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Entry tags:
continuum between reality and documentary
You know what's strange to me?
The difference between a documentary and reality TV.
The competitive reality TV programming where we see people making video diary type entries as if no one will ever see them really bother me.
But I love shows like the ones where they follow teenagers who join the Danish Merchant Marines and learn to sail on a wooden ship.
I didn't like the John Adams miniseries though.
I watched Ace of Cakes for a while, but it never records anymore and it's not available anywhere else. And now that there's been a gap in my viewing, I'm really wondering why I liked it after the latest round of stupid stunts.
I'm having a really lovely time watching Circus, the new miniseries on PBS about a small circus and the performers and staff that had to put a show together in just a few weeks.
I really enjoyed the various "time travel" shows from British TV, like the one where there was a family who were placed in an authentic house from the 1890s and expected to dress appropriately, and run their household authentically. That was really nicely done. The log cabin version (set in Montana) wasn't as good because the people kept cheating. I liked the one where they staffed a manor house in England and had people who were maids and footmen and everything...
These have all been the video diary kind of things.
But they're not stupid like the makeover shows. Or the Survivor kind of things. Or Jerry Springer's show. The point of the shows isn't to be catty. I thought I only liked the smart kinds of reality programming, the historical reinactment kinds of things or whatever. But Circus is about some low rank people in society (especially the ring crew) and it's not really teaching any kind of school type enrichment lesson. So why am I enjoying it? It's fun to watch. It's fun to see how much work goes into the entertainment that most people just treat off-handedly. And it's about real people doing real things. The point of what the people on Circus are doing is putting on a circus. The fact that there was a crew creating a documentary experience is never the real focus.
When I saw some of Big Brother, the whole point of what those people were experiencing was to film it as entertainment.
But I'm really not sure where the line should be. Somewhere between the hideously boring John Adams and the bug-eating contests of Survivor's ilk.
And if someone knows the name of that docu on the Danish Merchant Marines, I was sick when I saw it and I have no idea where I saw it.
The difference between a documentary and reality TV.
The competitive reality TV programming where we see people making video diary type entries as if no one will ever see them really bother me.
But I love shows like the ones where they follow teenagers who join the Danish Merchant Marines and learn to sail on a wooden ship.
I didn't like the John Adams miniseries though.
I watched Ace of Cakes for a while, but it never records anymore and it's not available anywhere else. And now that there's been a gap in my viewing, I'm really wondering why I liked it after the latest round of stupid stunts.
I'm having a really lovely time watching Circus, the new miniseries on PBS about a small circus and the performers and staff that had to put a show together in just a few weeks.
I really enjoyed the various "time travel" shows from British TV, like the one where there was a family who were placed in an authentic house from the 1890s and expected to dress appropriately, and run their household authentically. That was really nicely done. The log cabin version (set in Montana) wasn't as good because the people kept cheating. I liked the one where they staffed a manor house in England and had people who were maids and footmen and everything...
These have all been the video diary kind of things.
But they're not stupid like the makeover shows. Or the Survivor kind of things. Or Jerry Springer's show. The point of the shows isn't to be catty. I thought I only liked the smart kinds of reality programming, the historical reinactment kinds of things or whatever. But Circus is about some low rank people in society (especially the ring crew) and it's not really teaching any kind of school type enrichment lesson. So why am I enjoying it? It's fun to watch. It's fun to see how much work goes into the entertainment that most people just treat off-handedly. And it's about real people doing real things. The point of what the people on Circus are doing is putting on a circus. The fact that there was a crew creating a documentary experience is never the real focus.
When I saw some of Big Brother, the whole point of what those people were experiencing was to film it as entertainment.
But I'm really not sure where the line should be. Somewhere between the hideously boring John Adams and the bug-eating contests of Survivor's ilk.
And if someone knows the name of that docu on the Danish Merchant Marines, I was sick when I saw it and I have no idea where I saw it.