by Richard Winterton

Created on: November 08, 2009

No one thing is more responsible for the murder of the collective imagination of society than reality shows. With every call to Nanny 911, every person voted off the Island, and every time Chef Ramsey explodes over the chicken being raw, our imagination dies just a little bit.

People used to listen to stories because they wanted to believe in something. They wanted to know that there was something beyond their normal, everyday existence that was still magical and exciting. Sometimes, they wanted to be frightened. Sometimes, they wanted to fall in love. And sometimes, they even wanted to cry. Most of all, they just wanted to feel like they were being taken to a world far beyond their own.

What happened?

One can honestly understand the reasoning behind reality shows. For one, they're relatively cheap and easy to make. You don't have any need for a plot or story arch, so you don't need writers. Most of the time, there are virtually millions of people who want to be on TV so you don't have to search too hard for performers. And virtually anything can work as a premise, since the key is reality (go into the wild and untamed world of Municipal Building Planners on A & E).

Sadly, there is a downside to all this "Reality" in our shows. Simply put, reality can be boring.

Think back to the 1980's, when Miami Vice ruled the airwaves. Every week, Crockett and Tubbs would work tireless yet stylishly to bring drug lords and abusive pimps to justice. With each episode, each neon-toned club scene and each adrenaline fueled gun battle, Crockett and Tubbs just looked that much cooler. More importantly, we loved the idea that Miami was this place of sun, san and sin. We thought, "wow, I would love to go to Miami! It's like every day there's a speed boat chase or a sexy nightclub party!"

Fast forward to present day, to a show called Miami Animal Police. 60 minutes of Miami Animal Service officers leaving citations on doors for old ladies who have too many puppies. Occasionally, there's an alligator in a swamp near the suburbs but most of the time they're actually pretty docile.

It's at this point you realize "wow, Miami is just as boring as my home town".

What happened? Well there is no suspension of disbelief because there is no disbelief to suspend. Yep, there's an old lady with a lot of cats. I can easily believe that.

Which brings up another argument others may have over reality shows: Reality is stranger than fiction.

Yes, I can gather that often the best stories people tell are ones they didn't make up, be it the time Bob rolled his van 360 degrees and didn't get a scratch or the time Joe went to the doctor because a snap turtle bit him in the behind. Even so, those are special cases and only happen about 15-20 percent of the time. Putting a camera in front of Bob and Joe everyday is not going to guarantee that they'll make interesting television.

So in conclusion, Reality shows have not improved the quality of Television. Let us all pray for the day that producers actually start caring about creativity and let writers do their jobs once again.

Learn more about this author, Richard Winterton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.