Winona Ryder was Right - Reality Does Indeed Bite

Every year it takes over more and more.

There doesn't seem to be anything that can stop it.

Almost all the water cooler shows are now.....reality shows.

The number of television hours devoted to reality is increasing every year.  I have no numbers to verify this hypothesis this morning, but it sure feels that way.  Based on the ratings I see, and the discussion around me, it definitely feels that way.

Try to talk to people about The Mentalist or Castle or Up all Night and you'll most often get a lot of blank stares.  Bring up Honey Boo Boo or Duck Dynasty, and you're likely to get a deluge of chatter.

Everyone is entitled to their own form of preferred entertainment, but I for one am not fond of the genre.  It seems unnecessarily invasive into the lives of both those participating and watching those shows.  I have no interest in watching people do their daily jobs, as in Dangerous Catch, or watch people that I can feel superior to because they're too redneck (Duck Dynasty)  or absorbed with pageants (Toddlers and Tiaras)   or have messy, cluttered rooms (Hoarders).

And to think the warning that we might someday go too far, The Truman Show, was done in just 1998.  What seemed ridiculous just fourteen years ago, appears to be closer than ever. And these programs do not leave unchanged the lives of those they focus on.  The very first reality TV show, An American Family (a PBS show of all things), permanently broke and changed the course of the Loud family.  Can anyone takes a look at the Jersey Shore cast and think that their show and celebrity status has not effected them?  Does anyone know who the hell the Kardashians are and why they would be famous if it wasn't for reality TV?  Even the Duck Dynasty people are holding out for more money.

I do have a certain weakness for reality competitions   I like shows that narrow down the character set from week to week.  But we have reached the absorption point at my house and are starting to cut back.  We no longer watch any of the singing competitions.  The current season of Survivor is the first one we've missed.  The only one we're hanging onto is The Amazing Race.

So please forgive my lost quality at the water cooler   Just remember, this lover of fictional storytelling is ready whenever you are to discuss The Walking Dead, A Game of Thrones  The Following or even Parks and Recreation.  Just please don't expect me to know what Honey Boo Boo ate last night.