Reality TV

Reality shows have taken over my TV!  I think almost every major channel has at least one reality show.  I understand that the reason they make them are because they are extremely cheap to make and pull in way more money then they spend, but they are getting out of hand.  The reality shows out numbering the sitcoms makes it impossible for myself and other Americans to ignore.  I admit I have watched my share of the reality shows.  I actually like a couple of them such as, Top Chef and Project Runway.  I like these because they do show real people that are not actors that compete in sane challenges like cooking and designing clothing.  The rest of the shows such as, Real World, The Bachelor, The Beauty and the Geek, Super Nanny, Dr. 90210, American Idol, Survivor, America's Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, Rock of Love, A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila, etc., are a disgrace to our society.  The stars of these shows more often then not have no intelligence at all, the only thing they have going for them are good looks.  This leads one to believe that the only thing that our society cares about is being attractive.  When they choose the cast on these shows they only choose good looking people.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation the beauty and dating shows focusing on being sexually attractive may contribute to eating disorders among adolescent girls.  Other shows like Extreme Makeover and Dr. 90210 focus on reconstructing people's faces and bodies so they can feel better about themselves and feel accepted in our society.  A good point the Kaiser Family Foundation also made was shows like Survivor, Jackass and Fear Factor are rewarding risk-taking behavior and scheming, backbiting, betrayal, and callousness are portrayed as the ways to get ahead in reality TV.  In my opinion MTV is the worst channel for children and even adults to be watching.  When I was a child before there was reality TV all I watched was MTV because it was what my older sister was watching and I'm sure the same goes for the children of today.  The Real World (MTV's hit) was the first reality TV show I can remember and probably the worst.  The only message they are sending is be sexy, go to clubs, get wasted, smoke cigarettes, do drugs, get violent and have sex.  Other shows like Rock of Love and Tila Tequila is about a fight for love, which is a complete joke.  The girls and boys on these shows degrade themselves like pieces of meat.  Each challenger is passed around the dating pool and are put up ridiculous challenges that make fools of themselves, which is exactly was people are drawn to and enjoy watching.  I am embarrassed that I live in a society that eats this kind of behavior up.  I can understand the reason people are drawn to reality shows,which is the so called "real people" and "reality" as the focus.  In my opinion people have lost touch with reality and are unable to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong, and positive and negative ways of living.  I think it is time we put reality TV to rest because soon our society will have lost all importance of humanity and morals.