by Kendall Smith

Created on: October 12, 2007

Who said you had to be gifted to become a star? If they did they haven't seen Reality TV. All you need to become truly famous is the ability to be difficult and have absolutely no shame what so ever or have undiscovered talent.

What the American people define as entertainment has changed over the last few years. We want to see the good, the bad and the ugly. It is almost like we want to escape our lives for just a short while by watching shows about other ordinary people.

The first reality TV show I can remember watching with any regularity was Paradise Hotel' back in the summer of 2003, but Big Brother has been gaining momentum ever since it premiered in 2000. What attracts us to these reality TV shows? Is it because they are basically unrehearsed? Do we want to see the meltdowns? Is it the same mentality that causes people to slow down and look when they pass an accident? Is it the unscripted unpredictable part of reality TV that keeps us coming back for more?

I think it is. I think we as a society want to see how the other half lives, so to speak. Reality TV satisfies our curiosity it gives us the opportunity to spy' ,if you will, on other people. We get to see them, as they really are seemingly unedited and uncut. Let there be a big blow up on Survivor and the next day everyone will be talking about whose fault it was.

We like to see people like us complete and win. We like to root for the underdog. We will tune in week after week to see if our favorite made the cut or got voted off the island. There is something about an average Joe who comes out victorious over the obnoxious over-bearing jerk that makes us all feel that there is hope.

I mean who can forget Omarosa from the Apprentice season one. She was so mean and nasty that she was appeared on Fear Factor and started abusing Joe Rogan, the host. Now I ask you who would do such a thing? But we loved it and tuned in just to see what she would do.

The best part of reality TV isn't the off the wall sometimes obscene people who make up the participant on the shows. It is when someone can go from being a farm girl in Oklahoma to singing at the CMA's in just one year. When you get to watch people work and grow and struggle to make their dreams become true then that is Reality TV worth watching.

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