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The quality of TV programming is analogous with food: at one end of the scale is the lovingly prepared, rich, satisfying, artistically presented offering; at the other extreme is the low production, highly processed, cheap junk.

Reality TV is television's junk food, of low nutrition for the brain and presented with little flair or imagination. And like junk food, there is so much of it around that it becomes addictive.

To some, reality TV is seen as a real-time fly-on-the-wall insight into human behaviour, but just how true is that? Here in the UK during 2007's Celebrity Big Brother, a row erupted over racist bullying by a few White "celebrities" against an Asian contestant, Bollywood film star Shilpa Shetty. The furore that followed even threatened diplomatic relations between India and Britain. The issue of racism in Britain was raised by the media, while the bullying continued to be play out nightly as "entertainment" for the nation to see.

Hence, those who hold the view that reality TV is a reflection of real life may have gained a biased view of race issues in the UK. However, race crime is on the most part reported in the British news media as unacceptable, and race issues are dealt with effectively through statute, equal opportunities policies in the workplace and anti-bullying campaigns in schools. It is therefore difficult to see how this programme could have been seen as educational or insightful; instead, it was merely a misleading indictment on the UK in the eyes of other nations, particularly those on the Indian subcontinent.

An intriguing aspect of this whole debacle was that one of the bullying "celebrities" was a previous (non-celebrity) Big Brother contestant. It seems that reality TV can propel any nobody from obscurity to stardom on the back of no or exceptionally little talent. Suddenly these people become the focus of celebrity news in gossip magazines and in the tabloid newspapers, competing for column inches against those who have truly earned their fame, when they do little to warrant such exposure. Hence, not only do reality TV shows reduce the quality of television viewing, they impact also on reducing the quality of other media.

The impact of reality TV does not end there. Nowadays, many young people do not yearn to be doctors, nurses, architects, train drivers, firefighters, police officers, etc - their ambitions are to appear on X Factor or America's Got Talent in the hope of winning a record contract, without the years of training, hard work and determination that many professional performers push themselves through. Now, it seems, anyone can warble an old tune on TV and become an overnight, top-of-the-chart sensation, while the real talent languishes in the doldrums, unable to find an outlet.

OK, I admit it: I did watch the first few series of Big Brother in the UK, and I admit I was utterly hooked on the first one. But now? Well, I just don't watch TV; I became tired of the rubbish being presented night after night, day after day. Do I miss TV? Yes, sometimes - but I miss the high production BBC costume dramas, or quality comedy shows that work colleagues talk about, or the new Dr Who, or BBC News 24.

But do I miss the glut of reality TV shows?

The answer is an emphatic "No". And in jettisoning the TV schedule out of my life, I've discovered other interests I'd rather spend my time on. Now, I wonder how I ever found the time to watch TV as much as I did.

It's the best crash diet I've ever done.

Learn more about this author, David Chaproniere.
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