The "Reality" Show
So, I just read that Jodie Sweetin, formerly known as Stephanie Tanner on Full House, is in contract negotiations for starring in her own reality show. She's quoted as saying that this is a great opportunity to show the normal side of celebrity life. Well, thank god someone has finally decided to tap this television gold mine, and thank god it's another out of work celebrity who's going to get the job done.
Seriously, how many more times can TV networks get away with the same promos? They're going to show us the real life of celebrities. They're going to show us the real person behind the celebrity, the one who has the same problems that the rest of us do.
Well, I call bullshit.
They're not showing us the real life of celebrities, because so far, nobody's had a show about Brad and Angelina. We're not going to get to tune in to see how they're raising all six of their kids in their chateau in France. And we're not going to see Scarlet Johannsen's shopping excursions or how Jennifer Aniston's dating life with John Mayer is going. Instead, we get to watch Denise Richards go to Hawaii and chase down the lone paparazzi who cared enough to waste his weekend to follow her. (By the way, after watching a Denise Richards episode and hearing her awful whiny voice for thirty minutes, I have some sympathy for Charlie Sheen and Richie Sambora and their ensuing drug, prostitute, and DUI problems.) And in the next half hour, we get to watch Dina and Ally Lohan shamelessly shop Ally Lohan's musical debut (suckage).
See, that's what it's all about, and I wish the premise could just be announced: We're going to have a reality show about X Celebrity in hopes of resuscitating this celebrity's lackluster career. Because that's what they're doing. In essence, the celebrity reality show is a lie: they show the normal celebrity life to generate enough interest in this celebrity to turn the normal life into the Brad and Angelina life. They want to take a fake celebrity and turn them into a real, bonafide celebrity. Jodie Sweetin is hoping that by showing her grocery store trips, in a few months, there will be several photographers during those same grocery store trips. She wants to be a real celebrity. She doesn't want to be Just Like Us!, but in order to do that, she's got to make us believe that she is. It's a pretty wild paradox if you think about it.
The thing is, if these "celebrities" had a jobs, they wouldn't have these shows. Do you think if the Lifetime Movie Network was returning Jodie Sweetin's calls, she'd be pedaling this show? Of course not. It must be nice to have "reality TV show" next to "sign up for unemployment" on the list of options. I'm just saying.
Seriously, how many more times can TV networks get away with the same promos? They're going to show us the real life of celebrities. They're going to show us the real person behind the celebrity, the one who has the same problems that the rest of us do.
Well, I call bullshit.
They're not showing us the real life of celebrities, because so far, nobody's had a show about Brad and Angelina. We're not going to get to tune in to see how they're raising all six of their kids in their chateau in France. And we're not going to see Scarlet Johannsen's shopping excursions or how Jennifer Aniston's dating life with John Mayer is going. Instead, we get to watch Denise Richards go to Hawaii and chase down the lone paparazzi who cared enough to waste his weekend to follow her. (By the way, after watching a Denise Richards episode and hearing her awful whiny voice for thirty minutes, I have some sympathy for Charlie Sheen and Richie Sambora and their ensuing drug, prostitute, and DUI problems.) And in the next half hour, we get to watch Dina and Ally Lohan shamelessly shop Ally Lohan's musical debut (suckage).
See, that's what it's all about, and I wish the premise could just be announced: We're going to have a reality show about X Celebrity in hopes of resuscitating this celebrity's lackluster career. Because that's what they're doing. In essence, the celebrity reality show is a lie: they show the normal celebrity life to generate enough interest in this celebrity to turn the normal life into the Brad and Angelina life. They want to take a fake celebrity and turn them into a real, bonafide celebrity. Jodie Sweetin is hoping that by showing her grocery store trips, in a few months, there will be several photographers during those same grocery store trips. She wants to be a real celebrity. She doesn't want to be Just Like Us!, but in order to do that, she's got to make us believe that she is. It's a pretty wild paradox if you think about it.
The thing is, if these "celebrities" had a jobs, they wouldn't have these shows. Do you think if the Lifetime Movie Network was returning Jodie Sweetin's calls, she'd be pedaling this show? Of course not. It must be nice to have "reality TV show" next to "sign up for unemployment" on the list of options. I'm just saying.
