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Reality TV: Why are we still watching?

We've grown accustomed to watching the drama unfold of other people on live television. For some reason we're drawn to it like bears to honey. Reality TV seems to be the norm nowadays. I remember one friend telling me that she enjoyed watching Laguna Beach because she can live vicariously through the show. I myself am not much of a fan of "Reality TV" but there are a few decent shows.

In the beginning there was Real World which is still produced today by MTV. MTV then created Road Rules which is like Real World but you travel around in an RV having to get to certain locations within a time limit. At these locations, they're present with different and diverse challenges. On the first season of Road Rules, one challenge was in the form of a military boot camp while another challenge was to get to Madison Square Garden and get themselves on live TV during NBC's The Today Show. Back then, both Real World and Road Rules were pretty decent shows.

But each Real World and Role Rules seasons were different. Each season would take place in a different city which mean each season had something new to present. There were some seasons that were international with some of the locations ranging from London, Paris, and the entire world. Road Rules: Semester at Sea took the seven strangers on a study abroad program where they went to various places such as Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, and Brazil. They did all sorts of tasks while balancing out study and course work. It was a fresh approach to the Road Rules series. The next season of Road Rules took an interesting twist where participants have to do various crazy missions that would not only test them physically but psychologically. Each season of Road Rules had their twists and themes which is why the show happens to still be on the air.

It's what kept viewers glued to the TV sets.

Around 2000, CBS did something similar and aired the show known as Survivor which happens to be one of CBS' current flag shows. It had an interesting premise where 16 survivors had to grab whatever items they can get in the water in a certain time limit. Afterwards, they would end up on an island for forty days. They're given tasks in which they must complete. Failure to do so means you can get voted off the island.

And then they aired Big Brother where a large group of people are living in a house for a certain amount of time. They are filmed everywhere except for the bathroom. The cameras are on 24/7. Like Survivor,


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Reality TV: Why are we still watching?

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