★★★★★ 0/5

Is that Reality fatigue I hear knocking?

Think you're forced to watch too much Reality TV? Think again.

25
Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 1.48.24 pm.jpgIf you’re feeling Reality TV fatigue in May, spare a thought for those who work in the media.

We have to watch multiple hours of the bloody stuff, stripped endlessly across the week.

With that in mind I concur with this ‘love letter’ to the genre in News.com.au today:

It’s like you want me all to yourself, all the time, and it’s exhausting. You want me five, sometimes six nights a week and I just can’t do it anymore. You tell me you only want an hour of my time, but it’s always more than that. You hook me in with all your fancy promos and whizz-bang graphics and next thing I know I’m head-over-heels and I’m on the website and I’m tweeting and I’m following you on Facebook and I’m buying your spin-off magazines and voting for you in the Logies.

Just this Tuesday night, I sat down for the pinnacle of My Kitchen Rules. We’d been looking forward to it for eternity, you and I, and then you kept me there for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. I was a wreck by the end of it and now you want me to commit to The Voice and House Rules and MasterChef and another two seasons of The Block?

The thought of sitting down to the blind auditions… I just can’t.

I feel like I’ve just run a marathon and now you’re telling me there’s another four more marathons to go.

I’m sorry, but I Just.Can’t.Do.It.Anymore.

Of course there is a difference between viewing television as leisure and for work, but can I just say ‘Totes know the feeling!’

It’s a shame the article did not have a byline on it (but perhaps that was intended so as not to jeopardise relationships).

This also nods to the problem TEN faces in MasterChef going head to head with House Rules and The Voice. In three-way Reality battles, there just isn’t enough audience to go round.

While shows still have the capacity to pull in 2 million viewers a night, everybody is going to be chasing that trophy.

Sorry love-letter author, I reckon it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

25 Responses

  1. The only reality series I follow religiously is MKR, so I am not really fatigued by reality series. I watch the very occasional episode of House Rules and X-Factor. I gave up on Masterchef after series four. I watched half-an-hour of the first episode of The Voice, but could not cope with the spinning chair schtick. It is so unspeakably rude to have your back to someone whilst they are performing, I can’t get past that, it’s awful and humiliating for the contestant.

  2. For heaven’s sake people, do yourself a favour, do your nation a favour – stop watching this junk food for the mind!

    Just stop, when the ratings drop they’ll stop making this mindless pap and the whole TV ecosystem will improve, as will your concentration and IQ. You might even lose weight and find the time to cook a meal from scratch!

  3. This is why if I do want to watch a reality show, big if! I usually watch one or two hours not the 4-6 they want us to watch! E.g a reveal episode

  4. With the exception of the role reversal concept (Undercover Boss), since they involve people being eliminated, all these shows are really game shows, done under a false reality show concept.

    Genuine reality shows are on pay TV and would never rate high enough on free to air TV.

  6. I think it’s stupid of Seven to start House Rules the day after the finale of MKR and a week or so after the Block finished, as are Ten for starting Masterchef less than a week after MKR. Give people a breather for gods sake. Theres still another seven months of the ratings season left.
    It reminds me of when Ten started their Masterchef All Stars series the day after the usual series of Masterchef ended. I was like WTF!!!
    I don’t watch MKR or The Block but I definitely think cooking/renovating fatigue will play a hand in the ratings and The Voice will thump them both.

  7. @ jazzhands

    I’ll admit reality TV isn’t my cup of tea. But that doesn’t worry me. The only peeve I have with it is all the random end times. Some of us want to watch the shows afterwards and would like consistency there.

    That said at least I’m not forced into watching it. I don’t envy anyone that has to experience it that way.

  8. Saying it’s over for reality TV is as ridiculous as saying it’s over for comedy or drama. It’s not going anywhere, although from the comments on here you’d think nobody ever watches it as Aussies are all too busy writing great works of literature instead. Funny how it’s been consistently the number one show for about ten years’ running. Get used to it or don’t watch but please stop bitching about it. That’s what’s getting old.

  9. My complete sympathies and commiserations to anyone forced into watching reality TV. Especially that much reality TV.

    Also my commiserations to anyone involved in making and having to edit together the footage of such shows. I guess everyone can at least be happy they are paid money to do so.

    I will admit I was semi-forced into watching one season/series of a reality TV. I didn’t mind doing it once. But I was satisfied with that. I can imagine how much worse it is doing it multiple times. As well as multiple shows at once.

    I guess film reviewers can get how bad it might be with having to watch all the modern films. Some are brilliant. But not everything. Although I guess they have those few diamonds to look forward to.

  12. The only reality shows i like are
    Big brother

    Master chef

    The biggest loser but that has been axed

    My bitching sorry my kitchen rules and i have admit the bitching dose make it a great show

    i feel sorry for you David having to watch all that reality us viewers have a choice you don’t

  13. @J Bar

    I am like one of your workmates. I lost all faith in “reality” at about the 2nd season of survivor, when I finally realised (I am slow on the uptake, I know) that it is basically as scripted as any drama. It does not deserve to be called reality as the genre is too far removed from that. **shrugs**

  14. We don’t watch any of the “reality” shows – my husband tried The Block, House Rules and The Renovators but gave up in disgust because there weren’t enough actual renovations and way too much manufactured drama, tears and tantrums. It’s the same format every year just different people and it’s just so boring!

  15. Good ol’ Channel 7, the rip-off network with the Midas touch. They nick reality-show concepts off Channel 10 (MasterChef morphs into My Kitchen Rules) and Channel 9 (The Block transforms into House Rules), and then strike ratings gold!

  16. I’m not interested in watching The Voice AU, The X Factor and The Voice Kids. I feel that these make me feel that I want to switch off singing reality shows. Had enough of singing as well as dance reality entertainment.

  18. I have been waiting for the start of The Voice & MasterChef since The Block finished. I am not an MKR watcher so I am not fatigued at all. Why watch an inferior cooking show when you can watch the original & best.
    Will watch The Voice live & MasterChef on repeat.

  19. As a reality fan I admit it would be a hard slog to view it all for work so luckily for those of us that can watch it leisurely it’s all good!
    I don’t watch all of them ( not into AGT,X-Factor, The Voice or SYTYCD) nor do I go on their websites,tweet,follow on facebook,buy magazines or vote in the Logies.
    Lucky I can cherry pick my reality viewing so props to you David for all your hard work!

  21. I used to be a regular viewer of Masterchef, Biggest Loser, Big Brother and The Voice but tend to go for quality over quantity these days. These stripped reality shows just want to much of your attention.

  22. I’m not a fan of any reality shows.
    I’ve watched a few but never to the end.
    I can’t imagine having to do that for a living!
    My deepest sympathies 😉

    @ randwick … I so agree about the dramas (etc.)
    To me, that’s real tv! 🙂

  23. @David Knox

    I totally with you and the ‘love letter’ author, whats next the ‘Dear John’ letter.

    Possibly even, out of sheer loyalty exhaustion,emotional frustrations are simply reflected in declining ratings numbers similar to the rejected suitor as with Network Ten, who is still yet to learn that it is a fine line between ‘love and hate’ where sometimes the harder one tries to rekindle an old love affair, things rarely return to the good old reliable,heady and ‘ trusting’ days of yesteryear.

    Whilst it is of little comfort, I did conjure up a little personal chuckle, when I read David’s closing line above ‘ I reckon its going to get worse before it gets better’ a saying I often use in my comments, sadly also probably written more out of disappointment, than a doomsayers cry.

  24. in the 70’s we had the “death to disco” movement – today I hope we have the “death to reality tv” movement ……

    Long live scripted drama, comedy & movies……

  25. I was thinking about next week and I do love my tv. I am wondering what show to watch live and what two I need to record.

    I like Masterchef, but after sitting through MKR, I am over cooking shows.

Leave a Reply