Better Than Crabs

With season finales of three of the biggest “Reality TV or Game Show Evolved” contenders all happening within the week; Survivor, Amazing Race and The Apprentice; I thought what better time then now to bring up this debate. Please take note that I’m only trying to debate Reality TV vs Game Show so please don’t bring up other shows which don’t fit such as Surreal Life, Simple Life, Gotti’s, Nick and Jessica, and the list goes on and on with puke and dribble. But moving on.

Looking at the more successful shows (the three listed above) who are listed in the “Reality TV” category a similar line is drawn which makes them different then the other shows I listed. Basically I believe those shows are more Game Show Evolved then Reality TV and this is why people flock to them and get sick of the others (although people are getting sick of Apprentice now).

I’ll now try to break it down a bit.

Survivor. This season there were 18 “castaways” put on an island to fight for a million dollars. Doesn’t seem too “realistic” to me at all. And a big money prize at the end only strengthens the Game Show aspect. Throughout their 30 some odd days on the island contestants perform in team challenges then individual challenges to win rewards or immunity. Once again, they are winning prizes for doing challenging tasks etc. Sort of like “Hole In One OR TWO” on the Price is Right but maybe a little more physical or mind challenging but nevertheless they are competing for prizes. In reality I’ve never walked down the street and was told I had to throw sticks through a clay target to win my food for the day. Sure there’s “reality” when the tribemates go back to camp and sit around talking about whatever they feel like. But then again that’s not reality either as they are in a contrived situation and most of the time they are still playing the game and trying to make their next move, it’s the strategy part of the game and if you don’t think the game is still on if you’re not at a “challenge” you’re mistaken and you lose. You’re sent off just like contestants are widdled down as rounds go on in other game shows. So basically, Survivor is a Game Show Evolved into a longer stretched out period of time with the same contestants over a set period of days.

Amazing Race. I’ll admit it that this is probably my favourite of the shows listed. It’s clearly a Game Show Evolved as the entire time the contestants are active they are participating in the show (except for designated resting times also known as sleep). I don’t really see a reality aspect to it. You have teams competiting against each other to finish each task/mission first to win a leg prize and also competing to not finish last to keep moving on round through round once again with the winner winning a big money prize. The difference between this show and let’s say Jeopardy is that you actually get to know the contestants, you see their quirks and you choose favourites based on people similar to you, something that you don’t get to experience through a the general game show where you usually get a 30 second glimpse into the person and it’s all game show.

The Apprentice. I think The Apprentice has probably overstayed its welcome now and will be falling off the Reality TV/Game Show face of the Earth as it is getting quite predictable and how many times can they really do the same tasks with the same cookie cutter people. Yes this has worked for Price is Right for eternity, hell they haven’t even changed their set, but in the new evolution of game shows people are watching because they like the freshness of it and the fact that every new season brings a new contestants to love/hate and new experiences to enjoy with them. The Apprentice on the other hand recyles the same “competitions” with similar personalities year after year and it is getting quite stale. Sorry Trump, your ship may be sailing away. And besides, the big prize is you win a job! Most people when they win something want to win something big so they can quit their job!

Now with that out of the way there are some HUGE flops in the Game Show Evolved category. Martha Stewart’s Apprentice for example, what in the world is that? I think the big sell of Trump’s was when he fired someone in the board room. On Martha’s (even though I’ve never watched an entire show I’ve seen the ending) instead of telling the person they are fired she politely says “You don’t fit in” or some stupid thing like that then writes them an apology letter. That’s simply crap. You don’t see Trebeck, Sajak or Barker at the end of the show writing apology letters to everyone who lost, it’s ridiculous. And probably a main reason why the show failed. People want a Game Show Evolved that pushes the envelop, not one that places an apology letter inside it and mails it off to the losers.

Basically I think there should be a new “category” to place these types of shows in, Game Show Extreme or Game Show Evolved or New Age Game Show etc. But keeping them as Reality TV is ridiculous as most of the “general” reality TV shows that exist, the ones where you view the person’s/people’s supposed daily lives are quite crappy and there’s just too many of them to name now. It is quite ridiculous and I’ll freely admit that. But I’ll also admit that I am a fan of the Game Show Evolved type of shows, just like I’m a fan of the standard Game Show such as Jeopardy or Price is Right, who doesn’t like playing along with them?

Note: I’ll have another rant shortly about some of the “good” reality TV shows and why I think they are “good”.

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