Let's talk about reality television, shall we?
I would not call myself a reality tv fan, but I have not sworn it off. There is good reality television. There is bad reality television, as is the case with any genre of any art form. (Is reality television art? Yep!) I like a lot of stuff from Miley Cyrus' album. The same goes for Selena Gomez's most recent release. I even liked "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber. But, I wouldn't say I LOVE pop music. The exact same goes for reality television. I'm a huge fan of Survivor, and will continue watching as long as the show casts engaging personalities. What makes Survivor a phenomenal television show is the relationships between the cast members. The "social game" always plays a big part in the final vote. How well did each person in the final three treat each of the jury members? And, does that outweigh their genius, but ruthless, gameplay? Sometimes it does, (see: Tyson) and sometimes it doesn't (see: Russell). Some reality television is simply people yelling at people. But, some is people creating and destroying relationships, and that is the best kind of reality television. The most recent season of Survivor pitted family members against each other. This season of The Real World has people living with their exes. And, MTV has just started a new show called "Are You The One?" and so far it's amazing.
Are You The One? puts 20 single people (10 men and 10 women) in a mansion in Hawaii. Each person has been secretly matched up with someone else in the house. The objective of the show is for each of them to discover their perfect match. Now, there are some very obvious problems with this concept. First, it appears everyone is straight. One man and one woman. I don't think it's a political statement. They probably just didn't think it through. It would make more sense if everyone was bisexual. Maybe it wouldn't make more sense, but it would certainly make things more challenging. Maybe someone (or two) will reveal themselves as bi or gay later in the season, but so far, that doesn't seem like a possibility. The second problem, and less serious because this is only a television show is, what happens when the show ends? People from these types of shows have said it's hard to keep up a fake personality for the entire length of the show. And, that may be the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was exaggerating their personality for the cameras. Maybe not. Hopefully not.
The Real World: Ex-plosion is three episodes in. So far, it's like every other season of the show. Seven strangers living in a house, getting drunk, getting in fights and hooking up. It's been great. But, in the next episode, the cast's exes move in. It's going to be amazing. This season is all kinds of reinvigorated. The old logo is gone. The cut between scenes quickly and have title cards in bright colors transitioning between scenes that say things like "that night." The opening monologue is gone. And, the producers and crew are not even trying to hide themselves. It's refreshing. It's fun. I love it. One more subtle change is the fact that, almost anytime someone appears in a scene, their name appears on screen. This is usually reserved for guests. But, this season, even the regular cast members get that treatment. It's actually very helpful in learning each person's name.
I bring up the name card thing because Are You The One? has not been doing that, and it (currently) has three times as many cast members. The only names I know are those of the people who played a major role in the first episode. Granted, The Real World has had three times as many episodes so far this season, but when the host of Are You The One? called for Paige near the end of the episode, I said "Who?"
Are You The One? has a lot of promise as a show, but it's still in that cheesy first season rut. There is some cool stuff, like the truth booth, in which one couple enters to see if they are correct in their assumptions in each other. But, there is some lame stuff too. At the end of each episode, everyone gathers, and they all pick someone else. Once everyone is picked, they are told how many couples are "correct" in thinking their a match. It's a cool concept, but each couple has to place their hand on a tablet to "lock in," a phrase used in shows like 1 vs 100 and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?. Once every couple has "locked-in" the host leans over said tablet and places both hands on the tablet, to verify it or something. It looks really dumb. It looks like something that would happen on a cancelled reality show. Other than that, it looks like a show that could be successful. Assuming it is, I'm excited to see what happens with the second season, if they go to a different location, if they bring in gay people, if they have blind people, I don't know. This does seem like the perfect place to cast a trans person. I know there was a transexual person on The Real World, and subsequently, The Challenge, a few years ago, as well as at least one person on Catfish (Wait, is MTV leading the way on putting trans people on tv?), but I think it'd add an unexpected level of drama to the show. Again, we're only one episode into this series, so it could still happen.
Ultimately, reality television, along with any other art form, is most successful when it is ambitious and plays with people's relationships. As long as this trend of putting people in awkward familial situations continues, I will continue to watch reality television.
And, To MTV: If you're ever looking for a producer for any of you're tv shows, the ask box is open.
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