Television

Reality TV has Ruined Other Genres

Television has been around for many, many years, almost to the point of where most people don't know how to live without it. Throughout its extensive history, television networks have developed so many different genres: drama, history, horror, comedy, etc. However, for the last, roughly, 15 years, a new kind of genre has taken over and become one of, if not the most, popular genres out right now - Reality Television. 

The first true reality TV show introduced was The Real World: New York on MTV. The show was about seven people who lived in the same apartment complex in New York, essentially a Reality TV version of Friends, and at the time, it was a complete success due to its originality and fresh take on TV. However, despite this being a start to a new generation of television shows, it will quickly become simultaneously loved and despised by the world. 

Although MTV was the original reality TV show channel, many others have followed suit with their own creations. American Idol, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Hell's Kitchen, Duck Dynasty: these are merely a few of the more modern reality TV programs that are available to the public right now, and each one of these programs has gained an enormous following, making them, as of 2017, tied for the second most popular genre on television (TV Genre Rating).

Despite their popularity, reality TV has also become extremely hated, mainly due to the claim that many have become washed out or that certain ones required no talent or skill to help make the show popular. According to Charles J. Orlando, "...some of TV was pretty intelligent—and if not smart, it was entertaining. M*A*S*H and Taxi answered the call for smart comedy... while the award-winning Hill Street Blues (with its long, connected episodic content and intertwined plot lines) changed TV writing forever (resulting in more award-winning shows: The Sopranos, LOST, and more). In "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter ", author Stephen Johnson's theory is that popular culture – in particular television shows and video games – has grown more complex and demanding over time and is improving society within terms of intelligence and idea. But when he wrote it, he clearly didn't include the impact of Reality TV. Today, with entertainment's nudge/push/violent shove, we are sinking lower and lower into the abyss of mediocrity, scandal, and have quietly embraced a "fuck-the-next-guy" mentality. We watch others in Reality TV shows that are worse off than we are, and we instantly feel better... about ourselves. What parent hasn't been shocked at the "parenting" showcased on Toddlers & Tiaras (or it's mega-hit spin-off Here Comes Honey Boo Boo) and simultaneously feel bewildered (at the parenting), indignant (at the outrage of it being broadcast at all), and relieved (that OUR kids aren't "so screwed up", and that "we aren't parents like that!")."

Still, the results can't be denied. Reality TV is extremely popular. There is a strong probability that reality TV will remain in pop culture for quite some time. Since 1992, during the airing of the first episode of The Real World: New York, reality TV has, and will be, one of the highest grossing genres of Television.