Has Reality TV Hit Rock Bottom?
Vomit's Got Its Own Reality Series This Summer
"If you lose on 'The Bachelor,' you become the bachelorette," he continued. "It's like a hydra — you cut off one head and two more take its place."
There are a couple of reasons reality series won't soon stop spawning. As depraved and trite as some shows may seem, they're guaranteed to get someone's attention. "America's Got Talent" may be a sloppy Joe to "American Idol" and a local carnival freak show, but it was TV's top-rated series last summer, averaging 11.5 million viewers, and is poised to draw as big an audience this season. Plus, reality series are, as a rule, cheaper for networks to produce than scripted shows (no A-list talent or writers to pay), and they're showing they can continue to reap revenue in syndication.
"They've started to show a little bit of afterlife. Cable shows are running reality marathons, so reality's seeming more repeatable than it used to be," said James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't see reality going out of favor anytime soon, especially as ratings for the broadcast networks are eroding and the cost of producing a scripted show is going up. There's no way you can't do the less expensive, unscripted shows."
Back in 1992, when Jonathan Murray pitched a show about seven strangers picked to live in a house, the idea was revolutionary. Today, were it not for its 20-season history, he's not sure "The Real World" would survive alongside the likes of "Flavor of Love" and "The Moment of Truth."
"'The Real World's' almost looking pure compared to a lot of what's on," he said. "It's difficult because everyone's trying to be louder than the next guy to get attention. There's this feeling that the concept has to be really loud to break through the clutter. You're trying to stand out. You want something that can be put into a great 30-second promo."
"There are still standards out there," he added. "But as these cable networks try to differentiate themselves from others, the standards will bend too."
"Hurl!" (premiering July 15 on the basic cable network G4) is an example of that. Ten years ago, it would have been out of the question to base a TV show around vomit. Today, a little artful editing allows it to star in its own reality series.
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