Reality-TV Sound off

[Jester]

And call me crazy, since I haven't actually seen the show, just the commercials for it, but isn't Restaurant: Impossible a thinly veiled copy of Restaurant Nightmares? Just wondering.

[AdminAssistant]

Yes, that's it exactly. It's not a *bad* show per se, but...yeah.

[Aethian]

Dinner: Impossible has been replaced by Restaurant: Impossible, which is great if you want to watch Robert Irvine make a designer cry.

I liked Restaurant: Impossible much better cause then you got to see things prepared in a whole new way sometimes. Heck I have learned how to make some treats because all they had to work with was less then what I had.

[Jetfire]

I haven't watched it often, but it reminds me (at first) of a Canadian show we had called Restaurant Makeover. Same style, only they had a "celebrity" chef AND designer (two people) come in, and they shared a common makeover budget to redo the place. (Owners put in half, show did the other half). Was quite good and a favorite of mine.

[Andrew B]

I'm a proud viewer of Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares (US and UK), and I need to see more of Hotel Hell before I can make a judgement.

[Bloodsoul]

I'll catch "Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers" on occasion, but the only reality television show's that caught my eye recently was "Mountain Men," since I thought (maybe foolishly) I could use some of the information in that show to role-play a ranger in my friends' game of "Pathfinder" (since the only outdoors I get anymore is a walk down to the general store).

[Gravekeeper]

Most of the reality shows I watch are of the cooking competition variety.

Yep, likewise. If it's got Gordon Ramsay in it, I'm probably watching it. Though I like Top Chef as well for the technical aspects of it.

Can't really stand any other reality shows though. They're either super overdramatic, full of completely AWFUL human beings or they're such a total train wreck of failing humanity that you actually feel bad for witnessing it.

[BlaqueKatt]

What I like most about the episodes is most of the time the house buyers have to compensate in some way. They have a budget that they gave themselves, and they have to deal with choosing between houses that don't always fit their wishlist to a T.

except it's a sham, the house they "choose" is the house they've been living in, they're paid to move their stuff out, and tour houses of friends that aren't even on the market.

story here

[Andara Bledin]

Most of those style "reality" shows are at least part sham.

Extreme Home Makeover is about 70% scripted. By the time a house gets chosen, the family knows all about it; there's no surprise. And most of the drama in any episode is likely to be manufactured by the producers/writers. The house gets worked on for a month, not a week, and the work is substandard; the neighbors I knew that got on the show had hydraulic posts in the font that stopped working within the month, and a home theater system that nobody in the house could afford to maintain. >_< Oh, and the crowd is bused in from Hollywood - mostly a bunch of wannabe actors and actresses looking to get seen or Ty fangirls. Speaking of, he did an awful lot of preening, and despite knowing carpentry, the only time he could be seen actually using any tools was when a camera was running; otherwise, when he was on 'set,' he was over chatting up the prettier of the bused in extras.

Pimp my ride uses cars that never go to the people who supposedly get them and if you watch carefully, they only have about 10 or so driveways they park them in at the end of the show. A friend of my brother's lived a few houses down from one of those driveways, so he got to deal with the inconvenience of their filming semi-regularly.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

With Extreme Home Makeover it must depend on where they're filming. They did a house in the KC area about once a year, and a friend (sound designer) always volunteered to do light carpentry, wiring, set up sound systems, etc. The majority of the work took 9 days and the extras were definitely locals. It is true that Ty is only there on the first and last day, they run around and set up scenes where he's 'working'. But the other designers bust ass along with everyone else. The only problems the KC families had was paying the increased utilities and property taxes, and one had to give back a car because they couldn't afford the taxes on it.

[fireheart17]

Funny people are mentioning the sham makeovers. There was a story on the piece of crap that passes for tabloid drama last night about someone who's house was rendered unliveable by a reality show. It was to the point where the lowest point in the bathroom was around the toilet-not the drain. The shower head was WAY too close to the wall, the windows were painted shut and the wheelchair accessible ramp in the back wasn't up to standard. Oy vey.

In terms of "scripted" drama, I do remember that Danny Veltri had once said that while Hells Kitchen ISN'T staged, sometimes the producers would try and ignite drama by telling someone "So-and-so said this, you're not gonna let him get away with it are you?" or something along those lines. Thankfully the show seems to be doing better this season. (Barbie doesn't appear to have caused THAT much drama compared to Elise and other contestants this season, all of whom have been eliminated)

[mikoyan29]

I've been watching Great Lakes Warriors....meh but I like seeing the freighters.

[fireheart17]

OK, time to update my guilty/proud list:

Proud:
The Amazing Race US.
The Amazing Race Australia.
Project Runway (US)
Snog Marry Avoid*
Hell's Kitchen

Guilty:
Masterchef Australia.
My Kitchen Rules. (kind of like Come Dine With Me mixed with Masterchef)
America's Next Top Model (ironic coming from the girl with shitty body image!)
Australia's Got Talent (when it was on)
Four Weddings (when THAT was on)-think Come Dine With Me but for weddings. My personal favourite was the episode with the brides as follows: 500 guests/married at the derby grounds/LOTR themed (although I was disappointed by this one: their theme consisted of a cake and their ringbearer being gollum) and I can't remember.

*Snog, Marry, Avoid basically takes girls and guys with WAY too much fake tan, makeup, false eyelashes, skimpy outfits and so on, and shows them how to obtain a "natural" beauty look. They are given the look at the time and the host visits them later on to see if they chose to keep the look or not. The split is generally 35% keep completely, 35% keep and modify to some extent (either they'll change the colour of their hair or they'll incorporate some of the old style ie hair extensions) and 35% reject completely. While the show does criticise the OTT contestants, it sorta becomes clear over time that a number of them use the makeup/fake hair/skimpy outfits to hide their low self-esteem or an insecurity. A lot of the girls get a confidence boost afterwards.

[Andrew B]

*Snog, Marry, Avoid basically takes girls and guys with WAY too much fake tan, makeup, false eyelashes, skimpy outfits and so on, and shows them how to obtain a "natural" beauty look. They are given the look at the time and the host visits them later on to see if they chose to keep the look or not. The split is generally 35% keep completely, 35% keep and modify to some extent (either they'll change the colour of their hair or they'll incorporate some of the old style ie hair extensions) and 35% reject completely. While the show does criticise the OTT contestants, it sorta becomes clear over time that a number of them use the makeup/fake hair/skimpy outfits to hide their low self-esteem or an insecurity. A lot of the girls get a confidence boost afterwards.

You seem to be 5% over the maximum in that sentence. (35 + 35 + 35 = 105)

[Nekojin]

You seem to be 5% over the maximum in that sentence. (35 + 35 + 35 = 105)

New Math.