Just when you think that the Reality Show craze is waning, more come along that capture the imagination and interest of viewers. New entries include Race To The Scene hosted by Dolph Lundgren, The Hero hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Beverly Hills Pawn featuring big bucks Pawn Master Yossi Dina. The only problem with Reality Shows is that not all of them are as real as they seem (in case you have not figured that out by now). Despite creative editing and even some obviously staged and scripted events, many of these TV programs garner big ratings and you might be surprised at which are the most popular.
Despite the ever present buzz surrounding the Kardashians, the various incarnations of their reality shows no longer rule the roost. In fact, they deliver a lot less viewers these days having been recently beat in the ratings by the likes of Gator Boys and Bayou Billionaires. Right now the most popular Reality Shows on TV are Duck Dynasty, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and an assortment of Pawn Shop shows. While it is impossible to maintain the popularity of reality shows like the once indestructible American Chopper after the initial excitement wears off without some situations that are obviously not all that spontaneous, some of these series need more than just a little helping hand and seem highly scripted.
The Pawn reality shows are currently big ratings winners and even the lowly Reelz Network has struck gold with Beverly Hills Pawn. I recommend this series because like the others on cable, this one is filled with colorful characters like Yossi Dina and his distinctively attractive female staff. Yossi is the owner of The Dina Collection which is a high end pawn shop located in Beverly Hills. The show offers the allure of people selling high end items for large sums of money, as well as the always entertaining way that celebrities and pseudo-celebrities living and working in Hollywoodland interact and conduct business with each other. Although I imagine that some situations on the show are played up, the show is too new to have fallen to the depths that other pawn series have to keep their ratings high.
Pawn Stars on The History Channel stills tends to win in the ratings wars against a lot of stiff competition and it is always fun to watch. However, the series appears to be moving dangerously close to being a lot less about people walking in to pawn interesting items and a lot more about the store personalities interacting in some obviously set up situations. That could easily spell DOOM for the show if it moves too far away from the customer-staff interactions and negotiations that viewers love to see take place. Another ratings champion is Hardcore Pawn on Tru TV. Although far less believable than the other pawn shows, it is a lot more fun. Who can resist watching customers act crazy while third generation pawnbroker and American Jewelry store owner Les Gold and his children Seth and Ashley fight each other for control of the store and disagree over just about everything.
Others shows like Duck Dynasty, Swamp People, Gator Boys, Bayou Billionaires and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo are not my cup of tea, but a lot of people love them and I think that every reality show fan should give each of these programs at least one shot. The popularity of a show like Duck Dynasty is amazing considering the fact that nothing much happened during the several episodes that I watched. With over ten million viewers a week it is a ratings superstar and more. I have a friend that lives in West Monroe, Louisiana near where the Duck Commander warehouse is located. He works outdoors and tells me that people stop him all day long asking how to get to the “Duck Dynasty place”. He carries around photocopied maps that help direct fans to the small dead end road where the warehouse is located, but warns tourists that there is not really much to see.
After having to deal with hundreds of people stopping by daily to get a glimpse of and autographs from the Duck Dynasty cast, the company wisely opened a small gift shop on the premises to keep people from constantly disrupting their business. And business has been very good with sales way up after the series premiered in 2012 on the Arts and Entertainment Network. The company has had to hire more people and sold over 300,000 duck calls in 2012 compared to just around 60,000 in 2011. The lesson learned is that reality shows can be great for business. The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop located in Las Vegas almost always has people standing in line to get inside. Even the American Jewelry store from Hardcore Pawn has people going out of their way to visit, check out the merchandise and hang around just in case customers go nuts on the sales floor.
Some newcomers to the Reality Show world are showing great promise by adding star power and legitimate competitions to their format. Known as “The Rock” in the world of professional wrestling, Dwayne Johnson has become a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood having been in a string of recent hit films which include the mega-successful Fast & Furious 6. Now “The Rock” is hosting a brand new TV series that I recommend called The Hero on the TNT cable network. The show offers big bucks to competitors and creates some fascinating situations by tempting them to take a large sum of money and sell out other members of their team. The actual competition is tough and has participants doing everything from scaling skyscrapers to scrambling through underground passages to find caches of cash with a limited amount of time to complete each task.
Despite receiving a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1982, Dolph Lundgren decided that he was more interested in acting after coming to New York and linking up with a drama coach. The tall, good looking Swede became famous for his portrayal of the dreaded Drago in Rocky IV. He quickly followed up that role with appearances in popular movies like Red Scorpion, Universal Soldier and most recently The Expendables franchise. Now the man of few words and lots of action is hosting Race To The Scene on the Reelz cable network. This reality series may not have all the glitz and cash that The Hero offers, but it has a lot of heart and I recommend it. Contestants take on very real and hard physical challenges while involved in the recreation of scenes from action movies like Independence Day, Terminator 2 and Rush Hour to name a few. Lundgren’s deadpan delivery of comments meant to mock the participants during the challenges make the show all the more entertaining.
When it comes to Reality Shows, some old favorites are still around like Cake Boss. I regularly tune in to watch the antics of Buddy Valastro, his family and staff, and suggest you do the same. In concert with Valastro’s The Next Great Baker reality series, the present season of Cake Boss features former model Ashley Holt from Kentucky working along side the rest of the crew. An interesting twist occurred recently when another former member of The Next Great Baker named Paul Conti contacted Buddy. He could not find work after The Next Great Baker and that, combined with the destruction of the house that he and his family were living in on Staten Island during Hurricane Sandy, caused Paul to approach Buddy and ask him for a job. That created a problem for Valastro because only the winner of the baking competition was supposed to be hired. On top of that Ashley and Paul constantly butted heads and rubbed each other the wrong way during The Next Great Baker.
To Buddy’s credit he decided to hire Paul so that Conti could get himself and his family back on their feet. This was not only a nice humanitarian gesture, but it also makes for great viewing. Ashley could not believe her eyes when Paul walked in to work beside her on a big cake project at Buddy’s factory. She later welcomed him to the staff by shoving a pile of frosting in his face and I imagine the fun between these two will continue even though they promised Buddy they would behave and work together in peace. Ashley will be working with Valastro for at least a year to learn all she can from him and his staff as part of her prize. Now that Buddy is shipping his cakes nationwide and plans on opening a second retail bakery store he obviously can use the kind of help that a guy as experienced as Paul can offer. I assume Conti will be there to annoy Ashley for some time to come.
Even after Hurricane Sandy customers still line up outside and fill the interior of the original Carlo’s Bakery location in Hoboken, New Jersey. Another lesson in the power of Reality TV that has paid off for everyone involved. Even if not everything is as it seems on shows like Cake Boss, they are still lots of fun to watch. The often criticized for being less reality and more showmanship American Chopper series still scores well in reruns and now Paul Teutul, a.k.a. Paul Sr, has signed to star in a new CMT reality show called Orange County Choppers. The new series re-unites master custom motorcycle builder Paul Sr with Pilgrim Studios, the company largely responsible for the success of American Choppers. Teutul, Pilgrim and CMT have wisely concluded that the original idea of American Choppers, like many reality shows, has yet to run out of gas.
Reality Shows You Should Watch Even If They Are Less Reality and More Fun
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