Friday, September 14, 2012

If The Voice Existed for Writers what would we call it?

My husband and I are big television fans. I don’t really care what they say about it being an awful medium. That it’s dumb and watching too much of it is the sign of a lazy person, or whatever because I try not to listen to “they” most of the time if you know what I mean.

I think you do.

With our love for television we’re bound to have at least one or two reality shows on the list. “Don’t judge me monkey”, I’m not going to apologize for enjoying them. And I do enjoy them with limited commercial interruptions due to the beauty of DVR.

Guilty pleasures abound from Project Runway (Are you serious, you idiots got rid of Gunner? Ugh. I hope all the judges are wearing flowers next week in honor of the boring as hell one trick pony they held onto instead of the guy who actually seemed to want to be there. Whatevs.) to America’s Got Talent (However, yeah, Sharon, it’s our last show too because really “America”? You gave the $1,000,000 to flipping dogs over Tom Cotter – the most hilarious comic I’ve seen to grace a stage since Carlin. You just robbed that guy of what he was rightfully due. Consider yourself Idoled AGT - two fewer viewers next season.) Bath Crashers, Biggest Loser and the list goes on and on.

But the thing about those shows that draws me in isn’t the drama or backstabbing, what I love about them are the final products we get to see. Rooms that delight all the senses, models in the making, everyday dudes who develop into superstars, people who transform their entire lives starting with losing weight, the coolest couture, and comics that I now plan to internet stalk until he’s in my area and I can see the guy live. Yeah I’m lookin’ at you Cotter. Freaking robbed I tell ya.

But I digress…

My real question and/or point in all of this is that just about anything and everything has a reality show these days – clothes, voices, odd-balls, roller derby – but there’s nothing for Writers. WTF? How is that fair? Even actors get shows just for existing as an Actor. I’m lookin’ at you Matt LeBlanc. So where’s reality for Writers?

It could have a kick ass tag line like “Will she love him or kill him?” and feature newbies, Indies, seasoned pros or whoever else wants to guest star to whip up controversy. We’d get a quick and easy theme song like the one The Voice has – “This is The Voice!” – but with a twist tailored specifically to us – “This is the Prose!”

Perfect!

Yeah, yeah I know.

Truth is that the concept is pretty silly. I mean who wants to sit around watching a bunch of Writers click away on their keyboard in silence? Doesn’t exactly make for compelling television I guess.

At least on a show like Project Runway the designers can stand around chatting with each other while they sew or fit their garments. The drama builds through scenes when designers are chatting. But have you ever tried to have a conversation and write at the same time? Not easy.

So I guess Writers will need to continue to apply the tried and true method for instant fame after all – work your ass off for years and possibly still never become a household name or twitter hash tag.

Because, really? Instant fame? Pfft. Writers know what everyone on reality television knows. There is no such thing as overnight success regardless if you make it to television or not. Winning it all comes from decades of hard work and dedication to perfecting what you do.

Just ask Tom Cotter.

Because as far as I’m concerned, he won.

6 comments:

jamiessmiles said...

I have never been much into reality, other than idol, which I swore off of after five effing years of watching the wrong person win. Now I am really into storage wars, and other shows involving the worth of items. I think deep down inside I'm hoping to find my retirement for 25cents at a garage sale.

Almost Precious said...

I find I'm getting sick of being force-fed these so-called reality shows. How real is their reality? At times I think they are totally scripted and as phony as a 3 dollar bill. Now that would be a challenge for a writer - write the scripting for a faux-reality show. :D

JudisJems said...

Interesting concept you raise; could also cover other fields like painters, or photographers, or how about this - programmers? "This Is The Code".
Love you, Mum

Tanya Sehgal said...

Hello there. A nice blog here... Love the very idea of being selfless to others & providing your expertise with no interest.
I have a blog too full of optimism & facing life challenging situations...

-Tanya
http://thankgodforlife.blogspot.in/

Anonymous said...

I'd watch a show about writers, and I think there might be some drama to it - meeting deadlines, getting rejected, etc etc... probably wouldn't have the same mass appeal as The Voice (which Diana is hooked on - and not just b/c of Adam Levine) but with the state of TV today I'm convinced that people will watch *anything*. (Honey Boo Boo anyone?) b/c either the programming execs don't care what people want - they just produce cheap crap and force it in front of our eyes - or not enough of us are demanding quality programming. It's gotten so bad that I'm actually starting to watch an mTV show. A *scripted* mTV show, but still.

Suldog said...

I could see it if the producers could get folks to whack each other over the head with thesauruses or something.