Guilty Pleasure
For quite some time I've been wishing that someone would bring back the show Battle of the Network Stars. With 5-million cable channels and the competition between networks nowadays it didn't seem realistic, but a girl can dream.
And sometimes dreams become reality, even if they get a bit twisted in the process. Bravo has a show runnning now called Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Same concept as the original battle: several teams compete in various athletic-ish competitions (obstacle course, flag football, simon says, swimming...), for the chance to be named the winner. But now, instead of Scott Baio and Farrah Fawcett we get former reality TV participants.
Sweetie and I stumbled across this while we were in Boston last weekend, and have deemed it our new guilty pleasure. I'm in love. I do, however, have a couple of complaints:
1. There are certain reality shows that attempt to select someone for a future career. The Apprentice is for folks who want to succeed in business, Project Runway for future fashion designers. If you've appeared on one of these shows, especially if you made it fairly far into the competition, I consider it REALLY BAD form to appear on shows created simply to extend your fifteen minutes of fame. You've got talent in your chosen area, do not become a television ho. (America's Next Top Model and American Idol contestants are exempt from this, as their goal is to become a magazine and television ho)
2. Part of the joy of the original Battle was the competition between the networks. What is the best network? Why, the one that wins the competition, of course. There was a cohesiveness to the team. This time around, the teams are completely random, there are Survivors and Amazing Racers and Real Worlders on all the teams. It would be better if they were grouped in some sort of fashion: by network, by type of show, by how long the show's been around, just pick something that qualifies the teams as a cohesive unit.
But don't worry, I've gotten over my concerns, and the TiVo's set for the rest of the season.
And sometimes dreams become reality, even if they get a bit twisted in the process. Bravo has a show runnning now called Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Same concept as the original battle: several teams compete in various athletic-ish competitions (obstacle course, flag football, simon says, swimming...), for the chance to be named the winner. But now, instead of Scott Baio and Farrah Fawcett we get former reality TV participants.
Sweetie and I stumbled across this while we were in Boston last weekend, and have deemed it our new guilty pleasure. I'm in love. I do, however, have a couple of complaints:
1. There are certain reality shows that attempt to select someone for a future career. The Apprentice is for folks who want to succeed in business, Project Runway for future fashion designers. If you've appeared on one of these shows, especially if you made it fairly far into the competition, I consider it REALLY BAD form to appear on shows created simply to extend your fifteen minutes of fame. You've got talent in your chosen area, do not become a television ho. (America's Next Top Model and American Idol contestants are exempt from this, as their goal is to become a magazine and television ho)
2. Part of the joy of the original Battle was the competition between the networks. What is the best network? Why, the one that wins the competition, of course. There was a cohesiveness to the team. This time around, the teams are completely random, there are Survivors and Amazing Racers and Real Worlders on all the teams. It would be better if they were grouped in some sort of fashion: by network, by type of show, by how long the show's been around, just pick something that qualifies the teams as a cohesive unit.
But don't worry, I've gotten over my concerns, and the TiVo's set for the rest of the season.
posted by Swankette at 9:16 PM
2 Comments:
I don't want to sully my memories of the original Battles with these new knock-offs. On the other hand, I did see Gabe Kaplan of "Welcome Back, Kotter" at a World Poker Tour final table. I remember him as being a very good captain of the ABC team, especially at the tug-of-war.
Or maybe I ate too many liverwurst-and-ketchup sammidges as a youngster, and am imagining that.
How funny you're mentioning that. We're having a 70s party at work today. I wasn't on the planning committee, but I should have suggested Battle of the Phone Queue leaders...
Post a Comment
<< Home