FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for January 29, 2024

And it’s turtles all the way down.

From the very first reality show, I have hated them.

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Reality shows are the tabloids of TV.

They nailed the reason why I don’t watch reality shows; I’ve never considered myself a voyeur & have no compulsion to start.

Don’t give them any ideas

Can’t believe this strip is 21 years old and it’s still happening…

It’s only gotten worse since this was first printed. Far too much of American television is just mind-numbingly stupid.

talk about jumping the shark

when ai took over the entertainment business 20 years ago. now it does the news, the entertainment, the science report, the weather predictions, the social trends, and other things like “who to hate” this week.

Fake competitions. My idea for a show is 4 funeral directors, each with a James Caan Godfather bullet riddled body and they have 1 hour to make him look good. Hundreds of dollars at stake. Annnnd go.

I’m not objecting to reality shows. It’s just that, from the few that I’ve sampled, I honestly can’t see how anyone would find them interesting. I’m not going to go on sampling them in hopes of finding an exception.

Come to think of it, I’m quite surprised it never did.

It probably has ad breaks inside of its ads, too

I might be a slow learner, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the Discovery Channel programming is drama packaged in numerous forms. That claim of theirs , “Life unscripted” is total BS! It isn’t just only them. Many channels’ programs leave you at the cusp of an eventful moment only to go to commercials in order to keep you interested enough to stay tuned. Other channels do that as well. I have never understood my wife’s viewing of movies through regular cable channels that we own on disc.

Now instead of getting their own show, they are likely to be “influencers”. Looks great on a resume

This is true, Peter.

From 2003. Still pretty accurate. Reality shows have nothing to do with reality. While not completely scripted, the producers provide “guidance” in the form of an outline as to how the season should unfurl. Editors change things to make it appear the way the producers think it should be. A deep dive into reality tv is very revealing.

My favorite current ones are The Masked Singer and Crime Scene Kitchen.

Surprised that show’s not already on.