I'm afraid you're right there, Dersins.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:01 AM on May 17, 2005


I *know* I'm right.

The two most expensive things about TV production are union writers and union actors, and reality series have neither. It is possible to make an entire SEASON of a reality series for what you pay just the cast for ONE episode of a show like "Friends."

That's a huge difference.
posted by dersins at 6:09 AM on May 17, 2005


Humiliation, plain and simple.
posted by elderling at 7:42 AM on May 17, 2005


Oh, reality TV has long since eaten itself. But the editing makes this one worth it.

Not to brag, but I actually helped pitch a show like "Super Duper Size Me" once. You wouldn't believe how many network people actually thought about making it - thankfully, human decency won out (or more likely, fear of lawsuits.)
posted by fungible at 7:57 AM on May 17, 2005


dersins -- some reasons to hold out hope that reality teevee won't last forever:

1) reality programs have very little almost no shelf-life. No reruns. No syndication. No DVD sales (when compared to scripted products). So the networks are saving money in the near-term but losing out in the long run. Sure, the Friends were a paid a ton of money, but that show's been out of production for going on two seasons and it's still generating hundreds of millions of dollars for Warner Bros.

2) eventually the DGA, WGA, and SAG will force the issue w/r/t these programs going union. The guilds were willing to ignore so-called reality shows during prior negations w/ the studios, mistakenly thinking it to be a fad. I think that attitude has changed -- for example, the WGA's magazine bemoans the fate of writers working on reality shows almost monthly now. Plus, as many members find themselves out of work because of reality programming, people are reaching that point where they have nothing to lose by voting for to strike.

3) Once again, the hottest show on television is a scripted series (Housewives). Even the Survivor finale, traditionally a ratings juggernaut, wasn't able to be Housewives on Sunday.

Will Reality ever completely go away? Unlikely. But I think the halcyon of "unscripted" series is behind us, not ahead.
posted by herc at 8:48 AM on May 17, 2005


"Do you realize you just fed him the head of his dick?"

This is funny.
posted by Mach3avelli at 8:48 AM on May 17, 2005


Hilarious!

Reality TV is not going away; it engages viewers the way that game shows and infotainment do, by allowing them to invest their emotions and play armchair quarterback.

It's funnier to watch these people get fooled than it would be to see the same show, scripted, with everyone aware of what's going on. That's why I'd posit that reality shows where the stars don't know the rules -- the most classic being Candid Camera, which predates every current fictional series -- are settling in as an established subgenre of reality/gaming TV.
posted by NickDouglas at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2005


The Milgram Experiment
posted by destro at 9:25 AM on May 17, 2005


Upcoming has already upcame -- last night in fact.

The show was awful.

Here. This is a marginally funny gag. Lets run it. And run it. And run it. Here's something novel, we'll run something else. And then run that first thing again. Oh, those stupid celebrities.

Painful.

For destro: The Stanford Prison Experiment.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:19 PM on May 17, 2005


Yeah, I did watch it last night. Mostly lame, although getting youg women to agree to fuck a 99 year old dude was somewhat intresting.
posted by delmoi at 2:09 PM on May 17, 2005


yeah, no shit. the milgram experiment is relevant, how is the stanford one?
posted by destro at 10:02 AM on May 18, 2005


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