After giving it some thought...

In my previous post I was able to sit down and speak with Brandon Williams, an Associate Producer over at VH1. Brandon and I both broke into the Reality TV scene together a few years ago, and where I have taken a different path, Brandon still works in Reality, so I thought his keen perspective on the matter would bring some insight to my blog. Brandon had a lot of interesting things to say pertaining to Reality TV, but I wanted to focus on what he said about moving forward and the future of Reality TV. I asked Brandon where he thought Reality TV would be down the road... I for one think and am hoping that the Reality TV bug will have died down a bit, but Brandon offered a different perspective. He said "Reality will have a place on TV for a long time due to several reasons, People like to imagine themselves in situations and reality TV offers that. The poker boom (I classify it as sports and reality TV) of the early 2000s is an example of that. poker can be played by anyone. People can imagine themselves winning all that money, how they were play a hand, how they would react."

I would have to disagree with that... respectfully of course, I feel that Reality TV is just a fad, and like all fads Reality TV will disappear into the fog. For one, Reality really picked up steam during the writers strike a few years back, I think that with more and more up and coming writers looking for work we may end up turning back toward the sitcom as our major form of television entertainment, just as we did in the early 90s with such successes as Seinfeild and Friends. The problem with reality TV is that I don't think it can sustain longevity because a lot of it has the same premise, it cannot continue to re invent itself. Even now I see a lot of redundancy withing the Reality TV realm, there's 20 different real housewives shows, tons of competition shows whether it be cooking ones like Chopped or Top Cher, or designer ones like Project Runway, Mad Fashion etc... At some point viewers will say enough is enough and want a change.

Brandon did bring up a good point when he said  " I think society has a major impact on TV." But that impact will eventually do away with Reality...maybe not entirely but I think there will be a significant decrease in the amount of reality shows that are put out there. Reality TV will always be around in some way shape or form, shows like Cops or even Game shows are a type of Reality Television that will last, but all of these others will eventually meet their demise, at some point, the question is when?

All in all for the time being we will have to put up with the "Jersey Shores" of the world and hope that a sort of Renaissance happens where the glory days of television like 90210, Melrose Place, Saved by the Bell, Fresh Prince of Bell Air, Friends and Seinfeld come back to us.

A different perspective...

As you already know, I have worked in Reality TV for a few years and my experiences are a big reason why I began to write this blog.  I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with a previous colleague of mine who still works in Reality TV as an Associate producer for VH1. I thought by bringing in a different point of view from someone who still works in the genre on a daily basis would be interesting. I was able to ask him a few questions and get his perspective on Reality TV...

Me: for my readers, can you introduce yourself and tell us your name and official title at VH1?

Brandon:  My name is Brandon Williams and I started out as a Production Assistant and for the past 2 years I have been an Associate 
Producer on various shows and projects at VH1.

Me: Whats are some shows that you have worked on? 


Brandon: I have worked on Chopped, Project Runway, Kim and Kourtney take New York, The Entertainer in a basement affair, just to name a few and most recently 40 Champions of Cute and 40 Fails part 2

Me: So how did you get your start in Television production?... 

Brandon: I moved to NYC from outside Boston because I had a connection in reality TV. I'd been trying to break into TV or Film and took the first opportunity I could. This was about July 2009.

Me: Having worked in Reality TV... how do you feel about it?...

Brandon: Reality TV has a place in our culture. Since its inception about 10-15 yeas ago, people have been waiting for it to disappear. I don't think it will at this point but it will shift with our culture. 

Me: That's and interesting perspective, which do you prefer... reality or another genre altogether?

Brandon: I like both sides of TV that I have worked in. I've worked reality and like working it for personal reasons. Usually a bigger crew and the comradery is much better. I've worked on scripted clip shows for VH1 and like that side because I get to be creative and have major input into the show. 

Me: In your opinion, what is Reality TV's effect on society?...

Brandon:  I don't think reality has a major effect on society. I think society has a major impact on TV. (look up OJ Simpson bronco chase). This was the start of a major shift in the way the US wanted to watch TV.

Me: What do you think the future has in store for Reality TV... will it even be around?..

Brandon: Reality will have a place on TV for a long time due to several reasons. People like to imagine themselves in situations and reality TV offers that. The poker boom (I classify it as sports and reality TV) of the early 2000s is an example of that. Poker can be played by anyone. People can imagine themselves winning all that money, how they would  play a hand, how they would react. Reality is very cheap to produce versus scripted TV so the networks and channels would prefer it over any other show, besides Jersey Shore reruns.

I have to send a special thanks to Brandon Williams for giving me some time out of his busy schedule making TV to sit down and talk to me for my blog. I'll let this marinate for a while and on my next blog entry I will post my response to what Brandon said in the interview.