Jon and Kate Plus Who are these People?

Jon and Kate Appear to be Straight out of Central Casting

I remember back in the day when reality television meant crazy people in acid washed jeans with bad perms and mullets on Maury Povich. These people possessed a certain flair for the high histrionic. They always appeared oddly pleased to be presenting an image of being one step away from the missing link.  Perhaps they were  missing links.

People who went on reality television were  strange moon people who only came out when  cameras were  rolling, there were Phil Donahue type questions to be answered, and  chairs to be thrown. Entertainment value was found in watching something that wasn’t real at all.

Except for the occasional mullet, acid washed jean, or person of the Tonya Harding like countenance, I didn’t cross paths with reality show people. Trust me, I looked.

In the early 90s I read an article about how reality television was here to stay. It was dirt cheap to produce and  brought together a massive demographic bonded in  common denominator of being able to say,  “At least my family isn’t as nuts as all that.” I didn’t think this could be true. The American public would grow bored and demand more.  I was right,  and at the same time  completely wrong.

In what would become what I call the great age of over-sharing, reality television was here to stay. It would evolve into another thing over the years, and develop a life of its own. Beautiful people who used to head West to be discovered at soda shops, now could apply online to become famous as bachelors, bachelorettes, supermodels, and survivors. Pop out half a dozen babies or agree to be changed from beast to beauty via plastic surgery? You were a shoo-in. Contrived or not, it turns out watching other people’s personal train wrecks is fascinating.

The tagline of Newser, a news aggregator that I visit often, is “Read Less, Know More.” You can customize the home page to show only “real” news. I’ve been telling myself for a year now that someday I’ll do this. For now anyway, the tagline should be “Read More, Know Less.”

This morning I went on Newser with full intention of catching up on “real” news,  along the lines of North Korea and Iran. Intention counts for something, right? I tried last night too, via television. But I got stuck listening to a major news figure eulogize Ed McMahon.

After an hour on Newser, I know nothing. The current top five stories say it all:
1. Jon and Kate file for divorce. I’ve never watched more than 10 minutes of this show, but for some reason, I don’t understand, I read. In a related article I visited, a reporter for an entertainment industry publication quipped, “Jon and Kate should get divorced more often.”

2. Farrah hospitalized again Duh, I had to read this one.

3. The Show Must Go On by Kate Gosselin I still don’t want to watch the show, but am intrigued by a reality television “star”, who says things that were clearly written by public relations handlers such as, “we’re navigating through a very difficult time.”

4. Yet another photo “oops” of Miley Makes me glad my daughters aren’t faced with going through adolescence in public. And wonder what  parent in their right mind would ever let their cute kid go on The Disney Channel.

5. Iconic Sidekick, Ed McMahon Dead at 86.  I learned enough about Ed last night and didn’t actually read this. I do appreciate the use of “iconic” in  the headline though. It actually seems appropriate and earned. I appreciate it being used in reference to someone over the age of 25 who until the other day was living. Who do you think will be remembered in history, Ed McMahon or Paris Hilton? I seriously don’t know either.

I’ve got to change my Newser grid… maybe it can be a 2010 resolution? What’s the point of rushing?

How about you? What’s your reality guilty or not pleasure?