Celebrity Reality has gone too far!!!
Maybe it is not right to start the new year with a bit of a moan, but over the past month from mid December to now, I have become very weary of reality - entertainment programmes that is. Whatever television channel one tunes into, reality programmes seem to be bombarding us. Here in the UK I have lost count of the numbers, but here are just a few.
1) I'm a Celebrity - get me out of here.
Deep in the wilds of Australia (so they say!), a dozen or so celebrites from the D-list had to battle it out for survival. During the course of their three week stay, they did bungee jumping, had to eat Kangaroo anus and Crocodile penis, amongst a host of other equally unpleasant tasks. The only highlight of this series was the way that David Gest (of Liza Minelli fame) was able to make fools of everyone, turning most into his servants.
2) Celebrity strictly dancing.
A host of so-called celebrities joined in partnership with professional dancers to show how they can master the art of ballroom dancing, or not is a more accurate description. We had to witness two weeks or so of tangos (or tangles), Rumba's (or bungles) and waltz (or wally's) moving round the dance floor like cart horses in a frisky mood. A cricketer won this event, but then I guess all the others were stumped.
3) Just the two of Us
This is a programme where celebrities sing duets with "famous" singers, all trying to beat each other to the prize of the week, a glass plaque. In general, the only highlight of this show was the singing of Marti Pello and Beverley knight. As for the celebrity wannabe's, apart from Cricketer
Mark Butcher, they were all best listened to with the sound turned off.
4) Soapstar - Superstar
For those who do not come from the UK or Australia, the celebrities taking part in this show will be totally unknown. The idea of the show is that these people are supposed to exchange their acting talents for musical fame. Of course, as you can guess, most of them have about as much musical talent a cat being scalded on a hot tin roof.
5) Celebrity Big Brother
In a specially constructed house somewhere in the UK, a TV channel has gathered twelve people, ostensibly celebrities, to expose their everyday lives to the viewing public for a little over three weeks, some of whom have been paid up to £500,000 ($1,000,000) to appear. So what are we being treated too?
1) Donny - Lead singer of a hardly heard of band called "Tower of London", who was so fed up with the thought of having to act as a servant to others that he legged it over the wall of the house on day two.
2) Ken Russell - an 80 year old film director (of "Women in love" fame) who, after subjecting the whole house to a snoring crescendo, which led to sleepless nights, and breaching the rules by helping himself to cheese and biscuits, decided that it was all beneath him and demanded to be released, so he left on day three.
3) Jermaine Jackson - looking as if his smile is fixed by plastic surgery, Jermaine is the quietest person in the house, and the least disruptive. However, he is sporting jeans that look like advertising hoardings for America's celebrity elite.
4) Leo Sayer - (a 1970's pop idol) who was so dismayed at the conditions he was forced to live in that he started f*****g and blinding all over the place and demanded to see a copy of his contract. Having read the contract he then crawled humbly back into the house with his tail between his legs. One has to ask why he signed up without reading the small print.
5) Dirk Benedict - (of A-Team fame) who has become infatuated with bollywood star Shilpa and is bemoaning the fact that age stops him from entering into a meaningful relationship with her.
Do the television media really have nothing else of value to put on for their viewers? Whatever happened to the days of drama and entertainment?
Of course, this is all generated by profit. The elimination process on all of these shows is down to a public vote. With average call costs of between 50 pence and £1, and the response ostensibly being up to millions per night, it is not difficult to work out how much money the networks and sponsoring communication companies are earning out of all these shows.
the Brit
