A shot of reality to stave-off the ‘Real World’.

So there's a writer's strike…

Sadly, that means the glut of reality-base programming foisted upon America is only going to increase.

I came across this article on MSN.com and was simply appalled.

'A Shot at Love with Tia Tequila' is a dating show centered on a bi-sexual woman's search for love and happens to be MTV's 2^nd highest rated show. While that doesn't sound mind-blowing, just consider that the show ranks in the top 15 of all cable programming. I just find that sad. Not that a bi-sexual is reduced to finding love(fame) on national television, but that enough people care to give it such high ratings.

Lord knows I can't wait until my own reality TV show chance to find the girl of my dreams…meeting ladies in bars or coffee shops is so 20^th century.

What do these kinds of shows say about American society? If these shows are based in reality, do they really reflect America? If so, I am very worried.

I was a fan of the 'Real World' in its first few seasons, it was innovative programming. The show offered a relatively unfiltered glance at youth culture. But even this groundbreaking cornerstone of "Reality TV" has lost its way and is now more T.N.A. and drinking than reality. The show that once blurred the line of documentary and drama has become a mere shadow of its former self.

The first few seasons of the 'Real World' offered casts that were diverse and for the most part, normal. Cast members were young folks who held real jobs, lived real lives and dealt with real issues. (At least as real as life can be when it's being filmed 24/7.) The first few years were genuine, which was hard to replicate once the stardom attached to these shows was realized. But sadly as the show became a hit, it fell victim to its own success and was re-tooled in favor of ratings versus authenticity.

It's sad to see such a promising genre of programming reduced to drivel like 'A Shot at Love with Tia Tequila.' The only creative thing about the show is the name and even that was pretty obvious.

Any shred of genuine portrayals/insights the genre produced in its early years, have been lost amid drunken shouting matches and bikini-clad hot tub hook-ups. What once offered unfiltered glimpses into the lives of others has been dumbed-down and boobed-up to the point of being mind-numbing.

The 'Real World' and reality spin-offs like 'The Hills' offer casts full of slender, busty, alcoholic, frat kids. As I sit in a trendy coffee shop near Seattle University and take stock of the people sitting around me, I see no one that fits that description.

The 'Real World' looks nothing like the world I live in and that is too bad.

And it's great…

It's too bad that such a powerful medium has been reduced to such terrible TV.

But it's great to see that the 'Real World' is in fact, far from it.

Maybe there's hope.