The whole “reality TV” craze I never have understood. I guess, from what I read, that it all started with some show called “Survivor” (which I’ve never seen) and at first, I didn’t really notice reality shows, they were few and far between.
But, now everything has changed. Every night there is some sort of reality show on TV, often many more than one. And the thing is, these aren’t “real”! I mean, supposedly reality TV is unscripted, normal people doing their thing while cameras follow along, but the fact is, the vast majority of these shows are scripted – at least to a point. Sure, there may not be a “script” like what drama or comedy shows have, but let’s get this clear: These programs are scripted. The people are “chosen” based on ratings. Even Survivor (from what I’ve read) has done this. While it first was supposedly just random people chosen, it came out that some seasons the people were hand-picked based on things like personality, appearance, etc, and chosen specifically for ratings. That’s just lame, sorry, but it is.
So, overall, I’ve really disliked reality shows, and never got into them. But, a few years ago, I wandered through the channels, and happened across Hell’s Kitchen. I’d never heard of this mean, foul-mouthed guy, Gordon Ramsay, but I couldn’t change the channel, it was almost mesmerizing, the way he berated these “applicants” who were vying for a chance to run one of his famous restaurants. It was so obviously a show that was planned specifically for TV (do most kitchens have 10+ cameras in them, placed in strategic positions to monitor the action going on at all times? Come on…), and obviously his rants were overdone – seriously, could anyone be that much of a jerk to his employees? And yet, from that day, I’ve been hooked. Go figure.
And then I found Top Chef, which was like Hell’s Kitchen, but nicer, and funnier, and the judge dude, Tom Colicchio: So fine! And Iron Chef, while I absolutely, totally, completely, and in all other ways, abhor this “chairman” dude (can you say overacting?), I just like the idea I guess, chefs vying for a prize, creating crazy and wild dishes I’ve never heard of, with ingredients I’ve never heard of. And my most recent find, Man vs. Food. A guy who isn’t a competitive eater goes around the country trying restaurant’s “Eating Challenges”, that usually are based on the concept of eating mass amounts of something, but occasionally are about eating spicy things. This one show, the guy (Adam) has to eat only 6 of these really hot wings – but they are made from the Ghost Chili – the hottest chili in the entire world. This chili is basically like pouring pepper spray into your mouth, when you consider the Scoville Scale.
Now, all of this may not seem that strange to you, but you have to understand some things about me: First, I’m a vegetarian. That alone, should indicate the strangeness of the appeal of these shows to me. Why would someone who never eats meat want to watch a show that revolves around how to prepare a variety of foods, meat included? Who knows. I can’t explain it. But the other strange thing is that I honestly do not enjoy food. I don’t like to eat, I don’t go out to restaurants, I don’t cook. For me, food is something that is sort of necessary, sometimes, but not something I particularly enjoy. I have a pretty limited list of foods I eat, I could count them on two hands easily. So it really is strange that of all the “reality” shows out there, this genre would be the genre I watch the most.
Strange, right? Go figure…
