Reality TV (hijacked thread)

[HospiceRN]

Not to steal the thunder of Duane 'Dog' Chapman, but I must confess love of one reality show. It used to come on Sunday mornings when I would get home from working the night shift at the local hospital. It was called Build A Bike and had this wonder Brit on there. They really only built (rebuilt) three bikes, an old Harley, a VW Trike and a gorgeous '68 Bonnie. But the show was so relaxing and the host so unimposing that I looked forward to it each Sunday.

[Dknapp]

Great show. I've seen the Bonnie episodes on DVD. Very informative and entertaining. I guess I could watch "Dog" chase drunk, shirtless, trailer trash.

[TechmanBD]

Haven't heard of that one.

The one my wife and I have been getting into on the BBCA is Ramsey's Nightmare Kitchens. He can be over the top, but he usually needs to, to get through to some of these owners that think they can run a restaurant. I would think, with the mass amounts of competition, that it would be very difficult to do well and stay competitive in the restaurant industry.

[tba-golfer]

"Cash in the Attic" from our friends across the pond.

"Antiques Road Show" over here.

And I must confess to being a great fan of many shows on the food chanel, especially Alton Brown (he's a BMW rider.)

Double confession, I've been a sucker, no pun intended, of cheesy fishing shows since I was a wee lad. Anyone remember Gadabout Gaddis, the "Flying Fisherman"?

[mistermellow001]

I have to say that I like the Golf Channel. I suck at golf, but with all the crap on television, watching tips on golfing, or just a replay of some tournament, can relax me.

I also like Alton Brown because he explains the science behind his cooking instead of just repeating recipes.

I sometimes like to watch Cash Cab. Just about any trivia game show will stop my surfing.

I wish I had more time for movies.

I like Modern Marvels on the History Channel.

I like re-runs of Law & Order (Mare, you can bring the popcorn).

Most of the time it's off, but I'm certainly not a "kill your television" kind of guy because I see it as a window into at least some of our popular culture, as obsessed as it is with the graphic aspects of crime, pointless "reality show" confrontations, and dumbed down drama.

[denman13]

History HD, NatGeo, Discovery have become some of my fav's. Two series I have been seriously enjoying lately are "The Universe" and "The Human Body." Also like Modern Marvels, Cities of the Underworld, Really Big Things, and Iron Chef.

But these shows are a far cry from the drivel that was being discussed in the hijacked thread. I don't consider any of these to be "reality TV." Maybe Mythbusters could be considered close but it's still actually informative not just lowest common denominator :type garbage.

Oh, and add Smash Lab to the list too.

[blackstar1965]

I have to agree with most everything you said Denman. Except SmashLab.
That show is awful, it's a lame spinoff of MythBusters.
Don't get insulted with what I say next, it's not an attack on you.
Their so-called experiments are thinly veiled excuses to destroy or blow things up. It's contrived and pointless. The girl on the team isn't even good looking, and the dudes are wieners- I hate listening to the group "collaborate". It has no redeeming values whatsoever.

MythBusters is easily one of my most favorite shows on television. It's wholesome, informative, and engaging. When one of their experiments has a really exciting result I get just as giddy as they do. It's just plain awesome.

[Gob-ny-geay]

That "Build-a- Bike" guy was really great. If you remember, he had an old, grizzled guy as his assistant, who always seemed on the edge of fouling something up. But he WAS good at bringing tea.
I also remember that he had car restoration shows, in particular one for an MGB, and one for a Jaquar E-Type.

And, I remember seeing him in a home remodeling show maybe about two years ago??
Who is that guy? The nice thing about that show was that it was realistic (practical?) in that he would show how to restore something without spending your life savings, and with tools and resources the average guy would have.

Unlike some of these "chopper" build shows that spend $100K on a bike built from a handful of preassembled components that looks oddly similar to the one built last week, just a different color! Oh, but listen to them argue.. and they're running late!

Regarding "Smash Lab", I agree, just a jump on the bandwagon to make a buck, lowbrow rip off of the Mythbusters, tailored to trailer trash types that get off on blowing stuff up.

Now, after having wrote this, why is it the good programs (Build-a-Bike) seem to disappear, and the absolute garbage shows prosper and stick around?

[LightningJack]

Regarding TBA Golfer's post (Double confession, I've been a sucker, no pun intended, of cheesy fishing shows since I was a wee lad. Anyone remember Gadabout Gaddis, the "Flying Fisherman"? )
I don't recall Gadabout Gaddis, but I did watch "Virgil Ward's Championship Fishing". There is something about fishing shows that elicits a sense of peace and serenity, and I thought I didn't like Reality TV.
Perhaps someone should come up with a TV show that combines adventurous motorcycling excursions with fishing, a REAL reality show, with real people and real motorcycles. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[denman13]

Originally Posted by blackstar1965

I have to agree with most everything you said Denman. Except SmashLab.
That show is awful, it's a lame spinoff of MythBusters.
Don't get insulted with what I say next, it's not an attack on you.
Their so-called experiments are thinly veiled excuses to destroy or blow things up. It's contrived and pointless. The girl on the team isn't even good looking, and the dudes are wieners- I hate listening to the group "collaborate". It has no redeeming values whatsoever.

MythBusters is easily one of my most favorite shows on television. It's wholesome, informative, and engaging. When one of their experiments has a really exciting result I get just as giddy as they do. It's just plain awesome.

aahh I have to give you a little credit on this one. The Smash Lab people are not the Oppenheimers of TV science but they do come up with some interesting experiments. They can be hit or miss. They did have a cool one yesterday where they used compressed air to create fluidized sand pits then disguised them to see if they would work as a way to stop criminals from escaping from a bank robbery scene and it worked. But that's about as low-brow as I want to get. Although I'll admit I do like South Park