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[ReturnOfTheRAT]

There were definitely many game shows in the 70's.

But yeah, I personally would watch a game show over a reality show any day.

True, but the games shows I'm talking about are more inline with networks trying to copy Millionaire. Every OTA network had their own copy and they all failed to catch traction. Now, ABC and FOX are the singing and dancing networks, CBS is the adventure show network, and NBC has less popular singing and dancing shows.

 

[teruterubozu]

True, but the games shows I'm talking about are more inline with networks trying to copy Millionaire. Every OTA network had their own copy and they all failed to catch traction. Now, ABC and FOX are the singing and dancing networks, CBS is the adventure show network, and NBC has less popular singing and dancing shows.

Copying other successful TV show formulas has been around, like, forever.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

I wouldn't really say that.

Sitcoms have always been big.

Heck Norman Lear had a lock on the world of sitcoms during the 70's.

Also, in the 50's you had many Suburban family life sitcoms (like Leave it to Beaver).

I wasn't saying that. I was saying that during the 90s, several sitcoms emerged which were both critically well received and which garnered high ratings. I'm not saying that sitcoms weren't big until the 90s or reality shows until the 00s.

 

[Bgamer90]

True, but the games shows I'm talking about are more inline with networks trying to copy Millionaire. Every OTA network had their own copy and they all failed to catch traction. Now, ABC and FOX are the singing and dancing networks, CBS is the adventure show network, and NBC has less popular singing and dancing shows.

Oh okay. I thought you were talking about the genre as a whole.

There were many Who Wants to be a Millionaire rip-offs during the early 00's.

 

[ivysaur12]

Never, because they cost so much less money to produce than scripted shows. As viewership declines so do production budgets.

If you're talking about broadcast viewership, sure. But cable networks continue to reach new ratings highs with their scripted shows.

 

[Bgamer90]

I wasn't saying that. I was saying that during the 90s, several sitcoms emerged which were both critically well received and which garnered high ratings.

I see. But that has been the case since the 50's so to call one decade "the decade of sitcoms" would be kind of weird.

 

[MIMIC]

Have you heard of Basketball Wives? That shit is fucking insane. Kobe!!!

I had never heard of Basketball Wives until my brother showed me this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYDCAZGwzg

GOD DAYUM

Fake edit: LMAO @ the top comment

 

[Bgamer90]

I had never heard of Basketball Wives until my brother showed me this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYDCAZGwzg

GOD DAYUM

Fake edit: LMAO @ the top comment

Wow.

All these housewife shows out now are the perfect example that money can't buy class.

 

[dejay]

They are way too cheap to produce that you don't a very big following at all to justify a reality show. It's sorta like shovelware on the iphone.

In a nutshell. Big budget scripted TV needs a large audience, but getting a bunch of wannabes into do some reality bullshit takes very little. There are some reality shows I like; The Amazing Race is cool and would cost a bit.

As correctly mentioned before, there were game shows galore back in the day, and they were more or less reality shows in a studio. We just have better ways of doing non-studio stuff these days.

 

[ivysaur12]

In a nutshell. Big budget scripted TV needs a large audience, but getting a bunch of wannabes into do some reality bullshit takes very little. There are some reality shows I like; The Amazing Race is cool and would cost a bit.

As correctly mentioned before, there were game shows galore back in the day, and they were more or less reality shows in a studio. We just have better ways of doing non-studio stuff these days.

Plenty of poorly produced reality shows also fail miserably. The big hits (Idol, The Voice, The Amazing Race, Survivor) all succeed for very obvious reasons and are generally entertaining on their own merits.

 

[rezuth]

U mad if you think scripted TV is not big, its bigger than ever. The fact is that we are in a golden age of scripted TV at the moment. Hell, today an episode of Sherlock beats out the 200 million dollar movie in quality.

 

[thestopsign]

I feel like it is already being phased out a bit. At least not many people I know talk about it like they did with Survivor when it was first starting, and even American Idol is fast losing steam. Maybe I'm just hanging out with smarter people though.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

No. They are cheap as fuck to produce. And it's not really an "age" of reality shows. Really if you look at the 70s and 80s it was stuff like game shows and variety shows that were all the rage. Same shit.

Truth. Not to mention "reality TV" itself is really just an extension of the documentary, scripted shenanigans notwithstanding. I don't think it's going anywhere. The good ones are great tv.

 

[ivysaur12]

I feel like it is already being phased out a bit. At least not many people I know talk about it like they did with Survivor when it was first starting, and even American Idol is fast losing steam. Maybe I'm just hanging out with smarter people though.

Idol is stronger today than it was when it premiered. It's a cultural phenomena and will be around for a considerable amount of time.

 

[akira28]

God I hope so. I haven't been able to watch network TV since it began. PBS isn't the best holdover, but I'll take Hercule Poirot over bug eating backstabbers and bad singing any day.

 

[MIMIC]

Idol is stronger today than it was when it premiered. It's a cultural phenomena and will be around for a considerable amount of time.

Spot on about it being a cultural phenomenon. It even has its tentacles stretched into the music industry with people like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson selling 7 million + albums and sweeping awards shows.

Idol goes BEYOND tv. =p

 

[ivysaur12]

Spot on about it being a cultural phenomenon. It even has its tentacles stretched into the music industry with people like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson selling 7 million + albums and sweeping awards shows.

Idol goes BEYOND tv. =p

Kelly's success, and then Carrie, Daughtry, Adam Lambert... even Katherine McPhee's potential rise to stardom on Smash. It's built some of the biggest airway dominators in the past decade.

If this season of The Voice can get a big radio star (and it has the potential to), it'll start to cement itself. Thankfully for the show, the formal is different enough from Idol not to really overlap in the minds of viewers.

 

[Spire]

It's cheap to produce and gets ratings, it has basically replaced soap operas. It's going to be around for a very long time. I don't watch any of it but I got over it a long time ago, no point in pissing and moaning about it these days.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

It's like RAP, once that travesty was unleashed it will take a friggen miracle for people to have taste again. Same with those parades of trash reality shows.

Nobody's gonna take issue with this? Really? Unless rap is an acronym for some shitty tv show I'm missing here.

 

[fudgey_lumpkins]

I really wish that Western countries would adopt the Asian Drama model.

Fresh interesting content ever 13 weeks.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You don't have to watch them if you don't like them, you know.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Reality shows are nearly free to produce compared to most scripted shows, they'll be around forever.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

 

[D_Star]

Just be glad you guys don't have to endure the endless stream of idols-like shows that we have over here in the Netherlands.

Seriously, you can just skip most channels during prime time, as all you'll see is shows about who is the best singer/dancer/musical star/model/hairdresser (not kidding)/whatnot.

I rarely watch TV anymore because of these shows.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Will scripted television ever make a complete comeback? Reality television has been a staple on network T.V for over a decade already, and each new show that I stumble across seems more stupid and outlandish than the last. How much longer will viewers have to endure The Biggest Loser? Survivor? American Idol? When will it end?

Hopefully never.

 

[legend166]

'Reality Show' is such a broad term these days. It's a bit weird. How can the same term be used to describe Survivor and The Kardashians? Makes no sense.

 

[DiscoJer]

What I find funny though is the most popular ones - American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance? really aren't "new".

The Gong Show was basically the same as American Idol. Three judges often whirling out insults. And then later in the '80s you had Star Search

And Dance Fever (which was a childhood favorite and really needs to come out on DVD, dammit) was basically like the dancing shows of today. Except instead each show would have a winner, then at the end of the season they'd come back and compete against each other.

I guess the Kardashian/Jersey Shore shows are sort of new, but you did have the Lifestyles of the Rich and famous and dating shows from the early '90s. I guess Cops played a big role here, too.

 

[RSLYG]

Dog Whisperer new season start at 7 January on NAT GEO WILD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOXWpkNqVo

I'm definitely okay with this kind of "reality show".

 

[Ninja Scooter]

What I find funny though is the most popular ones - American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance? really aren't "new".

The Gong Show was basically the same as American Idol. Three judges often whirling out insults. And then later in the '80s you had Star Search

And Dance Fever (which was a childhood favorite and really needs to come out on DVD, dammit) was basically like the dancing shows of today. Except instead each show would have a winner, then at the end of the season they'd come back and compete against each other.

I guess the Kardashian/Jersey Shore shows are sort of new, but you did have the Lifestyles of the Rich and famous and dating shows from the early '90s. I guess Cops played a big role here, too.

Remember when "Dance shows" used to mean Soul Train and The Grind?

 

[sixteen-bit]

I dunno, between Breaking Bad and Mad Men and the like, I think scripted has been better than ever lately.

Both those shows aren't airing new episodes for a while

 

[FStop7]

If you're talking about broadcast viewership, sure. But cable networks continue to reach new ratings highs with their scripted shows.

Almost all of cable's highest rated shows are sports/reality.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/nielsens-charts.htm

The Closer is pretty much the flagship of cable scripted shows. Even Mad Men wouldn't make that list, their peak ratings are like 2.9 million. Breaking Bad's highest ratings are something like 2.6 million.

Nearly twice as many people watch a typical episode of Pawn Stars as Breaking Bad on its best day.

 

[FreeMufasa]

They're here to stay, sorry.

More Jerseylicious please.

 

[Chairman Yang]

I don't see the popularity of reality shows as a bad thing. It's not like their absence would suddenly make reality show fans get better taste and turn to stuff like Breaking Bad. If anything, with reality shows soaking up lots of people, scripted TV can be more easily catered to audiences that want better stuff, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.