Trends and fads are funny things, they are all anybody seems to talk about while they're hot. The general practice of marketing in America is if you want it, we'll give you as much as you can stand. But some fads go beyond any rational reason to exist, going from being worthy of satire to being a parody of itself; hastening the eventual backlash. This is what I refer to as the "WTF line" This is a subjective line and this was where I thought it crossed it.
During the "clear" craze it was Crystal Pepsi, but it did make me what kind of shit was in cola to begin with if you can make a black opaque liquid and make it completely clear.
During the "Grunge" era it was a Rolling Stone photo shoot where none of the flannel shirts modeled were under $100. A couple years earlier (and after) you could get one with a bowl of soup.
During the "no-carbs" era I saw a bag of pork rinds that had a proud hot pink sticker that said,"0 carbs!" I don't want to live in a world where fried pork skins are considered better for you than bread.
We are still firmly in the "EXTREME!" era and for me started at the "What The Fuck!" line and gone deeper in, especially when people started spelling it "X-treme". It's the newest modifier that you can use to market any product; it started with "from hell", then moved to "on crack" then "on steroids" now it's "to the extreme". Who'd of thought that a Vanilla Ice album title would have such a lasting cultural impact.
Which brings me to "Reality" shows, which I have long called "amateur" shows since they're not real enough to deserve the title; just about every animal acts differently when it knows it's being watched. I will admit that I have watched and enjoyed a few myself but have kept it to a minimum, lately I've caught myself watching "Celebrity Fit Club"(Man, Dustin "Screech" Diamond, is a complete hemorrhoid-inflamed asshole!). But when a new crop of shows comes down the pike a brand new "WTF" level is reached. "Sunset Tan" is the newest, the "real" adventures of a spray-on tan salon? Cracker, please! I hope some one from the EPA is watching because it's obvious from what I've seen of the show (what they show on "The Soup") repeated exposure to the tanning chemicals makes you stupid. Chris Kattan, formerly of Saturday Night Live, came in with his girlfriend while she was getting sprayed and one of the leads said, oh I'll let her say it herself at about 1:10
I've got an idea for my own reality show, I'll call it "My Dinner with Lonnie" where my good friend Lonnie Bruner and I discuss music, politics, drinking, whatever over food and the best parts get edited together into a half hour show. We can always sit in a booth so we can be joined by two equally interesting friends, I would probably get my ex-roommates Ed and Futureman for a couple episodes. Jeez, our thoughts on The Chronicles of Riddick could be at least one episode.
I guarantee it'll be better than "Miami Ink".
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