Whatever happened to "Cheers," "Sanford and Son," "Taxi," "The Jeffersons," "Freaks and Geeks" or even "M*A*S*H?" You know, sitcoms that were actually funny and would occasionally give relevant and truthful assessments about our society. I'll tell you where they've gone: the way of the Dodo and the fanny pack. They are as extinct as penny candy and Paris Hilton's virginity. What the wasteland that is television has left us with are repetitious cop investigation shows, unfunny network comedies and of course the king of all that is moronic: the reality television show.
It was bad enough that people tuned in to watch a bunch of boring suburbanites run around an island for a month in hopes of winning a million dollars, but now we have B-, C- and in some cases D-list celebrities heading their own shows. This does not constitute good television, it doesn't even constitute entertainment. Hell, the WWE is more realistic then some of these people's lives. With all that said; move over "The Surreal Life," "The Simple Life," "Growing Up Gotti" and "Strange Love" there is a new pile of fecal waste preparing to take your place and his name is Fred Durst.
That's right, Limp Bizkit's lead man is working on a television show tentatively titled "My Life With Fred Durst." The rap-rocker (whatever the hell that is) plans on creating a show that combines both a talk show format with a reality show style look into his life.
"I just want to have a spontaneous platform to have good conversations with people, who aren't necessarily on the show to sell a movie or product. I'm not interested in being controversial and pushing envelopes," Durst told Variety.
Wow. That show sounds about as interesting as a co-worker's story about their cat.
Why do networks keep giving these psuedo-celebrities shows that do nothing more then follow them around? This is not entertainment. These people's lives are not interesting. Even whack-jobs like Gary Busey aren't interesting enough to watch for fifteen minutes. (Durst wants his show to be an hour long)
Who do I blame for all of this? I blame us, the viewers, because we don't stand up and demand better television. (Unless it's "Family Guy") I also blame "The Osbournes." Yes, "The Osbournes" was funny for about 4 episodes then the show became more about Ozzy's kids then it did him and it lost all its humor.
People flocked to "The Osbournes" because it was original, or at least original enough. This, of course, had studio executives think "Hey, if they like these celebrities doing weird stuff, they'll probably like these other celebrities doing weird stuff too."
No. We didn't like those celebrities. We liked Ozzy. America liked him because he was like us, or because he was like people we knew. He couldn't figure out how to work his television remote, his dogs pooped in the house and he had to clean up after them, and everyone in his family was driving him nuts. Ozzy was your average guy who just happened to be a rock star recovering from alcohol and drugs. There was actual reality with Ozzy. People could relate to him. They couldn't relate to his spoiled kids.
The problem with reality television is that most of it is not based in reality. The majority of the "celebrities" that appear on these shows are so far removed from your average working class or middle class viewer that what they do is boring. Show these people getting stuck in a traffic jam, while driving a Ford Escort, and then getting chewed out by their boss for being late. That's reality. People can relate to that. They might even laugh.
John Snodgrass is a junior majoring in journalism. The only shows he watches regularly are "South Park," "Chappelle's Show," "Sportscenter," and anything on Adult Swim. He can be reached at snodgrass.327@osu.edu.
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