JustTV: The Worst of 2004
2004 Review
>The Best
>The Worst

JustTV

JustTV News

The Rutlanders

TV Talk

My Mother's Son

The Magnolias

Daily Reviews

Message Board


 Reality TV: I want to start by setting the record straight: I'm not one of those tv snobs who hate all reality shows while holding up "Joey" as the pinnacle of perfection. I'd rather have a well done reality show anyday over some piece of crap scripted series, but the problem is that this season offered a plethora of crappy reality series while scripted series saw a rebound, much thanks to ABC.

"The Amazing Race" is reality tv's gold standard, while "Survivor" is continually entertaining (well, sometimes). "American Idol" is interesting; hell, even "Celebrity Mole" had its bright spots. No, what drove reality tv down to being the worst of 2004 is series like "The Swan," which one of the worst things to hit the airwaves ever. Whereas "Extreme Makeover" is mostly about personal growth, "The Swan" takes people with enormous self esteem issues, makes then unrecognizable, and then tells then that they are still not good enough. Series like "Superstar USA" were created to humiliate and degrade people all for our enjoyment- at least ABC's "Are You Hot?" from last season degraded people who needed to be taken down a notch anyway.

Then there were the series that were so lazily thrown together that you have to wonder if the networks are even trying anymore. Like "Trading Spouses" and "Next Great Champ," for instance. Just to beat ABC to the punch, Fox rushed both of these series to the air, and they looked pathetic (and will look pathetic) opposite their brand name competitors.

Then there were the reality series that seemed like a good idea at the time, like ABC's "The Benefactor" and Fox's "The Rebel Billionaire." The latter brought up ratings