Reality TV is successful due to three things. Sex, Shock, and Surrealism. Reality TV has a different way of selling sex, nowadays its more subtle, but its still right there. It's no coincidence that in reality show competitions many of the contestants have all had breast implants, or are attractive former models or porn star rejects. They are often animated versions of the car ad that has a gorgeous model in it. Understand that those on screen are not there by random chance but by producer selection.

The other appeal is that reality TV is usually not scripted, which makes it unpredictable and therefore often surprising. You never know exactly what will happen when intentional human drama is put in to any scenario involving a camera. In addition the people you are watching are fully conscious that Reality TV promotes surprise, shock and a look at me theme. It is often like watching a train wreck in slow motion, as bad as it is, people can't get enough of it. We agree its mindless and exploitive but we can't seem to peel our eyes away.

As you are watching it you often forget that the editorial process involved in reality TV is often misleading and that many segments of a show are often thrown together to make them seem as if they are happening as one continuous stream of events when in actuality the events my be spaced out over a few days or hours. Often times the characters that partake in reality TV are just as shocked to see the final finished version of a show as the regular viewers. So much of what we see is misleading because producers are cutting out so much footage of "reality" because actual reality is not good enough for them. They want drama and producers want a certain result.

Take for example the reality show "Manhunt" which was one of the first competitions Reality shows in 2001. A producer was so frustrated with not being able to control some events that they got directly involved. During the taping, a contestant was detained and thrown to the ground by a producer, which prevented her from helping another team member, which she says lead to her being voted off the show like they wanted. The contestant Jacqueline Kelly, later filed a complaint with the FCC claiming she was "defrauded by Paramount's initial representations as to the fairness of the game." Her complaint letter was published by Peter Lance, who originally reported on allegations that the show was at least partially staged. That is only what has been documented but there is more to this.

Each season the top rated Apprentice show has had just as much drama after the show taping as it has had during taping because of complaints and accusations of misrepresentation by both producers and cast members. It's no coincidence that both Stacy J and Omarosa, who are African-American, claim they wouldn't do that show again. African American female contestants have been some of the most outspoken with complaints about Reality TV and they are probably correct in saying they have been misrepresented but I doubt very seriously that they are so mad that they would not do a reality TV show again. Omarosa is on "The Surreal Life" now, and she is being represented in pretty much the same fashion from what I can tell.

"The Surreal Life" debuted as reality TV for washed up celebrities and although Omarosa has had a little more than her 15 minutes she's not a celebrity by most standards. But TV has a way of doing that - what is "that" you ask? "That" is making people seem larger than life to every day working people.

The majority of people in America wants to be on TV and will do just about anything to be on TV. This is no secret. Producers know it, networks know it. Nowadays people spend their down time entertaining themselves not reading or writing, this entertainment comes through that electrical box in our living room, bedroom, kitchen or bathrooms. TV's are everywhere in the average home. The idea that they exist in virtually every room in the house does not sit well with me.

Reality TV started with MTV's "The Real World" - it was at the time original, creative and seemingly unpredictable. However the component of unpredictability became rather predictable after a few seasons of formulaic casting and social engineering. It became common knowledge that each season they would try to depict at least one African American male cast member as angry and violent. Nowadays the formula requires either a conflicted homosexual, a rural raised white person whose upbringing has never allowed them to experience much except white rural America and they must be the remorseful crying type, even if they don't mean it, and let us not forget their must be somebody on the show who is "braggardly bi-racial", but seems merely like a light skinned Black person. Those are the formula parts the social engineering comes into play when you keep giving reality show contestants alcohol while filming (of course you never show this) and you know exactly the type of individuals you have selected through the screening process. So producers may not know exactly what will happen but they know it's going to be crazy.

Regular people are responsible for creating reality TV. Initially it was for anybody except a celebrity. Now celebrities are begging for a chance to be catapulted on to the big screen again and since it has been successful celebrities are taking it over. Surreal Life is basically out of control, you have actors urinating on the floor and even exploiting their families like Flava Flav did with his spin off surreal show with Bridgette Nielsen.

We must understand that embarrassment is part of reality TV it's not an unwanted by-product, but a goal. When all else fails, embarrassment sells. Bobby Brown's reality show Being Bobby Brown right now has picked up where Flava Flav and Bridgette Nielsen left off. Its no where close to being as embarrassing or shocking but its even more surreal because the two were once A-list celebrities. If Whitney had not had so much drug trouble in the past and Bobby was not in so much trouble in the past, he would not have been courted  by Bravo execs. The show is now the highest rated show in Bravo history and has brought in so may viewers that the Bravo network has been able to sell its advertising at higher rates. We are witnessing Brown give  birth to a existing network  the same way David Chapelle's show put Comedy Central on the map and allowed me to find existing shows that I now watch regularly like "The Daily Show with John Stewart".

Many people are watching the Bobby Brown show and for different reasons, some tune in to talk about how bad Whitney looks, sounds or how ghetto she is. Others tune in because they feel that the two have hit rock bottom and believing that, somehow helps make them feel better personally.

It's not going to stop unless we turn away and many of us won't. The corporations will reap the financial benefits while the Black male image takes a global beating courtesy of  America's reality TV minstrel programming. Just think it's not even close to culminating, the word is that MTV got jealous of the money and ratings by Bravo. In response they have just signed the most embarrassing black entertainers of the last 40 years, "The Ying Yang Twins",  to a show. The mix foreshadows danger,  recall MTV had the first and only reality show to capitalize off black on black violence with "Making The Band" now enter the creators of the song "Wait Until You See My Dick". The show is tentatively titled, Welcome To Crunkville and is currently in development. It will feature several contestants who get to live with the rappers. The contestant that survives the non-stop antics will get a chance to win a mansion. Add the idea of MTV pop culture seasoned  execs urging the Twins on behind the scenes to "keep it real" and telling them they want edgier antics and language. Even popular Reality TV shows are desperate for viewers according to the latest indusry surveys and polls. This is a warning. Trust me folks, you can't even imagine the level of  debauchery that is bound to take place!- Nuff said

Released: August 24th, 2005

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