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PBS makes awesome posters shaming reality TV.
Via Entertainment Weekly:
A series of new posters that chides the state of modern television has begun appearing in subways throughout New York City this week.
The prints, distributed by Thirteen, a local PBS station, advertise outlandish, fake shows with names like Knitting Wars and Bayou Eskimos alongside the biting tagline, “The fact that you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV.”
“It’s pretty scary when you look out there and see what’s on television these days,” Jeff Anderson, Executive Creative Director at CHI&Partners NY (the ad agency that created the campaign) said in a release. “If New Yorkers want an inspiring and educational option, they need to get behind a network that we sometimes take for granted.”
EW has obtained copies of all five posters that will appear in subways until the end of June, and while we’re 98 percent in agreement with the sentiment and snark, we also kiiiiinda want to see Knitting Wars on the air, if only because the “It’s Sew On” kicker had us in… stitches.
Post edited by Daikun on
Comments
Can we re-film Citizen Kane, but instead, have him be a pickle baron?
ART!
It's more pickle baron than Mona Lisa, but it's still art.
It's more Bayou Eskimo than Birth of Venus, but it's still art.
It's more Married to a Mime than The Creation of Adam, but it's still art.
Modern art.
No.
Would Darren Aronofsky make a reality show? Is the show called Bullshit a reality show? Is the sitcom about nothing a reality show?
Oh, that's right. They're not. Those concepts would have to be radically changed into another genre entirely away from the "reality" gimmick in order to work. If not, it would be the same junk as shown on those posters.
So, for a legitimate PBS-style documentary, you could have a camera crew filming Eskimos up in the Arctic as they go about their daily business while impacting said business minimally -- perhaps only periodically asking questions of them to explain their various cultural traditions, hunting techniques, and so on. The show would then, ideally, provide legitimate insight on Eskimo culture to those unfamiliar with it.
By transplanting Eskimos to the Bayou, you're actively interfering in their daily business and therefore no longer making a documentary, but a reality show. Add in the focus on drama between the Eskimos instead of Eskimo culture itself, perhaps toss in a bit of "fish out of water" drama and even additional stuff provided by the production team, and bingo, you've got serious reality crapola.
Looking at those other posters, you can also draw the line between legitimate documentary/how-to/etc. and reality crap, with all those posters being reality crap.
- "Big Bad Bagboys"
- Legitimate documentary: The plight of minimum wage workers in America's supermarkets and how they manage to survive without health care, affordable housing, etc.
- Reality show: Bag boys yuk it up, complain about customers, and get into food fights. Emphasis is made on the drama between the bag boys themselves and others
- "Knitting Wars"
- Legitimate how-to (a PBS staple for many years): A show on how to knit things. How novel!
- Legitimate documentary: A show on the history of knitting and various knitting traditions across multiple ethnic groups.
- Reality show: A bunch of old ladies periodically getting into fights and other drama over who gets the purchase the last ball of pink and white yarn at the local knitting supply store
- "The Dillionaire"
- Legitimate documentary: A show on the history of pickles and pickle production throughout time, culminating with a tour/demonstration of a modern industrial pickle plant as given by the "Dillionaire," said plant's owner. The "Dillionaire" himself could even narrate the show if he has sufficient voice talent.
- Reality show: The drama involved with running a pickle plant with little or no information on just how pickles are made. Emphasis is made on arguments and drama between the "Dillionaire" and his employees, suppliers, and family members.
- "Married to a Mime"
- Legitimate documentary: A show about the history of the art of mime, how one trains to become a mime, and so on, narrated by someone who happens to be married to a mime
- Reality show: Ohmigurd, I'm married to a mime! He's always dressed like a clown! People are always yelling insults at us! He never talks at the dinner table!
Going back to the whole reality as fiction vs. non-fiction argument, here's where it comes down:For example, it's impossible for us to know every single word spoken by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg. However, it would be acceptable if a historical re-enactment show about Gettysburg made up lines for the actor playing Robert E. Lee to speak, provided the language used was appropriate for Robert E. Lee based on what we do know about him and the era. Having the actor say a line like "I believe that we will achieve overwhelming victory by charging up that hill" would probably be acceptable. Having him say something like "We're going to kick their *bleep*ing asses by running straight up that mother*bleep*ing hill!" (censorship bleeps provided to illustrate how it would probably look on actual TV) would not.
There are certainly gray areas, but generally we're only talking about the most extreme and outlandish of television programming here. Reality programming itself is an offshoot of legitimate documentary and how-to programming, with PBS's own "An American Family" perhaps being the originator. However, the problem with most modern reality programming is that they try to be outlandish for the sake of being outlandish and sacrifice any sort of enlightening, illuminating, or educational content in the process.
I admit, I do watch a couple of reality shows, but they tend to be more sober and much more documentary in style than any of the fake shows presented by those posters. If it matters, those shows are "Deadliest Catch" (I grew up in a commercial fishing town, so the adventures of fishermen just really gets to me for some reason) and "Flying Wild Alaska" (I'll watch nearly anything if it's got airplanes in it). I can't stand the Real Housewives, Honey Boo-Boos, Parking Wars, and so on, which is what these posters try to address.