So what makes a Reality Show worth watching? First, the show must exhibit a situation that is plausible. Second, the participants must be minimally talented or remotely interesting—better to have a little bit of both. Finally, I like the notion of sponsors supporting a show (or shows) where someone who is truly in need gets something out of the deal. That’s the criteria…short and sweet. And so, once again, for you, my Blog audience, I have compiled the Top Ten Reality Shows that are worthy of your time:
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – If this show doesn’t put a smile on your face, then you have a heart of stone. Kudos to Sears for sponsoring this show and providing so much gear to so many people in need. The show’s team of designers and engineers select families who have special needs and do renovations—and in some cases, complete demolition and rebuilds—of the recipients’ homes. The stars of the show are the families, as it should be. The designers are compassionate, and genuinely enjoy their jobs that allow them to help others. Ty Pennington, the beatnik design leader with spiked hair, keeps it all together and has great home-side manner with his co-workers and others on the show. Good people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and capabilities, and when I watch this show, it reminds me of what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of. Few shows are compelling, have a profound impact on real lives, depict real compassion, and show how people of different backgrounds can come together to accomplish a common goal. I think this show is not only worthy of your time, it is, quite literally, “Must See” TV.
- American Idol – Some may quibble over this show, but it has all the key components. First, this show is plausible. From Ed Sullivan to Showtime at the Apollo, talent shows have been a staple in American culture. The judges ensure that the final crop of contestants are the ones with the best talent, but to keep it real: a lot of the fun in watching this show is seeing the train wreck auditions from contestants looking for five minutes of fame. Then there’s Simon, the ultimate antagonist. Personally, I appreciate his arrogance if only because he says what needs to be said. Can he sometimes be mean-spirited? Certainly. But consider Simon’s quips as 10-second therapy for those in need—because you KNOW some of those people really need it! This show ranks high on my list because the contestants who can sing are truly entertaining. The show evolves over the course of its fifteen-or-so episodes and has even evolved from its first season. Even the Paula Abdul controversy gave the judges an opportunity to do a parody short-film of itself, which let the audience know they don’t really take themselves all that seriously. Brilliant! No (Reality) show is perfect, but in terms of being unpredictable and entertaining, history will show that American Idol is as good as its spiritual predecessors as well. And of course, with handy, dandy, TiVO, you can always cut to the singing, see Simon rant, and bypass all that filibustering by Ryan Seacrest!
- Pimp My Ride – It’s said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and MTV’s producers have hit a home run with this program’s version of “Home Makeover (Lite)” for watchers of MTV. Gangsta rapper, Xzibit, proves that a host need not look like Ryan Seacrest, and his urban edge always adds comic relief to the show. X, as he’s known, picks unsuspecting people with old, decrepit cars and gives the car complete makeovers care of West Coast Customs. Like the Home Makeover show, the people selected generally have a compelling story. But the real entertainment starts when the guys at West Coast transform vehicles. From 20-inch, chrome rims and plasma displays, to pile driver speakers and new engines, West Coast Customs does restorations to die for. And the look on the recipients’ faces when they see their new “ride”? Priceless!
- Big – I find myself watching channels I never would have watched before had they not been broadcast in high definition. Thankfully, I stumbled upon the show, Big, on the Discovery channel. Big’s premise is simple: take an ordinary, everyday appliance, scale it by several orders of magnitude, and set a Guinness World Record! Say what? You don’t need a treadmill that can support a Toyota Tacoma? Can’t find a good use for a 16-ft blender? Or a 20-ft Dyson vacuum cleaner? The hook to each episode is that the team of engineers has a self-imposed, 5-day deadline to design, fabricate, build, and test their devices. What’s interesting about the program is the process that the engineers go through to design the devices, obtain obscure parts, and finish under deadline pressure…that and the fact that all of the devices (to date) actually work in their scale form! Big typically has a guest builder, such as the chief designer of the Dyson vacuum cleaner…okay, okay… so he wasn’t Enzo Ferrari, but the guy helped the team fabricate a working vacuum cleaner, okay?!
- Pinks – Pinks, a Speed Channel show, is all about testosterone. Men like cars. Fast cars. In a salute to drag racing from the 50’s and 60’s, this show pits two car owners against one another in a high stakes, winner-(literally)-takes-the-other-guy’s-car, best of five, shoot out. The adrenaline runs high from the very beginning as the drivers negotiate head starts and engine modifications in an effort to level the playing field. To further keep tensions high, there’s quite a bit of poker-style bluffing that goes on as well. By the time one of the teams is facing “elimination,” you can see steam rising from the temples of the owner. Reality TV? It doesn’t get more real than losing the title to your beloved car, does it?
- The Apprentice – It took me a while to warm up to this program, but the “Real” in this reality program comes from what people are willing to do—and willing to compromise—in an effort to win the almighty dollar. And what better antagonist is there to orchestrate such a program than Donald Trump? Bad comb-over notwithstanding, “The Donald” does an honorable job of testing his potential protégés by pitting them against one another in contests that test their fortitude, instincts, marketing skills, and yes, their ethics. Also “real” in this elongated interview process is that there is no contrived voting by the interviewees, or by the audience. As the spectator, you get to see the real let down when the contestants on the losing end of the game hear those cutting words, “You’re fired!”
- [Tie:] PTI and Quite Frankly (with Stephen A. Smith) – Okay, so these aren’t exactly realty shows in the purest sense of the term, but as sports/talk shows go, these two are the cream of the crop.
· Pardon The Interruption (or PTI) is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, two sports writers from the Washington Post who moonlight on ESPN. Each day they berate each other in humorous fashion about the opinions the other has on the sports topics of the day. One could argue that the format of the program, with sidebar menus providing a virtual table of contents of forthcoming topics, and gimmicky games—Good Cop/Bad Cop, Mail Time, and Face Off are my personal favorites. But the show loses a step when either or both hosts are on vacation and a “fill-in” host takes over. The show chemistry between Tony and Michael is as entertaining as the topics themselves.
· Quite Frankly, with Stephen A. Smith, is the new show on the block, but host Stephen A. Smith keeps things flowing nicely with his charismatic observations on sports topics of the day. Some think his bravado is over-bearing, but I like the fact that he isn’t afraid to challenge his guests intellectually. Take Ron Artest for example, Stephen gave him a national stage to show contrition and give America some insight into what was on his mind when he bolted into the stands in Detroit. Sadly, despite Stephen’s attempt to steer him toward the “right” answers, Ron simply took the proverbial rope and hung himself. Stephen’s restraint and integrity are admirable in a field of journalist who generally don’t know how to go for the jugular with style. I hope he has as long a run on ESPN2 as Bryant Gumbel has had on HBO. - Last Comic Standing – What happens when you cross pollinate American Idol with late night stand up? Why you get Last Comic Standing, of course! Personally, I find the comedy of host Jay Mohr a bit bland, but he’s perfect in this role because he doesn’t upstage the real talent of the show: the contestants. Comedy is a pretty rampant on TV these days with Dave Chappelle, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night TV all vying for your guffaws. LCS gives the audience some insight into a comic’s soul, and answers the question, “What makes a comic laugh?”
- [None] – Yeah. I can’t believe I picked this “show,” either. I struggled mightily with this pick. I almost chose The Amazing Race—which isn’t so “amazing” —or America’s Next Top Model, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Heck, I rather sit through an Oprah marathon than watch any of the other Reality TV fare. That I had to scrape by and pass two of our fair nation’s top sports/talk shows to round out my top ten list tells you everything you need to know about the state of reality television…but I digress. Reality is…well…not rocket science. Let’s face it, reality is best left to the pros: people in the real world.
And there you have it. Read. Watch. Enjoy...
Peace,
+THINKER
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