I love reality shows. Ordinary people turning into instant celebrities, people turning into millionaires over night, unrehearsed dialogues, no scripts, real emotions and yeah it gets dirty, back stabbing, bitching, allies, scheming, reality shows capture our imagination.
But then, not everything is real. You can’t help thinking that certain things are staged for better TRPs. But what the hell? They are entertaining!
These are not exactly my favorites but 10 shows that have grabbed my attention.
Currently on air
1) Apprentice( Fridays 9PM, STAR WORLD)
I watched the last few episodes of season 2 and I was hooked! I became a fan of Kelly (The winner eventually) and prayed that he would win. If somebody were to tell me that a mundane activity like hiring somebody for a job would turn into a hit TV show I would never believe it. But that’s what it is about. Donald Trump hiring people for his firm. The phrase “You are fired” has become something like a trademark! But what has season 3 got to offer? They have pitched Street smarts (College and High School dropouts) Vs Book smarts (Highly educated people). One episode down and the street smarts outsmarted the book smarts. I am not sure this season is going to interest me there seems to be nothing new.
2) Get Gorgeous(Saturdays 6PM, CHANNEL V)
Didn’t get to watch season 1 but they must have done well because they decided to have another season. Something like a beauty pageant where wannabe models contest to be chosen as the best and win a modeling contract. I watched one episode and this show has its share of drama. The contestants were asked to vote out one person and they were not happy with this idea. So each one decided to vote themselves out. This obviously got the judges angry and now instead of one, two people had to go. Hehehe Good fun!
A good reason to watch the show is Milind Soman (He is one of the judges)
Off air but big hits
3) Indian Idol(SONY)/American Idol(STAR WORLD)
Ok American Idol is not off air but it will soon be. I used to love Simon Cowell for his nasty comments but even that has gotten predictable.
Indian Idol, I don’t have to say much. Abhijeet Sawant, I am sure is enjoying his 1 crore contract. Even people who didn’t win have become something like celebrities. You can see them here and there doing shows or guest appearances. Where did Amit Sana disappear?? Don’t see him anywhere, I wonder why?
4) Super singer/popstars(CHANNEL V)
Super singer lost out to Indian Idol mainly because there was no audience involvement. And Adnan Sami was no match to Farah khan, Anu Malik and Sonu Nigam. But talented singers did get a chance and am sure are doing well for themselves.
Popstars was fun to watch especially the auditions. This was before Indian Idol so it had no competition. Viva (winners of popstars 1) have disintegrated now but their album did really well. Asman (winners of popstars 2) where are they???
5) Survivors (AXN)
This will remain as my all time favorite. This show had all the ingredients of a good reality show and was one of a kind. People living in the wild, it was a test of endurance, survival of the fittest (or smartest). The most interesting part was the elimination done by voting out. This is where all the scheming and backstabbing came into picture. But the successive seasons were very repetitive, only thing different being the location.
6) MTV Roadies (MTV)
This show lacked proper formatting and fixed rules, it was whacky, very haphazard, very MTV. 7 people on 4 bikes drive all around the country to unheard places making it into travel cum reality show. I loved season 1, didn’t get to see season 2 so cant comment on it. Best thing about the show was it didn’t have anything to do with singing!
Not my favorites
7) Fear factor (AXN)
This show is just gross. Why would people want to go through all that disgusting challenges? The price money I guess.
8) Amazing Race(AXN)
No comments. Have tried to follow this show but people are always running somewhere or the other.
Yet to come
9) Fame gurukul(SONY)
Again something to do with music and singing. Based on Spanish reality show ’’Operacion Triunfo’’ it will involve 14 singers vying for top slots in a music academy called Gurukul. I am not sure if this will be as popular as Indian Idol.
10) TV Champions(CHANNEL V)
People have one minute to do anything they wish and show their talent. This could be interesting and am really looking forward to this show.
(My cable wallah has taken MTV off air so I don’t know what is happening there. I am sure they will come up with something in competition to TV champions. Please enlighten me about it)
Few other shows worth mentioning are MTV’s VJ hunt, National Geographic channel’s Everest challenge (I felt this show ended abruptly or was it just me who missed the last episodes?) and The Osbournes on MTV, a peak in the lives of the Osbourne family (where everything was beeped out.) Few shows on star world like Joe millionaire and Temptation Island were not in good taste, they were cheap and sleazy. Thank God they are off air.
Reality shows are big now but we need fresh and original ideas.
Heres hoping for better shows and better television viewing.
Cheers!