Skip to main content

Bayou Eskimos, Knitting Wars: Why WNET's fake reality shows are so infuriating

New York public broadcasting station WNET has begun a fundraising campaign that advertises for five fake reality TV shows on fake networks—“Bad Bad Bag Boys,” “Bayou Eskimos,” “The Dillionaire,” “Knitting Wars,” and “Married to a Mime.” The imagery for the fake shows and includes this tagline: “The fact you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV. Support quality programming. Join us at thirteen.org.”

To summarize, instead of producing high-quality reality TV of their own, WNET and Thirteen have resorted to condescension. Nothing like living up to the stereotype of public television.

Hey, WNET: You produce TV, too. In fact, you produced the very first reality show, never mind recent shows such as Colonial House. But why have you become so pathetic that you can only resort to kinda lame parodies of reality shows to get attention for your programming that no one wants to watch, except that show that comes from a commercial UK station?

Forgive my exaggeration and anger, but PBS and its affiliates—especially ones like WNET that are capable of producing and funding high-quality programming—are blowing a huge opportunity to capture audiences who I think are desperate for authenticity in their entertainment. They’re just not getting it from cable networks, which have largely decided to spend less money and over-produce every show to get a predictable outcome.

To be fair, WNET’s ads are well-designed and cleverly written. EW has copies of the posters, because apparently WNET is savvy enough to know that EW is where press releases go. And while “The Dillionaire” and its star “Fred Pickles” is just dumb, “Bayou Eskimos” and “Knitting Wars” are kind of hilarious, and both could easily be a real shows. WNET smartly also created parody Twitter accounts that are very active, which is smart.

But why not put those resources into marketing an actual reality show? I mean, did that seriously occur to no one? Of course, it’s more expensive to produce a show than an ad campaign, but the payoff would be bigger, too.

And where the is the U.S. version of Manor House to take advantage of the Downton Abbey craze? Hell, call it The Real Downton Abbey—or just rebroadcast Manor House. How hard would that be?

Apparently, harder than mocking shows and networks that are actually drawing viewers.


View the original article here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

<b>Reality TV</b> gets its own Comic-Con with Audrina Patridge, Nick <b>...</b>

Reality TV gets its own Comic-Con with Audrina Patridge, Nick Cannon and more | Show Tracker | Los Angeles Timesbody {background-color:#ffffff !important;}ul#root li.navLink a {padding-top:17px; padding-right:4px; padding-bottom:16px; padding-left: 5px;} Subscribe/Manage Account Place An Ad LAT Store Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals More Classifieds Custom Publishing Entertainment HOME LOCAL L.A. Now Politics Crime Education O.C. Westside Neighborhoods Environment Obituaries Findlocal U.S. Politics Now Top of the Ticket Science & Environment Obituaries Religion WORLD Afghanistan & Pakistan Africa Asia Europe Iran Iraq Latin America Mexico Under Siege Middle East Business Money & Co. Technology Personal Finance Small Business Company Town Jobs Real Estate Autos SPORTS Lakers Clippers Dodgers Angels USC UCLA Kings Ducks Soccer High Schools Bleacher Report ENTERTA...

Kourtney Kardashian Announces New Clothing Line

« Kanye West Wears Kim Kardashian Nude Pic Over His Heart | Home | Kelly Clarkson And Brandon Blackstock Got Married This Weekend » October 21, 2013 02:07 PM by Stephanie Gustafson Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian are well known for starring in today’s hottest reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. But the three sisters are intent on expanding their reach beyond the realm of entertainment. They’ve already made headway with the Kardashian Kollection and now, are continuing to take on the fashion world with a brand new clothing line. Kardashian fans across the nation love donning the creations of their idols, Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian. The sisters have continually impressed with the recessionista outfits made possible through the popular Kardashian Kollection. Now, though, the trio have set their sites on high-end fashion, which is why they’re excited to announce the debut of a new collaboration with Lipsy. During a recent chat with Hello Magazine, Kourtney Kardashi...

Midwife Linda Abbott returns to Leeds General in tonight’s One Born Every Minute

Home > Factual > Midwife Linda Abbott returns to Leeds General in tonight’s One Born Every Minute January 30th, 2013 by Lisa McGarry. One Born Every Minute returns to Channel 4 tonight for the fifth episode of it’s current season and this evening’s instalment sees the return of a familiar face. Midwife Linda Abbott is back in Leeds General, after retiring only twelve months ago. The seasoned practitioner realised that she wasn’t ready to put the world of work and child bearing behind her and it was lucky she did, as the staff and patients at the hospital certainly missed her presence. She describes herself as an ‘old bird’ her years of experience are just whats needed, especially in two of tonight’s cases. The episode focuses on two fathers with very different bedside manners and approaches to their partners and expanding families. Joel could not be more attentive to his wife Rachel and is keen that it is just him and her alone when their baby is delivered.. Rachel and Joel’s...