How Long Will Reality Shows Last? Not Another Reality Show!

June 2000, the first Reality show "Survivor" debuts on TV and takes the world by storm. This new concept becomes a phenomenon. Everyone around the world waits breathlessly until Wednesday night to find out who will win the million dollars and be the sole survivor. It was fresh and novel Darwin meets Lord of the Flies. A great hit for the sinking CBS station that needed the boost of younger viewers.

The show pits seventeen strangers dropped on a deserted island. They have to fend individually for food, shelter, and vote one another off, as they try to get along together. The shows are well edited by producers, with no writers. A friend of mine concludes that the advent of reality shows is a part of a U.S. conspiracy plot beginning in 2000 by the government to weed out the weakling to learn who can live together inside a space station in the future.

What ever the reason, reality shows have had the public's attention even before 2000 remember?
Cops
Jenny Jones
Jerry Springer
Love Connection

"Survivor" was the one show that reinvented the Reality show as we know it today. Two decades later the audience is still there, anxiously waiting for the next one. Several reality shows have evolved since 2000 with Celebrity Reality shows that follow a D list Celebrity as they go on with their day. Most today are less superficial giving the winners a chance to win their 15 minutes of fame along with a job and a contract.

They have the chance to be the next worldwide singing sensation, Supermodel; the next member of the Pussycat dolls, the next famous chef, the next fashion designer. I must admit I loved Survivor and I watch half of what I've listed above. But I still thank God for shows like Soprano's, Desperate Housewife's, Lost and Gray's Anatomy, Hero's, 24 who have resurrected the art of well-written television scripts.

It shows that writers despite the influx of new Reality Shows still have the chance to write and submit quality scripts that will sell. This is a great indication for us writers that there is an audience who want to watch a story that is well-written, with great well developed character study, multi-faceted characters and a good plot. Then why do we still have Survivor? Is anyone still watching Survivor? Apparently Yes. It is on its thirteenth show and it still generates high ratings and a lot of controversy such as the last one when they separated the races. Apparently, there is room for both editing writing as well as narrative writing until the public grows tired of all these Reality Shows, and demand more narrative writing like Lost, and Heroes. Please feel free and comment on your take on the lasting effect of Reality Shows.