Back in 1992, MTV launched a programme that would influence and change the landscape of television. That programme was The Real World. The original reality show, The Real World featured a cross section of young adults, cohabiting in an apartment as the cameras watched on.
Original, fresh and engaging, it was at once social documentary and soapish entertainment. A genre was born.
Some two decades plus later, reality television programmes not only are plentiful, they are ever present. Almost without exception, they follow the same format; a gathering of young adults, sometimes of differing backgrounds, sometimes not, thrust into the limelight of big brother-esque observation.
As these programmes became more popular, the people who populated them, responding to programme producer needs and craving fame, became more and more extrovert. Where as before there were perhaps two extrovert characters, in a programme with six people, there would instead be four. Maybe five.
The number of fame hungry, narcissistic, wannabes populating television needs addressing. Going on most reality shows takes no more skill than enjoying being the centre of attention and being happy to be that, in front of a camera. Though programme makers have tried to address the monotony of the shows, the wannabes still seem comfortable in displaying various levels of tomfoolery in an effort to be famous. Would they still be that way if the stakes were, shall we say, higher?
Big Brother.
Still hanging around like an archaic Miss World contest, Big Brother continues to be both offensive and embarrassing in equal measure. Even as the audiences dwindle, producers continue to squeeze advertising revenue out of this ailing show. I think I could pep the show up.
What this show needs is a moat, remote acreage and wild dogs.
Generally, the contestants are varying degree of obnoxious, acting out and being outrageous in the hope that they can ride the wave of notoriety once they are kicked out of the house. If they had to swim a moat and traverse several kilometres of forest, whilst pursued by wild dogs, they might display better, more palatable, attitudes in the house. We, the viewers, would see real emotion and true, unvarnished, reactions to stressful situations.
Made In Chelsea
The show that shows already fabulously wealthy young people, galavanting around London and the home counties, partying, interchanging partners and having mind numbingly, banal, interchanges.
What this show needs: rohypnol. Every character needs to be drugged and transported, less their comfortable trappings, to some barren wasteland, where they would be forced to hunt for food and forage for water. Now that would be fun to watch.
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