What if?

[Horse with no Name]

Pardon me folks, I am doing some independent research and my tinfoil hat is very tight today. :tinfoilhat:

We all know the media is complicit in the PNAC plan.
But what about just "regular" TV?
Is it by mistake or by intelligent design that most of the shows coming out are reality shows...pitting American against American for money or cheesey prizes?

Are these shows done merely for entertainment, or to divide the country even further?
Look at some of the bulletin boards regarding American Idol. Those people are vicious to each other.

What about hidden messages in other shows? I've seen them.
For example, Judging Amy was one of my favorite shows depicting a liberal judge. It's off the air now--without a warning, even though it is syndicated and has hundreds of thousands of fans. It is being replaced by another "reality" show.

[electropop]

1. I had thought of it the other way 'round...

My assumption has been that these shows are a symptom of a very sick culture. Maybe they are a weapon to further sicken our culture... :tinfoilhat:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. A self-imposed weapon, symptomatic of illness IMO n/t

[Horse with no Name]

7. It's our version of the coliseum in Rome right in our living room

"Public events such as gladiator fights, mock naval battles and wild animal hunts were held at the Coliseum. During the staged fights as many as 10,000 people were killed. Fighters were slaves, prisoners or volunteers. Spectators saw persecuted Christians killed by lions. After 404 AD gladiatorial battles were no longer held, but animals such as lions, elephants, snakes and panthers continued to be massacred in the name of sport until the 6th century."

http://www.eliki.com/ancient/civilizations/roman/

[tk2kewl]

3. Your's is a reasonable hypothesis

another DUer once hypothesized that the show were they make you do sick things like eat bugs might be to desensitize people to torture as well

[mattclearing]

4. Oh, you don't need tinfoil for that.

Hell, look at Drudge screaming about any and every perceived entertainment slight of conservatism, from Geena Davis as President to Sean Penn doing anything.

The CEO's of the media companies are definitely sensitive to these kinds of complaints.

But the main thing is cost...original scripted content costs much more money to produce than the glorified game shows that pass for prime time entertainment these days.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Here's some food for thought.

Reality shows are cheaper to produce because they don't hire actors who work for equity-that is, union wages. SAG is a strong union that looks out for its members, and tends to have a liberal slant. And they fight for the "little guy"-the working actor who will never get star billing.

That being said, I can say that I read an article on a Law & Order fan message board that stated that one reason Fred Dalton Thompson came to the series was to influence the writers to a more conservative bent. The actors on that show have some influence on how scripts are written, and Thompson, being a lawyer, probably has had more than his share of influence.

[stillcool]

8. He ruined that show for me...

can't watch anymore. Never have watched any of the reality shows, but National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, are all displaying a change in programming. Jesus Christ is everywhere, as are re-written historys, and the advertising is very telling as well...Go Army and Boeing?

[JuniperLea]

6. i've thought that for years

the fundy church i belonged to in my youth thought so too... they cautioned against watching 'bewitched' for instance as it would tend to lessen a xtian's concern with all things 'magical' which is a big no-no. i guess the church still feels that way since they have issued strong warnings about letting children watch or read the harry potter series.

that being said, my b/f and i have discussed many times the apparent dichotomy between fox network news and fox network entertainment. i don't need to explain fox news to you, but unless you watch the entertainment portion of their programming, you may have missed some very clever bush bashing;)

[Greyhound]

9. Let me say my foil headgear is bigger than most here, but

when it comes to TV/Hollywood all that matters is money. These so-called reality shows are popular (which says a great deal about how far we have sunk) and, most importantly, really cheap to produce. In these day of shrinking audiences the eunuch executives that run the networks see this as a way to short term profits, which is all that counts in corporate amerika.
So I don't believe there is any motivation beyond that. :tinfoilhat:

[lectrobyte]

10. There's a lot of propaganda on the tube, accidental and deliberate.

There was what passes for a minor scandal these days when it was revealed that the drug control forces were paying networks for shows to include anti-drug messages.