Get Real

Continuing on the theme of frivolous TV programs, why are "reality" shows so popular? They're not even real, for goodness sake. First, participants must audition; randomness goes out the window. Second, the producers then select particular people from the applicants, further reducing any chance of spontaneity. Maybe even everything they then put on the air is scripted to heighten perceived tension. (I wouldn't know, as I don't watch any of those programs.)

If I recall correctly, this phenomenon started with an MTV program called "The Real World", which selected college age students then shoved them into one house. If they wanted "real" in college, they should have just stuck cameras into any dorm in the country. Watch what happens when two people, truly randomly selected, are stuck in a 12' x 12' room and told that they have to live together for eight or nine months.

If you want even more conflict, mount a camera to capture what happens when 40 college guys have to share one bathroom. I had thought that the women's bathroom would generate far more interest, but we'd have to limit the broadcast to the Playboy channel or pay-per-view (or censor it for Spike TV), decreasing the audience size. Plus, I suspect that the carnage of young women fighting over makeup, hairspray, a spot in front of the very few mirrors, and which boy should belong to which girl would be far too vivid for most people to witness.