Perhaps unscripted reality shows and written fiction have already blurred together into some new amalgamated mush, just as the line between commercials and programs has been trashed.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Reality shows are all the rage on TV at the moment, but that's not reality, it's just another aesthetic form of fiction.
I think television scripts have become really intriguing and well-done. And writers have stopped drawing any actual line between film and television they used to never cross.
There was a time when idealistic folksingers such as myself believed that Reality TV was a programming vogue that would peak and recede, leaving only its hardiest show-offs. Instead, it has metastasized like toxic mold, filling every nook and opening new crannies.
In every area, we seem to have thrown everything away and embraced reality television. It's nauseating, programme after programme.
My feeling is talk shows have not kept pace with the breakthroughs and changes in format in television generally.
I don't want to be one of those 'hour' guys who is all bitter about reality TV. It's as viable as any other genre - when it's great, it's great. However! Reality does a certain thing. It burns quickly, brightly, and then it burns out. You can't repeat them.
Reality shows serve up juicy drama out of human shortcomings.
I believe that reality TV should be called 'not reality' TV; it's fiction.
Even though reality TV is very manipulated, it's all manipulated so that something real happens. And so, our job in this era is to make that real thing happen, because nobody wants to see any more manipulated, pre-planned performances. That era is over.
All great reality shows have a very, very similar format. That's why it was so easy to parody.