Will it ever stop?! I'm referring to the persistent decline of American Television, and I suppose American society, as the "reality" genre of programs continues to grow like the redness around a boil.
Of the myriad channels on cable, my wife has retreated to HGTV where you can at least be assured that you will not be subjected to gore, trash talk, cruelty or some other coarseness. It's just happy people playing house.
But ratings must be managed and that can only be done by fmeeting America's persistent demand for more stimulation. We have finally desensitized to the point that reality doesn't even have to be real. We are happy to watch the most contrived, artificial, petty, pseudo-drama that the comic-book-writers of "reality" TV can excrete.
And now HGTV is about to soil itself. As I walk past the TV I hear a real estate agent saying "I wake up every morning ready for a fight." or some such drivel; I couldn't muster the curiosity to listen; but it was apparent that just showing houses and discussing square footage is no longer enough. Now, they are going to introduce, controversy, tension and any form of angst they can simulate. I've no doubt that we will soon see one realtor throwing her clipboard at another just before the two engage in an all-out cat fight complete with double reverse back flips off the ropes and pile-drivers. Season 2 will feature realtor tag teams and someone will be slammed with a folding chair. Who knows, maybe season 3 realtors will show up with masks and no shirts.
Now where would I get an idea like that? From the previews of next week's Bridezilla where the ex-fiance shows up, a fight ensues and, OH HOW COINCIDENTAL, there were film and sound crews there, everyone happened to have a mic on and the camera angles were spontaneously perfect! This reality is truly stranger than fiction. Does no one have the desire to keep from tracking this dog poo across their inner carpet?
How frustrating to watch a great society with some commendable values, great accomplishments and somewhat sophisticated structures continually slide toward barbarism.
