Taking a walk on Temptation Island I reflected on how the Love Cruise full of Bachelors turned from an Amazing Race to a search for Survivors. Now I am stuck with my Big Brother a bunch of Popstars who think they are Making the Band but couldn't hack in the Real World. I hope American Fighter Pilots can get over the Fear Factor and are planning some Combat Missions to come and rescue us before we get eaten by The Mole.

Whether you love them or hate them Reality TV has swept upon this land like a wave of locusts devouring all self respecting sitcoms and dramas in its path. So what is the fascination with Reality TV programs and why can't I stop watching them.

Reality TV shows have taken root in American society and the world alike because we have become fascinated with seeing ordinary people at their very best and their very worst. In the same vain we wonder how we or our friends would react if placed in similar situations. Would I really be the first person voted off, would I be able to outwit outplay and outlast these other 'ordinary' men and women?

Reality TV has become a form of entertainment to tame a society which continues to grow more voyeuristic. All stories whether found in literature, TV or the movies are inspired or contrived from individuals living the life experience. Reality TV takes those events and experiences and turns those very chronicles into a form of story telling onto itself.

So will Reality TV continue to unseed sitcoms and dramas and inevitably win all of our dried out itchy eyeballs. With gritty dramas like the Soprano’s and Six Feet Under and comedies like Greg The Bunny and South Park providing compelling escapes from Reality I think, at least I hope the two can live on in reruns for many years to come.

A Bit OffKilter
-Jeff