1. What do you think of reality TV? Explain your stance.
As someone who routinely watches, even sits up waiting until the torrents finish downloading (Damn University...or more simply, damn lackk of money for cable), reality television, I can honestly say that the reason I enjoy it as much as I do is because of the interpersonal relations.
However, there is a limit to how much of this I can take. I love some shows because on top of providing that interpersonal dynamic, they offer something else. The Amazing Race has people racing around the world, doing awesome stuff. They are slowly moving further towards more of a personal attack realm (The Yield, the constant emphasis on Colin and Christies vs. Mirna and Charla this past season), but in the end the show is still about waiting to see who will cross a finish line first. You get so attached to these people, that when that team crosses that finish line you scream out loud, start cheering, and then lose all self control.
This is why I love reality television. You become invested in these people not unlike yourself. I related to Chip because he was so AMUSED by everything. I related to him because he said "It's on like Donkey Kong" and "We're on the NILE" with such youthful exuberance, despite being one of the older guys on the race. You get to enjoy these people so much that the emotional investment keeps you there, not the show itself.
Survivor falls into the other category; where it's all about these people fighting out amongst one another. The tasks are there to provide reward and immunity, but too often it falls into product placement, and fails to really provide something other than pure bitching. And do you know what, it has its charms as well.
The Apprentice has enough of both to be a perfect amalgamation. It has the bitchiness of the boardroom combined with the task at hand, which themselves can be really cool to watch. Watching the Saturday reruns of The Apprentice, where it has like 40 minutes of Boardroom footage, is so interesting, because it's like a different show without the balance. An interesting one, but different.
It's about balance. Part of it is about the game; the other half is about the people. The more you get invested in one, usually the more you get invested in the other. Some shows, like Big Brother, or The Surreal Life, are nothing but people. Reality Competition Programs (As the Emmy category calls them) have enough of everything to keep me entertained, unless the subject matter (To an extent, American Idol [Although I get addicted to it, I don't consider it good TV] and, definitely, Last Comic Standing) isn't what I like.
2. Why do you think it's so popular?
Because people like to see people they could be doing stuff they could do and interacting as they would. And, because it's cheap to produce, they cana pump out so many of them that they almost promote each other.
And of course, people love clusterfucks. And these shows will give you such bitchiness and terrible human relations skills in fine form, and people love seeing people destroy their integrity. It's just human nature.
3. When did you remember first hearing about it?
Entertainment Tonight was on. Mary Hart was speaking far too excitedly, and Bob Goen was...well, I don't have an adjective for him, so sue me.
Anyways, they talked about how CBS had gotten the rights to a Swedish show where people were put on a deserted island and had to fend for themselves.
My thought was "How stupid! What, they watch people starve? Who cares about that!?". I have since watched every single season of the show, and consider it to be good television. It has had its off moments, but the concept was so much more than people on a desert island. It was about the game, and how they worked as tribes. THAT was the true beginning of reality TV, when someone combined those two aspects well enough to make engaging television.
4. When do you think it will lose its flair?
The good shows won't. The Apprentice, Survivor and The Amazing Race have enough of the right qualities to keep going and going, because the nature of people to be competitive and sometimes complete idiots will not change. The viewing tastes of the public will be what will have to change for these shows to lose their flair.
i get hooked on the amazing race and america's next top model though.. and the apprentice! i generally dislike any shows that involve the public voting on them.