My ex gf loved 16 and Pregnant, the real world, and all the MTV crap, my roommates gf is over tonight watching bachelor pad. She is also obsessed with survivor. I simply don't get it. I'm sitting here and its like fucking torture. What is it, and why do most girls love them?

If this is a picture into the modern American female psyche, then I am happy to be single!

The only stuff I really like to watch is Tosh.o, suff on Nat Geo, Mythbusters, Archer, and the occassional Family Guy. Everything else on TV is crap!

Reality shows are cheap to make is my guess

Yah, SO cheap that they are more profitable that production dramas even with a much smaller veiwership. Remember when some of the big sitcom players were getting paid 1 million dollars per episode? Imagine how much a show like CSI costs to make, with all sorts of locations, complicated sets, special effects, huge casts, ect.

Then think about how much it would cost to get some fame-hungry shitheads to act like buffoons in front of a few cameras.

As far as the appeal goes, i think it provides people with a small amount of validation. If you are a silly bitch who thinks she is real special, the torrent of reality TV shows would validate their fame fantasy. Trashier shows like teem moms, fat ass people being fat, or shows that focus on gross behaviors just provide viewers with an opportunity to participate in the new American past time, judging people.