I’ve come to hate the phrase “reality television,” as it’s currently being used. All the shows that pass as “reality TV” are just game shows. Just because something isn’t scripted doesn’t mean it’s “real.” Almost everything minus the contestants’ reactions are highly controlled. And so is it a social comment on the state of television that we look to “game shows” for “real” human interaction?
Don’t get me wrong. Some of my favorite shows fall into this category. But I won’t go so far to call them “reality.” I read over the People’s Choice Award winners the other day, and found that they have a category for “reality” show. (Survivor won.) The Emmys tastefully call their corresponding category “Non-Fiction,” and there is a subcategory for “Reality.” But a look at last year’s nominees reveals the Academy leaning in the documentary direction, like The Osbournes, American High, and Frontier House.
Speaking of documentaries, I finally got around to watching the PBS program on Lance Loud, who appeared in the 1970s “reality” series An American Family. Very moving. Immediately following, our local station also broadcast an original episode of the series, where Lance’s mom visits him in New York City. There’s so much drama there, restrained and without unnecessary sensationalism.
An NBC Christmas. Sean Hayes singing “The Christmas Song.” Megan Mullally on “Silent Night.” It’s all on the NBC Celebrity Christmas CD. Aside from them, of course, it runs the gamut from bad to mediocre, I’m afraid. Martin Sheen, John Spencer, and Stockard Channing on “Wonderful Christmastime”? Yikes. Track listing with artists is available on the Shop NBC website.
Top down. I like that ad for the new VW Beetle Convertible. More than anything, it’s the music: “Mr. Blue Sky” by Jeff Lynne, also heard on the commercial for the movie Adaptation. It’s a cute car, but I couldn’t imagine actually driving one without being self-conscious. It’s all, “Look at me! in my supercute car!” The original Beetle convertible had more swank.