Reality Treading Onto Reality Shows

Well here is the unforeseen problem with doing TV shows with "real" people. Real stuff happens. Over the past few weeks we have had real life situations treading over on to Reality television. The exciting thing, I guess, about reality shows is that people act with raw emotions and do outlandish things. That makes for great TV, until you remember there are real people involved.

When Julia Roberts leaves her groom at the alter for Richard Gere, its okay. Cause Julia's groom is an actor, and he will be a serial killer on Law and Order next week, and he will be good. But now take this mess with The Bachelor and his picking someone and then dumping them, and then picking the other girl. It made my head swim, and I didn't even watch. It may be exciting, but all I could think of was, "that poor girl" about both of them.

Then on Girls Next Door, which if you watched Sunday's "Season Finale", you saw that Kendra moved out on her own, Bridget has gotten her own show, and Hef is concerned that Holly is not getting what she wants out of his relationship with her. WOW what a great "cliff-hanger" if it were LOST or Two and 1/2 Men. But these are real people, and Perez Hilton let us know the Girls Next Door were banging other people weeks ago, and that they had been "doing it" while they were still Hef's girlfriends. Except Bridget, which makes her really committed to a relationship with a man she shares with 2 other woman, or retarded.

Here is the thing, if this were a scripted show, with actors, you wouldn't know or care. I mean does anyone even know if the entire cast of Bones is having marital problems. And if they were, it would never effect the show? No. But in "reality", when your lead gets a divorce, it effects the entire "reality" of the show.

And now on to the next victim of the reality encroaching onto "Reality", Jon on Jon and Kate Plus 8. Now if you watch that, and I do, you have noticed over the last few months, what a shrew Kate has become. You sit and watch and go, "How can he stay married to her?" Well according to this story, the answer is "He can't". Apparently Jon and Kate are separating. Again if this were House, it doesn't even register when you watch. But now once again "reality" has set in.

I guess this is what happens when you base TV shows on real life, "real life" things happen, and not in the way people want it to. Sometimes, it doesn't make for good TV. It makes for painful TV. As a child of divorce, it is painful no matter what age it happens. Twice as bad, if it happens on TV.

By the way Jon, if you are reading this, and if you have to split the kids, take: Joel, Aaden, Cara and Alexis. I have issues with Hannah, I'm just saying.

Trust me

Jason