How to Handle Being "Thrown Under the Bus"
People still say “I didn’t come here to make friends” on reality shows. Heck, on Ink Master someone says it almost every week. They have a right to be a jerk, but at least they could be original about it.
That’s my main problem with reality TV. One of the chief reasons the genre took off was that writers, actors, and set designers cost money. Even a modest hour-long TV show costs something like a million dollars per episode too produce. Ideally, reality TV doesn’t need writers, actors, or set designers. Pointing a camera at people doing something interesting is cheap.
But in time reality got boring, so they started trying to “improve” on reality, which required the “real people” to think up interesting situations then “sell” those situations on camera; activities that are usually called “writing,” and “acting.” And a lot of the shows feature people renovating and decorating houses, AKA “designing the set.”
So now, when you watch a reality show, you usually get formulaic, unimaginative fiction, performed by amateurs.
If you think I’m being overly harsh, go watch HGTV. Odds are, you’ll see two people overacting to a “problem” they solve five seconds after the commercial break, then proudly unveiling their innovative kitchen design, featuring subway tiles and white shaker cabinets.
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