The Broken Record: Television - like being part of a winning team
Matthew Hadley
Issue date: 6/9/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
One-hundred million?
Well, almost.
Nearly 100 million votes were cast for the finale of this season's American Idol.
Do you know how many people voted in the 2008 Presidential Election? Approx-imately 122.5 million.
I don't know about you, but those numbers seem far too close to one another. If people were to vote for their favourite karaoke singer only once, then, of the nearly 300 million American citizens, one-third of them voted in the American Idol finale.
That's absurd. Especially given the number of votes cast for the leader of the Free World.
This got me thinking, why do we love reality television so much? Better yet, why do we still love reality television so much? Hasn't it run its course?
I thought long and hard about this.
Then, it hit me. Let me explain.
Whenever I go to my parents' home, I get the opportunity to enjoy one of the single greatest television inventions - On Demand Television.
Instead of accomplishing something with my life or spending some quality time with the folks, I decided the smarter choice would be to waste my hours away in front of the tube, demanding what I watch and when.
After re-watching the last seasons of Californication, Flight of the Conchords and Entourage (it was a long day and an even later night), I decided to venture into other great HBO series.
Suddenly, I was hooked on In Treatment.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, In Treatment follows Paul, a psychiatrist played by Gabriel Burns, and his work with patients. The show is set in real-time, thus, each episode is prefaced by which patient Paul will be seeing, and the day of the week and the time of the day. The next half-hour, viewers sit in on Paul's therapy sessions.
As I watched each episode in order, I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the following week's sessions. But that would defeat the purpose.
That's when I realized - we are a generation of voyeurs. No, not the sexual kind of voyeur.
Well, almost.
Nearly 100 million votes were cast for the finale of this season's American Idol.
Do you know how many people voted in the 2008 Presidential Election? Approx-imately 122.5 million.
I don't know about you, but those numbers seem far too close to one another. If people were to vote for their favourite karaoke singer only once, then, of the nearly 300 million American citizens, one-third of them voted in the American Idol finale.
That's absurd. Especially given the number of votes cast for the leader of the Free World.
This got me thinking, why do we love reality television so much? Better yet, why do we still love reality television so much? Hasn't it run its course?
I thought long and hard about this.
Then, it hit me. Let me explain.
Whenever I go to my parents' home, I get the opportunity to enjoy one of the single greatest television inventions - On Demand Television.
Instead of accomplishing something with my life or spending some quality time with the folks, I decided the smarter choice would be to waste my hours away in front of the tube, demanding what I watch and when.
After re-watching the last seasons of Californication, Flight of the Conchords and Entourage (it was a long day and an even later night), I decided to venture into other great HBO series.
Suddenly, I was hooked on In Treatment.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, In Treatment follows Paul, a psychiatrist played by Gabriel Burns, and his work with patients. The show is set in real-time, thus, each episode is prefaced by which patient Paul will be seeing, and the day of the week and the time of the day. The next half-hour, viewers sit in on Paul's therapy sessions.
As I watched each episode in order, I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the following week's sessions. But that would defeat the purpose.
That's when I realized - we are a generation of voyeurs. No, not the sexual kind of voyeur.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Stella
posted 6/14/09 @ 1:10 PM EST
Glad you are enjoying In Treatment. I hope you have the opportunity to watch both seasons. The work on this show is amazing.
And the actor's name is Gabriel BYRNE. (Continued…)
Matthew
posted 6/22/09 @ 12:21 AM EST
I knew that, but sometimes you miss things. Thanks for pointing it out.
Keep reading the press, byrneholic.
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