I tend to classify the generations
based on the media that one grew up with. My mother is from the Radio era where
people would sit around the radio to listen to their favorite song or the
drama. I grew up watching the “First Channel” of the Doordarshan and the “Second
channel” was a luxury. Then, My jaws would drop in awe when the visiting cousins from the distant lands speak about 40
channels for News alone. The 90’s saw
the explosion of the satellite television so much so that , suddenly, the
visiting cousins began deviating the
topic when we start discussing about the Television. All this has led to the genY that my daughter is growing up
in ,of what I call as the “Reality” show generation.
I first came to know about the
reality shows after the ungraceful episode involving Shilpa Shetty in the Big Brother show.Later, I lost
the sympathy for her after knowing the riches that she reaped at the show. Nowadays
the Reality shows are so rampant that they have emerged as the latest scourge of the TV replacing its evil
cousin The Soaps (Mega Serials as they
call it).Reality shows are every where : Song & Dance shows, Game & Talk
Shows ,Quiz & Debate shows. My problem with the Reality show being that I
feel they are enacting a farce on the hapless viewer. I guess there could be a problem on my part, as my wife calls me poker
faced with distinct lack of ability to understand emotions let alone expressing
it.
Anyway, I become hyper tensed
seeing the range of negative emotions being spewed in the Reality shows…Shock
& Awe being the strategy for getting
on top of the TRP ratings. The unique facet of the reality show being that Contestants,
Judges & Comperes alike get a chance to participate in the melodrama slugfest. Due to
this reason alone reality shows are here to stay ,unless there is another disruptive
innovation in Television Programming .Until then I would have to admit one
positive influence of Reality show on me..It has reduced the time I watch TV nowadays
as compared to the good old Doordarshan days …and do some better stuff like
writing a blog post about Reality Shows…