http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/24/apontv.new.season.ap/index.html

This article made me think of something.

"The Running Man," (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/) one of the seemingly hundreds of implausible, badly written, yet entertaining flicks the future Guvna of Kall-E-phonia cranked out in the 80's, seemed like a rather bleek, pessimistic view of the future of entertainment in America. I can't remember the year the movie was supposed to be set in, but most of the country was slummy wasteland, and the highest rated show on television was a weekly man-hunt in which these American Gladiator-like characters (who knows - this movie was probably the inspiration for American Gladiators) hunted criminals like animals through a labyrinth of underground streets and passageways. Of course, the hunters were the heroes, and the hunted were the villains (the show's producers made sure of that). And everyone in America had their favorite hunters. Preposterous? Sure, but it made for a good 80's action flick. Until...

We got the reality TV explosion. As the article above hints, reality TV is a trend that, much to my dismay, doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. And unfortunately the fad is creating a vacuum of new ideas. Each network is stealing from the other one and upping the anty to beat them in the ratings game. FOX has success with American Idol, so CBS revives Star Search to compete. NBC has success with Fear Factor, so ABC comes up with Dog Eat Dog to compete. ABC has success with The Bachelor, so FOX comes out with Joe Millionaire. And on and on...

As a result of all this reality competition, regular shows - you know, with scripts and actors and possibly substance - are losing out in the ratings, and the networks don't mind cannibalizing their own programming as long as the ratings are up and the production costs are down.

With all these networks constantly upping the ante, do you think something like what is depicted in "The Running Man," or in video games like "Unreal Tournament" is only a matter of time before they become reality?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 26 user(s) have voted.
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Poll Results: Is TV on it's way to "The Running Man?" (26 votes.)

Is TV on it's way to 'The Running Man'-style bloodsport for entertainment? (Choose 1)
* Yes, definitely. - 42% (11)
* Possibly, but to a degree. No one will never allow actual killing, blood, etc. - 31% (8)
* Probably not. - 15% (4)
* Never. Society will never stand for such barbarism. - 0% (0)
* Don't know/don't care/what's a TV? - 12% (3)

Some years ago, a question like that only had one answer. But with all these "reality" shows that rise like grass, one can only imagine what the future will hold...
But I don't think that there will be killing and the like in a near future; because of ethics, if for no other reason. That would be pushing it too far. Kids can't be kept from the TV all the time, and they are likely to see it sooner or later.

But as long as there are hot younger women (Paris and Nicole for example, a show that sucks with a big S) the show will be a hit... "Sex sells" is a well found expression.

On a side note: A reality show that is really pushing the limit, is one named "There's something about Miriam". It's a show where 5 or 6 young men fight to win a woman by various contests (swimming to the boat she's on for example). What they don't know is her "little" secret...

She's a MAN. :eek: I mean, it's not only cruel on the guys, they are showing it on TV!.
(side note on the side note): she is definetly the sexiest man i've ever seen (yes. sounds strange :sick: )
So now, out of fear of meeting her in real life, I will not start dating until I'm at least 50 or 60... :p

Edit: Wow, I wrote all that? :mommy:

It will, maybe not in our lifetime though.

Perhaps not with actual killing but it certainly seems that Reality TV is heading in that direction. "Series 7 - The Contenders" anyone?

But back on topic, certainly, it may not happen in our life time but considering how much better the book was compared to the film, what's to stop someone coming to a network with perhaps a paintball version of this Reality show? I know that I would most certainly be interested in it as it would be a real, authentic version of the film I mentioned just above maybe crossed with The Amazing Race but without the checkpoint crap.

And if they have it based more on the book with rewards being offered for info on contestants whereabouts, it would be very interesting at least.

One day, though, I feel we most certainly will end up with a version of it on TV with real weapons and real killing. Shame as it will be.

All I can say is, thank God for TiVo that allows me to catch decent shows that are broadcast at obscene hours, and view them at my convenience. It's great to have something else do the work of finding good stuff to watch for me :) As a consequence, the closest I come to Reality TV is "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" - and my train friends' discussions of what happened on all the other crappy shows the night before... :rolleyes:

It's this kind of crap showing up on T.V. which is giving me more time to spend on computer games. ;)

Is TV on it's way to "The Running Man?"It'll go without my aid. I don't watch "prime time" entertainment. Most of the shows are fairly un-interesting. However, I watch the hell out of Discovery. And PBS (Public Broadcasting Station). And History Channel. And Animal Planet.

I'm more of a BS person...

I'm just not seeing it. I mean, I don't watch reality tv after seeing a few survivor epidsodes; all the backstabbing and political garbage which really brought out the worst in human nature turned me off of that show. But since survivor, I've found that the shows are growing more tame. Fear Factor? People make you eat gross stuff; terrible television, but not really objectionable content. Stuff like the apprentice is definately not violent, based instead on the cutthroat business world. Joe Millionaire is based on a pratical joke, very mean but not morally offensive.

It seems to be that reality TV (and TV in general) is moving more towards sexual content then violence. The Bachelor, Temptation Island, Big Brother; the appeal of the shows is the real human interactions that they depict more genuinely then scripted shows do. Plus various ethical organizations would never let a show where a person was actually killed in real life air, so I don't really think we have to worry about that.

i personally HATE reality TV. Big Brother for example, people only watch it to see if they can spot any porn. its sitting in a house, watching people sit in a house. And yes, TV is losing taste, with a show where couples compete to adopt a baby. to me, thats pretty sick.

but shows like survivor aren't really that bad, they are just game shows that push people a little harder than 'who wants to be a millionaire'. Glorified game shows, but still good to watch.

as for ending up like 'the Running Man', im pretty sure that it will happen eventually, after all, tv sets the future. if tv hadn't ever thought of cloning, would we be able to do it now?

I really wouldn't be surprised if it went in that direction, people are bloodthirsty by nature, and it would definitely sell.... for at at least a while.

Thank goodness for that one button on my remote, which turns the TV off. Since the introduction from Real Life TV, i've been watching less and less TV. In Holland you can't turn on a channel between 6 and 10 PM, or you see some Real Life soap. Their latest thing is some sort of Big Brother-ish theme where they film a (in)famous Dutch TV personality, or singer all day long. And there are actually people who keep track of all these programs, like my sister-in-law. She watches them all. Can't say i envy my brother with a wife like that. :D

Reality TV in the U.S. is totally out of control. Whats next...live helmet cams on US soldiers! Anything for a buck... :mad:

KILL THE SWEDES!!111

I mean it, we, the people who have conquered that little scandinavic country called Sweden is past due for extermination. Why? One may ask, the answer be simple: WE STARTED IT! YES! With the stupid show called Expedition:Robinson(which inspired Survivor et compagnie) we started what is now called "Reality TV". And it wasn't those so-called evul bastards of cable-tv who was behind it. No it was the stupid PUBLIC TELEVISION who got the brainpopping idea >>I know, let's start a crappy tvshow with some idiots contesting in "who's most cynical and backstabbing!" on a tropical island with camera crews, a show-moderator who's got nothing better to do and contestants that would do anything for a buck and hope that it will give us good ratings!<<, with our inbred bad taste for crappy tv-shows we, of course, devoured it in a single season. Soon after, sure enough, cabletv followed up with evil things like Baren and similar brainkilling "realitytv"shows. So, to stop any more pain undt misery in our world , please exterminate the Swedes.

Eh? Running Man is probably better than most of Ahhhrnolds crappy movies, but not including Terminator.

I am not sure television is heading towards such programmes such as The Running Man, at least not today... i hope.

One famous in the Dutch Big Brother is Kelly, meet Kelly, she is a travestite, and when she asked for a liposuction in "the great gender change", the doctor probably understood "lobotomy".

After seeing her answer "5" on the question "How many corners does a square have?" I thought up a new formula that never will fail, the weakest link with a small hint of pro-active darwin-awardism, and a huff of AK-47.

But seriously, in the Roman days you had Bread and Play(it was called that right?).