OK, there are way too many reality shows on television today. Somebody needs to say it so I will. Well, I guess I already have, so there!

Seriously, I’m tired of hearing about new reality shows coming on the boob tube, especially these ‘hybrid reality’ shows as I like to call them. You know the ones. They usually are on cable, they star some washed up star/person that is related to a star/ex-reality star.

Yes, I’m talking about each of these shows plus a hundred others like them: The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Flavor of Love, Toya & Tiny, Frankie and Neffe, Hammertime (sorry Hammer), and etc., etc. I mean Hammertime is okay, but it’s just a copy of Run’s House (which is really just clean version of The Osbournes). To me, this is just lazy programming by cable television networks. The biggest culprits are VH1, BET and MTV. Do they produce any scripted shows anymore. Have they ever? Oh and yes, remember that each of these stations gained popularity when they actually started off playing music videos (sorry kids, i know you have know idea what I’m talking about–music videos on a real TV?? Wow!!).

So You Think You Can Dance

Now I’m not mad at what I call ‘traditional reality’ shows like American Idol, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice (before the ‘celebrities’ showed up), So You Think You Can Dance, The Real World (the grandfather of them all), Top Chef and etc. These shows are original, they usually involve some type of competition, and they gave some actual level of realness. Plus I like most of these shows. They’re getting old, and I’d rather see some real shows on in most of  their time slots, but hey, you can’t win them all.

But these hybrids are going way too far. So many of them involve hip hop stars in some way too. Recently I read that T.I. and Lil Wayne’s teenage daughters are shopping a reality show. Yes, the daughters of Tiny & Toya; T.I. and Lil Wayne’s babies’ mommas who already have their own show on BET. Sad thing about it is that it will probably get picked up and will be watched by a lot of easily influenced teenagers.

One of my biggest complaints about these shows is that they aren’t even real! It’s just a bunch of fake arguments/fights set up by the producers to make ‘good television’. Get the ratings and that’s about it. Real Housewives of Atlanta pulled in 2.8 million viewers when it premiered its second season last week, the most for any Bravo premiere. And the ‘highlight’ that I saw from the show (no, I did not watch the show) was with Sheree, one of the housewives, arguing with a flamboyant event planner almost to the point of throwing blows, supposedly. I seriously doubt if it was real. 

Real Housewives of Atlanta

So this is what television has become, huh? It’s like the decline in music is now creeping it’s way into all other aspects of the entertainment culture. Are films next? I certainly hope not. Somebody has to stop this before it goes too far. Please let these shows kill them selves. Quit watching and promoting this garbage and let’s get some REAL(ity) shows back on TV.