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Reality Bites: A Midpoint View of This Season's
Reality TV
Review
by : Russ
Ray
Reality
TV has taken over the networks in the last month or so, but
which ones are good and which deserve to get voted off the
island? Check it out...
If there's
any reality show that has the most promise for interest and
longevity, it's The Mole. Think of it as a cross between Road
Rules and Clue, and you've got The Mole. The basic premise
is that at the beginning of every episode, the players are
dropped off in the middle of nowhere and given physical and
intellectual assignments in order to build up money for the
group's total cash prize pot. However, one of the players
is playing against the group by sabotaging their plans. The
players have to figure out who The Mole is before they're
"executed" and have to leave the game. At the end of every
show, the players take a quiz that asks specific questions
about The Mole. The player at the end of the show with the
lowest test score is executed and must leave the game.
The Mole
requires the viewer to be an active participant in the show
by trying to guess along with the players. Add in some nifty
and exciting challenges, and ABC has got a bona-fide winner
on their hands.
This one
started off slowly, as it was neither sexy nor daring as the
name might imply. However, recent developments have made things
on the island interesting, and it definitely is a good time
to start watching this one. The train wreck is about to happen.
The basic premise of the show is that four unmarried couples
went to an island in the Caribbean to test their love for
one another. For two weeks, the men lived on a resort with
single women, and the women lived on a resort with single
men. After every date, the men and women will each vote one
of the singles off the island. After each date, each mate
gets a chance to see video footage of the other's date. One
of the couples was kicked off the island by the producers
because they have a child in a ludicrous attempt to keep the
show (if only slightly) morally responsible.
Mechanically,
what might turn off most viewers to this show are the overdone
rules. Certain singles are blocked from dating... people get
voted off the island... people get videos from each other,
but only if the other person watches theirs first... it's
like the IRS wrote the rules. To be honest, these people are
all idiots for going on this show and can't really feel that
their relationships are solid enough to be monogamous for
the rest of their lives. However, our need to be voyeurs means
that the entire country will get to see all these people breaking
up on TV.
Survivor
2: The Australian Outback
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What was
an original concept over the summer has quickly turned into
a retread. The show where contestants are split into tribes
and left in the wild to fend for themselves picked up right
where last year's show did. First, the competitors had to
compete for fire and keep it from getting doused in the water
just like last time. Then last week, they had the trial where
the tribes had to face off against each other and eat worms
and bugs without getting sick. There were obviously going
to be some similarities due to the way the game is structured,
but this is ridiculous. It's like they're deliberately copycatting
last season. Plus, these people are stupid for voting off
a guy that serves in the military in the SECOND WEEK. I hope
they all die in the desert.
This is
basically a Blair Witch rip-off where players are sent inside
abandoned hospitals, prisons, and asylums in search of hauntings.
Most tests require players to either stay in one place for
a designated amount of time with the lights off or to cover
an entire room investigating these hauntings. What I'm haunted
by is the fact that I wasted a half hour watching this stupid
show. It's not scary. It's not interesting. In fact, it's
annoying, because you sit there expecting something to happen,
and then it doesn't, but in true Blair Witch fashion, the
players run back to home base shrieking and cursing. Ugh.
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