TV Tuesday: Unscripted Declines

[yourlibrarian]

Reality TV is declining: "The declines have hit every subgenre, from cooking, design and home shows to travel and crime…There are fewer channels greenlighting fewer shows, and it all seems to be moving unstoppably to the bottom…there are no new shows right now." The article reports a large number of people leaving the industry.

Which shows would you miss if they ended? What shows do you wish would be produced?

Comments

[executrix]

I would miss "Nice Person Reality Shows" like the various Bake Offs, Pottery Throwdown, and above all my favorite NPRS: Great British Sewing Bee. It would be fun to have something similar for amateur drama.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I would miss those too. Actually speaking of artistic things and drama, it just occurred to me that it would be quite interesting to see a team of people creating an animated short.

[jo]

I'm never entirely clear what counts as a "reality show" -- the article seems to say it's all "unscripted" shows, so everything from those Kardashian/Real Housewives things to Bake Off to Survivor, etc.? I guess personally, I put competition shows in a different category to stupid stuff like Real Housewives but I guess that's just me.

Anyway, I do love a few British reality shows, top of the list being The Traitors UK. It's the best of all the Traitors by far and as long as it keeps being as good as it has been, I would be sad to see the end of it. I also love Sky TV's Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year, and The Great Pottery Throw Down. I still watch Bake Off, but it is growing a bit... stale. However, I am curious about the new series with Nigella Lawson replacing Prue as one of the judges. The BBC's Race Across the World is also really lovely (much better than The Amazing Race). I like shows were the contestants require actual talent/skill. Or, in the case of Traitors UK, are actual normal people, not B-grade "celebrities". I don't want to watch a reality show were the contestants are all former contestants from other reality shows, is what I'm saying. Do the British comedy panel shows like Mock the Week/Have I Got News for You/Would I Lie to You count as reality shows or are they classed as something different? Cuz I really enjoy those as well -- they're funny and not much makes me laugh these days.

[yourlibrarian]

Is the Nigella series the American Bake Off? I've only seen a holiday special of those because they're on Roku and I don't want the commercials. Also, as you've said, there's a limit to how much Bake Off I want to see.

I think quiz/game shows are probably different, because those definitely are scripted and a different format than regular competition shows.

[jo]

Is the Nigella series the American Bake Off?

No, British Bake Off. I don't watch the US one (didn't know there was one, tbh). I do watch the Canadian one, but it's pretty shit compared to the original.

And in case it wasn't clear, by "new series", I mean the next season of British Bake Off -- they don't call them seasons in the UK, they're series. It's the same series, just a new season of it, with Nigella instead of Prue.

[yourlibrarian]

Ah, that'll be a significant change then.

[starfleetbrat]

If the The Great Pottery Throw Down or the Great British Sewing Bee ever end, I will probably cry a lot of big fat tears because they are so wholesome and fun and I love them and would miss them.

I would also miss Race Across the World, and maybe Hunters (UK and Australia). A few other competition shows too.

I would cry NO tears at all if trashy shows like Real Housewives, Kardashians, or Love Island etc ended. Personally I think we could use far less of those.

I agree with the article about youtube. I watch so much more youtube now than I did a few years ago, there are some really talented and interesting people/channels there making content.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I love cooking and craft shows. The Great British Bake Off is a favorite, along with Blown Away and Forged in Fire. Face Off was gorgeous.

Recently I saw an ad for the upcoming Built to Last. It seems to be about tiny houses, but you could sell me a show about damn near anything on the theme "build to last" because I hate planned obsolescence. There is nothing sane about building a house to last only 27.5 years. >_< I would love to see more shows with a do-it-yourself, sustainable angle.

But more cooking is fine too. It's not like we're going to run out of food. *ponder* I haven't seen a show that puts people up against learning a whole new cuisine they've never tried before. They would all be on equal footing.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I used to watch a lot more YouTube than I do now. When they started using AI on everything including channels that advertise against AI, it got really hard to tell which videos are even worth viewing, because the cover picture isn't taken from the video anymore. >_< Plus the AI age divination bullshit means I no longer watch anything animated there at all.