Reality Shows
Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2003
Well, I�ve been following the show Last Comic Standing and it has proven to me why I really don�t like how reality shows end. What I liked about the show was them being snipey houseguests or being mean to each other. Like when Ralphie and the others made Dat think that they were playing hide and seek and it took him over an hour to come looking for why no one was looking for him. Oh, that�s just painful, man.
But the standup bits which were at the end of each show, the challenges, were either great or I couldn�t stand them. I have sat through exactly one of Dat Phan�s horrible standup routines. Last night, I jumped forward 30 seconds and said, �If he�s still talking about his mom or doing the accent, I jump again.� And I jumped and jumped until the end of his set. I don�t think he can go three seconds without saying the word �Mom� or doing his exaggerated Vietnamese accent.
Now, Survivor 2, that was a reality show with a good ending.
Oh, and I don�t consider American Idol a reality show. It�s a talent show. And I don�t consider The Restaurant a real reality show. It�s a documentary. A reality show, by my definition, is really a game show that lasts many days. Survivor is just a game show. So was Last Comic Standing. And so is Big Brother.
When Leeann went whitewater rafting with us, on the way up we were talking about the differences between Big Brother in los Estados Unidos and in the UK.
In the US Big Brother, every Wednesday there is a competition for who will be the next �Head of Household.� This person gets their own room which has a closing door and a lock on it. They get better food and will have a walkman with one CD. They also nominate two people for the other houseguests to vote on as to which they want out of there. That nomination, as well as the food challenge happen on Friday. Food challenges help keep you from eating only peanut butter, jelly, bread, and water for the week. On Tuesday, we see what happened over the weekend, and it seems that Veto day is Monday. Veto is actually Golden Veto this year. Golden Veto means you can take off one of the nominated people, and you can�t be the one that the HOH puts up. This gaming system makes for some really crazy political wrangling and grudge stuff. Ooh.
In the UK Big Brother, rather than running around and having challenges, they don�t. Leeann says they lie around the house all day. Every week, each houseguest secretly votes for three people they want to be put out of the house. If I remember correctly, the two who get the most votes are nominated for eviction. Then, the population of viewers votes who stays and who goes. That�s it. However, they do have something we don�t have. They have a channel on their TV which shows footage in four hour blocks several times each day. They also have the show on for an hour each night, rather than just three times a week. So the viewers bond to the participants more. So far, this is the closest that I�ve seen to the ideal, the real Truman Show.
Speaking of TV shows, I�m thinking that this show, The Mullets, will change our culture. Why? Because all the people out there in mulletland who don�t know that the world considers them a High Ape at best are going to find out. Face it, mullet people don�t know about the sites on the internet which make fun of people with mullets. They�re too busy working on their F-body Chevy and listening to their favorite Winger cassette for that. What they will notice, however, is a sitcom. So, I predict, by 2020, there will be no more mullets. Well, except for the high fashion ironic mullets. And then in 2030 we�ll all be wearing them. Probably with color shifting parachute pants and thin LCD SmartTies�.
Oh, and I found out that Labman and TC actually sometimes read this. I knew that TC knew about it, but I always assumed they didn�t read it. After all, my dad knows about it, but wouldn�t read this. I�ve never understood that. But maybe, when I�m an old dude, and my kid has a website, maybe I won�t be interested in it either. After all, most of the time�s this isn�t about what happens to me, it�s about what I think about stuff. And I wouldn�t even try to tell my family about how Big Brother works, for example.
The way I found out that they read it is that there is now posted in the lab a flyer for a wrestling grudge match of me vs. The Guy Who Picked Up The Air Compressor. Ooh, I�ll slaaaam that little neo-hippie punk. He cut my brother�s hair off!