Let's face it... reality television sucks. Plain and simple. Most of these so-called "reality" shows do little more than provide mind-numbing "entertainment" by bringing out the worst in some people and putting it on display for all to see. Granted, I'm sure it's not entirely too difficult to bring that out in some of these douchebags, but still... And sadly, the public just eats it up... would there really be a new reality show born every 5 minutes if there wasn't a market for it? True, some of these train wrecks have a thankfully short shelf life, but every time one gets flushed down the crapper, something new and even worse rises up from the cesspool of the television network boardrooms to take its place.

I happened to catch a commercial for the newest piece of trash being brought to us, the ad proudly states, by the creators of The Real Housewives of... (fill in the city) and is called NYC Prep. It seems that this newest little slice of "reality" television ambrosia is centered around 6 kids between the ages of 15 and 18 living on the Upper East Side in New York who attend some ritzy private schools... so obviously these kids all come from some pretty wealthy families. In just the clips I saw, these kids... wow... arrogant, self-absorbed, attitudes of total entitlement and not a one of them seemed like a decent human being. I'm sure some people would say that they're just kids... and that's true. However, I would submit that living these lives of pampered leisure, having everything handed to them (literally) on a silver platter and never having to take responsibility for their actions is distorting their view of reality, of life and of people and that if they're acting this way in their mid to late teens, without any sort of reality check, their behavior isn't likely to change. And it's pretty unlikely that parents who act the exact same way as these little monsters (after all, the kids had to learn it somewhere) are going to provide that reality check.

Don't take my word for it however... take a peek and judge for yourself... below the cut is a clip of NYC Prep that I personally think is pretty vomit-worthy, but I leave it to you fine folks to make up your own minds.





I don't know... maybe this piece of trash isn't any more objectionable than the rest of the trash out there that passes for "entertainment" these days. I just find that reality television has become a race to the bottom with every show seeming intent on out-sleazing the others. For whatever reason, I find the fact that these kids walk around, behaving like the characters in that movie Cruel Intentions and think that it is not just normal, but okay to be infinitely more disturbing than say a group of wealthy, catty women arguing over whose husband makes more money or what salon they should go get their hair done in. Worst of all however, is that this garbage is being "glamorized" and "glorified" on television... tell me there aren't kids that will be watching this crap, think it's "cool" and do their best to emulate it. To have these spoiled little kids talking about sex and drugs being normal and something that "everybody" does at their school is absolutely disgusting... not to mention the horrific message it sends out to those kids that are undoubtedly going to worship this show and the spoiled little kids that populate it.

Granted, there are some shows out there like Intervention or The Biggest Loser that are doing their best to promote a positive message by shining a bright light on real social problems... but those seem to be few and far between. Most reality shows seem to be of the Real Housewives or the NYC Prep variety that are little more than a glorification of absolutely hideous and boorish behavior and do little more than show the worst sides of these people. Or even worse, you have a show like that John and Kate Plus Eight show where viewers witnessed the implosion of somebody's marriage and family life... more than 10 million apparently tuned in for the latest episode after weeks of media coverage about somebody's infidelity or some other such scandal or whatever. Honestly, I've never seen it and I don't particularly care to.

What is our obsession with reality television? Obviously, a ton of people love reality television or it would simply go away. What compels somebody to watch some of these things where the worst in people is on display or a relationship grows more and more strained every week until they hit the breaking point? Deep down, are we all just a bunch of Peeping Tom's that thrill on getting an "inside look" at somebody else's life? Do we just enjoy a little bit of schadenfreude now and again?

I don't know... I really, really don't. So how about you fine folks? Who out there watches "reality" television? If you do, which shows do you watch? And if you don't mind my asking, what keeps you tuning in week after week?

I'd love to hear any and all input on the subject of "reality" television...