Has reality TV gone too far?
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Guests Ruby Wax, Trisha Goddard and Nick Ferrari debated the merits of reality tv.
Last Saturday saw the final of the third series of reality TV show Britain's Got Talent. It drew 19.2 million viewers at its peak.
The programme has shot Susan Boyle to global fame. But after she lost out to dancers Diversity in the final, she was admitted to a London clinic to be treated for exhaustion.
It's the latest reality TV story to hit the headlines, and while this style of show is attracting huge numbers of viewers it's unlikely to be the last.
Has reality TV gone too far? Is it time to abolish the format? Or maybe you're a reality TV fan? Do you believe it can be a positive influence? Share your views and stories here.
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Comments
Reality TV is the most misnamed concept in television. Actual reality would be incredibly boring. What the producer's have to do is to find people who will "make good television" which inevitably means a high proportion of freaks and inadequates.
It is the modern equivalent of Lions vs. Christians, and something that we should in no way be proud of.
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I think the TV broadcasters have an obligation to protect the rights of certain contestants in the same way that employers and providers of goods and services do. In fact they could possibly be accused of failing to make 'reasonable adjustments' under the Disability Discrimination Act for Susan Boyle if they didn't provide for her needs having agreed that she could participate in the programme. People with learning difficulties or differences are protected under that legislation. I don't mean she shouldn't have the right to particpate; of course she did but she also had the right to be protected from the excessive media attention. Simon Cowell often asks the children to confirm that he should speak to them like adults (they're not going to disagree with him are they?). This seems to be a 'one size fits all' approach which is unacceptable for both the children and adults with different needs. Get rid of the lynch mob mentality from BGT and Big Brother which is so unpleasant and doesn't add anything to the experience.
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Why watch this poor quality nonsense on TV when it's readily available in your neighborhood or on the streets. At the end of the day it's just everyday life and those who watch are the very same people who slow me down on a motorway looking at a crash on the opposite carriageway. Shame on them.
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If you go on reality t.v you have to be prepared for the consequences whether paople like you or not. If people go on and act polite usually people will be polite to you. In Britains Got Talent many people go on with very silly ideas which they do not perform well. If these people took the criticism and went off stage quietly that would be fine but if they are cocky then people are bound to get annoyed with them.
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Where reality shows involve adults, then it is their decision. We are all aware that programmes like Big Brother are edited to make better TV. Many people expressed their concerns when Holly Steele broke down on Britain's Got Talent, but surely the responsibility must be with her parents - despite her being so upset on Friday night's show, they still allowed her to take part in the final. If they had been that concerned about the effects of the programme, they should have withdrawn her from the competition.
Why can't adult members of the general public be allowed to make their own decisions, without constantly being told what we should do.
Holly performed well in the final and I can only assume that her parents felt that she had recovered well enough to sing again. Last year's winner. George Samson, says he's had the best year ever. If the programme put an age limit on the show, we will be deprived of such stars as George.
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I think "reality" television is the laziest form of television genre. It's basically just voyeurism, "shows" like Big Brother etc. attempting to make "celebrities" of "normal" people is just pure nonsense. I fail to see the attraction of observing a disparate group of nonentities living in an electronic goldfish bowl. It's not even as simple as being able to change the channel to avoid the dross, the media saturation for these "shows" is so immense it's impossible to be totally disassociated from it. Other "shows" are equally mind-numbing, for example "i'm a celebrity get me out of here" .... how about, "you're a hasbeen get off of my television"? I think there's some serious mileage to this idea.
And PLEASE can we have the news back? I'm sick to death of the sensationalist tabloid nonsense masquerading as "news", i thought a bulletin contained facts and reality, not blatant speculation and sensationalism. Can the news be returned to exactly that, instead of the "entertainment" bulletin it seems to have evolved to? Seems curiously ironic to refer to it as "evolving" when in fact it's regressed to a dumbed down version of what it once was.
Yours, in anticipation of a summer of enforced misery,
Mr T
PS May a plague of infected swine be cast upon the next corporation that signs off on another series of "reality" nonsense.
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Yes I agree. It has been around for a number of years now and hasn't got any better in quality. Those who watch seem to enjoy the ridicule of people who have lost the plot. These programs take up slots that could be filled with the best of British television. We have some of the best program makers in the world. Give these slots to new up and coming program makers.
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I feel reality shows have had their time. They are the lowest form of entertainment and unfortunately are aimed at the lowest common denominator regarding the viewing public. They are cheap to make but I really don't believe the public would miss them if they were scrapped - and I wish they were! Do we really need more programs where people are ridiculed (both on screen and in other arenas such as the tabloid press and the internet), put down, goaded into emotional outbursts etc? With society currently in freefall, I feel television producers have a unique opportunity and are well placed to provide guidance through careful programming. I do not believe it when people argue 'it's what people want' when discussing reality TV. The same argument was made when Diana died, and the media brawl over that... 'it's what people want to read' was muted when arguments were made about the coverage in the tabloid press'... that is rubbish. People who buy those papers will buy them whatever is on the cover...
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That really doesn't stand as an argument surely if George Samson was that talented he could have worked hard and bombarded the relevent entertainment agents with his tapes just like artists did before this train wreck TV was invented.
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BGT is a excellent show showing Britain at its best. Anyone who has the guts (if not the talent) to enter this contest deserves a chance on stage. The degree of talent on this years final makes me believe that all the finalists from the show should be on the Royal Varieties show instead of some of the drivel we normally get.
Many thanks to all the contestants for bringing variety back to the television.
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Does it really take "guts" to enter a reality TV show? No I think I'll reserve my admiration for those who through all these years have defended the country from tyrants and fanatics those who will be at the D-Day services, who landed on those beaches and those who fell. True bravery God bless them all.
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Hi just been watching the show after a long day at the office, which was very enjoyable as usual. However, could you possibly ask Ruby Wax when she learned to speak through her arse when she talks, and talks, and talks ..........................
Thanks Ian
p.s Thought the hats looked great.
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A while back, Dom did a feature on a website that allowed people to quote a price, to deliver goods across the country, anyone could do it and it especially good for students who were crossing the country. Could anyone help me and tell me the name of the website?
Cheers
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Ruby and others commenting here are right; it takes more guts to keep faith in your talent and work your way up for a possible shot at fame, getting knocked down at auditions and castings isn't easy. There's nothing to stop people taking a shot on a show like BGT and we've seen from other selection shows that ultimately, it's not always the winners that get the long term careers.
The skill and talent that is prolific in the British entertainment industry both on and off stage are constantly undervalued by the public in the U.K., more than anywhere else in the world. True talent wins through but only if we search it out in the first place.
We should be show casing our existing world class performers, not devaluing them.
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Big Brother broadened the outlook on human nature, so nobody could kid you that you were isolated in your behaviour to manipulate you. However, it has become predictable and tired. Such reality shows are ultimately not good for the psyche, although an unexpectedly large number of people have forged lucrative careers through BG.
The illusion of another, finer reality has finally been exploded as we see clebrities unashamedly behave like family members. It is not good. However, talent shows date back to the fifties, they are nothing new. In the old days there was not the painful hype that accompanies BGT.
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Reality TV ran out of steam ages ago, I would have hoped that as we have had 4 Disasters lately now would be the tyime to stop the tedious boredom First we had Racism in Celebrity Big Brother then we had John Sargent did the dishonorable thing in jumping ship and letting thusands of people who had spent money voting for him down and now Susan Boyle being allowed to continue when people should have advised her to pull out (Not to mention the huge bias that was shown for her on ITV) and I also think Britain's Got Talent is wrong in allowing children as young as 10 to compete.
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Big Brother broadened the outlook on human nature, so nobody could kid you that you were isolated in your behaviour to manipulate you. However, it has become predictable and tired. Such reality shows are ultimately not good for the psyche, although an unexpectedly large number of people have forged lucrative careers through BB.
The illusion of another, finer reality has finally been exploded as we see clebrities unashamedly behave like family members. It is not good. However, talent shows date back to the fifties, they are nothing new. In the old days there was not the painful hype that accompanies BGT.
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I never watch any reality shows. The programme makers seem to go for the quirky and often off the wall type of person and I dont agree with the exploitation of people that are not sensible enough to realise they are being used as entertainment. Its no better than a human circus from centuries ago. It also takes away from the actors and actresses that have trained to be in plays and films. Its just a lazy and cheap form of entertainment
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