Reality With a Purpose?

Last night a friend D-M.O.E. and I were talking about how it seems that everything is turning into a reality show these days. It seems like anyone can get a reality show these days and most of them don't even have any real content to them. So as my friend and I talked about how television is changing, he brought up something that got me thinking. What happened to reality television having a purpose?

I was watching VH1 yesterday and I was baffled by football player T.O. having his own show. What is the purpose of his show? From watching the one episode that I did watch, there was not much of a reason for the show at all. The man goes to parties, argues with people, goes on dates, and exercises. The show might as well have been a documentary.

Now, I'm not just bashing only T.O., there are more reality shows out there Tiny & Toya, Brooke Knows Best, and MC Hammer's show on A&E that just kill brain cells. So instead of having tons of shows without a real meaning to them, why can't we have it where it's 50/50?

I'm talking about more shows like MTV's Run's House and T.I.'s show Redemption, both shows portray a message and a meaning about some important aspect of life. What I liked about T.I.'s show was that the aspect of giving back to others and teaching people from your mistakes. Even though the rapper was doing this because of his own trouble with the law, the show filled a void that wasn't there before.

So can there be a 50/50 for the world of reality television, or are we doomed to have more of The Bachelor and Shot at Love? I hope for all of us that things will change.

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