by Keegan Applecotter

Created on: July 13, 2009

I sit down on my beat up leather couch. Exhausted from a long and strenuous day. I turn the television on and begin to flip through the channels. One after the other, boring and artificial sitcoms with the same old recycled plot and characters.

I keep on going until one program caught my eye. A lesser-known show to me at the time (waiting to become the phenomenon it did) entitled The Bachelor. I sat amused watching these unbelievably beautiful girls battle over a man that is not deserving. The producers had called it reality television. I know this is not the first popular one, however it was the first one to catch my eye and boy did it.

I watched until the season finale where he finally picked his lover (though they would inevitability break up) and the season ended. That was then, fast forward 7 years. They have come in abundance. You can not change the channel without finding a "reality show", though I can't seem to find one that deserves that title anymore.

The characters have become more outrageous and silly as the years went on. Many of the shows are simply spinning off of other reality shows. Taking characters that may have lost and giving them their own show. Why do I hate reality TV? Simple. They are the worst thing to happen to television in its history. They are dehumanizing to their own casts, they are more scripted then your average scripted show. They are slowly desensitizing the youth. They assume every person in their demographic is on the phone or reading a novel and doesn't have time to pay attention, so they can make the plots simple and even dumb.

As of now, there are certain shows that are the best in the history of television airing (not reality I mind you) and reality TV is just getting in the way of these great shows begging for more viewer-ship.

With the Internet becoming the ultimate source of information and news, television could still capitalize on entertainment. Not reality TV as of now, it is just a bore to watch for any more than a few minutes. They cannot continue the way that things are going. Surely, the shows must be getting less and less viewers as there is no vast variety as in other genres.

The only way to improve is to cut down every single one and rebuild. Perhaps go back to the basics, start with a simple yet amusing premise. Slowly. But surely.

To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. - T.S. Eliot

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