Jolie RobersonGeneral thoughts on Television Programming
February 5th 2009 01:57
What is it about television executives that makes it a surprise when a solid show like Leverage, Tuesday on TNT, is renewed? Why are we the viewers so accustomed to pessimism, with respect to new shows? Is it because of shows like Firefly, an instant cult classic, with modest theatrical numbers with Serenity, were killed so ruthlessly that we dare not hope?
It is so odd, in my opinion, that I am not only the target market for most television, but that I am also, quite often, disappointed when the network kills a good show, yet strings along a mediocre show, simply because the former challenges the viewer while the later expects little of the viewer. Look at how much of a percentage of airtime goes to reality-based programming, although I should be quotes around reality since people act to a character on those shows, too.
Maybe writer-less programming is a better term, since that is, mostly, what reality shows are, programs without writers. You take a group of people, often selected with the desire to promote drama and conflict, throw them into a designed situation and then convince the viewer that it is all something we are not suppose to see or important.
Obviously I am not a fan of reality television, save for some of the contest shows, but that is because I feel that reality shows, like American Idol, Big Brother, and the romance/hook-up shows are simply cruel voyeurism, thus not good for the human condition. With these aforementioned shows we participate in cruel treatment of people, setting them up, often purposefully so, to fail or look the fool, and we are not laughing with them, but at them. Not only that, but we encourage some extremely bad behavior.
As an example: While I am sure that Tiffany Pollard, a.k.a. New York from Flavor of Love and I Love New York fame, is loved by her family and friends and, possibly, is a nice person away from the cameras, or prior to her reality-celebrity, that is not how she seems to be now. Tiffany Pollard either ceased to exist when she became "New York" for Flavor of Love, or else Tiffany really is someone who is vain, insipid, ignorant, nakedly ambitious, deluded with respects to all things romantic and human. Right here, with "New York," we have a prime example of reality television turning someone into a bad example of a human being and making the fool of them, for multiple seasons, in such a manner that is so blatant that you know it must be the desires of the producers of the shows she is involved in.
Now I do not wish to be negative, as from time to time we have seen true people, good and bad, from reality television, as I am sure that Puck really is that eccentric of a person and that Pedro really was that solid of a person. Hell, I will even say that Judd seems like a nice guy, regardless of the issues I have with his handling of Green Arrow. There are a lot of true genuine success stories that come out of reality television, many of which are from MTV's shows, but there is also a lot of bad, too.
What I guess I am trying to say, or get at, is that I wish network executives would program up, instead of down, with respects to the expectations from their audience, as we are not as simple as they seem to think we are and I would like them to notice it.
It is so odd, in my opinion, that I am not only the target market for most television, but that I am also, quite often, disappointed when the network kills a good show, yet strings along a mediocre show, simply because the former challenges the viewer while the later expects little of the viewer. Look at how much of a percentage of airtime goes to reality-based programming, although I should be quotes around reality since people act to a character on those shows, too.
Maybe writer-less programming is a better term, since that is, mostly, what reality shows are, programs without writers. You take a group of people, often selected with the desire to promote drama and conflict, throw them into a designed situation and then convince the viewer that it is all something we are not suppose to see or important.
Obviously I am not a fan of reality television, save for some of the contest shows, but that is because I feel that reality shows, like American Idol, Big Brother, and the romance/hook-up shows are simply cruel voyeurism, thus not good for the human condition. With these aforementioned shows we participate in cruel treatment of people, setting them up, often purposefully so, to fail or look the fool, and we are not laughing with them, but at them. Not only that, but we encourage some extremely bad behavior.
As an example: While I am sure that Tiffany Pollard, a.k.a. New York from Flavor of Love and I Love New York fame, is loved by her family and friends and, possibly, is a nice person away from the cameras, or prior to her reality-celebrity, that is not how she seems to be now. Tiffany Pollard either ceased to exist when she became "New York" for Flavor of Love, or else Tiffany really is someone who is vain, insipid, ignorant, nakedly ambitious, deluded with respects to all things romantic and human. Right here, with "New York," we have a prime example of reality television turning someone into a bad example of a human being and making the fool of them, for multiple seasons, in such a manner that is so blatant that you know it must be the desires of the producers of the shows she is involved in.
Now I do not wish to be negative, as from time to time we have seen true people, good and bad, from reality television, as I am sure that Puck really is that eccentric of a person and that Pedro really was that solid of a person. Hell, I will even say that Judd seems like a nice guy, regardless of the issues I have with his handling of Green Arrow. There are a lot of true genuine success stories that come out of reality television, many of which are from MTV's shows, but there is also a lot of bad, too.
What I guess I am trying to say, or get at, is that I wish network executives would program up, instead of down, with respects to the expectations from their audience, as we are not as simple as they seem to think we are and I would like them to notice it.
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