I cannot believe the 2 worst shows, The Bachelor and Survivor, ever existed

 

TV is the educational "egg", not the chicken. TV (like Honda BTW and Maxim too, I guess) merely tries to guess what people want to buy and creates it. TV doesn't take the lead in any way.

"Programs with angst" (Reality TV is a marketing misnomer) like Real World, Springer, Survivor and their familiars skew to younger viewers who are still developing emotional depth and world experience. As viewers age, they become increasingly bored with angst-vision (or stimulus TV). The exception, of course, is people who are highly understimulated (like, for example, the bedridden.) They continue to like these shows well into their 30s.

This is not a knock on anyone of any age. We all are going through it or went through it. TV merely panders to it...for money.

 

Oh, I disagree. I'm an old-fart and LOVE LOVE LOVE(!!!!) survivor. (In fact, I haven't had a TV for 20 years and have my friend tape it. We then have a survivor pizza wine weekend.) Survivor allows people that think like a peasant (me, in this case) to watch sleazy manipulative people without getting hurt by them. It's a window on a world that I can only dream/speculate about. It's a view at the top of all corporate or political pyramids. A microcosm of life the peasant can't imagine. In fact, it should be required viewing for all high-school students. Instead of getting brainwashed with the usual America mythology about "How a Bill because a Law", this show would provide a reality check. "You see Johnny, the developer purchases 3 council seats on the city council. THEN, he builds a large mall in the back yards of some unsuspecting peasants. This is called collateral damage Johnny. If you are wealthy, YOUR back yard won't get soiled. Ok class, test question. Who pays for the "road improvements" needed because of the new large mall? a) the developer? b) the peasants?" LOLOLOL!!!!

It's the same with "Road Rules". I've only seen it once or twice, but it allows me to live vicariously through others. Am I ever going to be able to boink a "Maxim quality chic" ? Hell no!! I don't have the personality OR the money. But, shows like "Road Rules" let me see sleazy people live the life that's advertised as being THE most desirable in America.

So, these shows ARE a true "reflection" of real people. They're the real people that run society, unlike all the oblivious peasants that sit in cubicles all day watching sit-coms and sports all night.