In the world of primetime television, the old adage that “everything old is new again” has been taken to an extreme in recent years. With the steady decline in the number of scripted shows and the explosion of reality TV, we as viewers have been saturated with reality shows based on ridiculous premises, and this upcoming fall season will be no exception.
Arguably, the last truly successful sitcom debut was more than five years ago with CBS’s Two and a Half Men in 2003. Since then, more often than not scripted television fails to last much past the pilot season. As a result, networks shy away from funding the expensive productions of such shows. When I worked at a television production company this past summer, I got to see first-hand the exorbitant number of reality pitches versus the infrequent ideas for scripted shows, especially sitcoms, that get sent to networks — and the percentages were astounding.
Thanks to this trend, we as viewers get to enjoy the often absurd, rarely engaging reality shows that come and go at an increasingly rapid rate (who could forget winners like Fox’s Married by America or ABC’s Are You Hot? in 2003?). This season, networks will debut some similarly bizarre concepts that will most likely not last more than one season.
On MTV we will see Paris Hilton Needs a New BFF. Yes, somehow, uber-socialite Paris Hilton doesn’t have enough friends and needs her own reality show to find a new best buddy. VH1 will be debuting the almost eerily similar Bromance, starring none other than The Hills party boy Brody Jenner. Jenner has decided he needs a new bro to join him in his life of exclusive clubs, expensive vacations, beautiful women — all with no real job in sight. Men will compete in a series of tasks to gain the opportunity to win Brody over with the hopes of joining his entourage.
Even worse, networks cannot even seem to come up with original reality shows anymore. While at least ABC’s lineup displays a few unique new shows (America’s Toughest Jobs looks pretty promising), MTV and VH1 are both debuting shows that are simply reprises of their old hits, given some sort of plot twist and labeled a new show.
On VHI, former reality queen Sharon Osbourne will host Rock of Love Girls: Charm School, based on the idea that the hard partying girls of Rock of Love 1 and 2 are in major need of a manners lesson. Who better to tutor them in lady skills than metal mama Sharon Osbourne? In my mind, the last thing VHI needs is another cheesy reality show. Still, is it so much to ask that every show VH1 develops not be based off ones we’ve already seen?
Though not a reality show, perhaps no new show captures the lack of originality on television better than the CW’s recreation of Beverly Hills 90210. 90210 looks at some of the old Beverly Hills crowd (Jennie Garth and Shannon Doherty are the two returning cast members) in their grown-up lives.
While Beverly Hills 90210 was an iconic show in its day, the time has come for some original programming. Networks should have the creative capacity to develop shows that are not simply recycled versions of old hits. And furthermore, now that the writers’ strike of this past year has been fully resolved, more scripted shows should be making it on air instead of the reality overload we’ve been seeing for the past 10 years. But until this happens, well, I guess there’s always HBO.
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