Yeah, I know I am ripping off Sergio Leone, but I needed a good title for my critique of reality tv on MTV. First of all, it is with a certain amount of shame that I even cop to watching MTV with all of its concentration on hip-hop videos and other unwatchable rap crap, but they have two reality shows that are worth a look....True Life and Made. They just had a weekend marathon of True Life, and they had some very interesting stories on topical issues...the one I enjoyed most followed four people about to get plastic surgery. One was a very obese young woman who need bypass/stomach stapling because she was eating herself to death. They followed two best friends, both from Beverly Hills, about to get even more surgery to improve their looks so they could be in Playboy. These two are the most shallow, insipid, spoiled, and obnoxious women on the planet. They could make the women on Joe Millionaire, except for Melissa, seem almost normal, instead of the goldiggers we have come to enjoy. The fourth guy, "Luke" wants calf implants because he is the perfect package except for his skinny calves....I am NOT making this up. The camera follows this moron from his home in New Jersey to Florida so he can get calf implants.....too bad he did not get a brain transplant...but what made this show so interesting was the insertion of a woman, probably in her late twenties who had several cosmetic surgeries. The last one disfigured her horribly, and it has taken her years, numerous corrective surgeries, and lots of pain and suffering to reclaim her life. There was nothing funny about it, but very very interesting.

The second show is called Made. MTV solicits young people who want to be something else....they provide a coach, and try and make the dream come true. They had one show on a terrible rock band of nerds, that was made better, and another nerdy kid, with no talent, who wanted to be a varsity basketball player. What struck me was how genuinely touching these episodes became as you followed these kids. I was quite impressed with the effort(s) made by the kids, and the coaches.

The biggest trick to MTV is not to watch the show, but to tape them.....that way you can skip the innumerable commercials...most of which are for lame ass crap. Finally I must comment on the lame ass Real World Las Vegas. My question is...where do they find these people? They are stupid, moronic, self absorbed, clueless about everything, doing completely uninteresting things. They mostly all smoke...another sign of stupidity, and several repeatedly engage in unprotected sex....hello, wake up!!! The best line was when one guy said to the "almost father" about how he may be becoming a Dad...."your kids will be good looking but your both (his girlfriend and the guy he was talking to) are still as dumb as rocks".

That's my review....your comments or bashing are invited.

• RE: MTV: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly,weltek, 09:14 AM, 02-05-03
  • RE: MTV: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly,flickergirl, 02:59 PM, 02-05-03
• RE: MTV: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly,ejm92, 07:13 PM, 02-05-03
• RE: MTV: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly,LadyT, 03:49 PM, 02-08-03

True Life: The only one I've seen is the plastic surgery one. I agree completely with your assessments! Those two girls...oy! The part that killed me was at the end when the dark haired girls said that "I hope that this give me the confidence to reach my goals in life....like being in Playboy." I thought maybe we'd get an actual moment of intelligence from this girl and she'd say her goal was to enter acting school or SOMETHING. But nooooooo!

Made: I agree that this show sucks you in. I've watched a few episdoes and always really feel happy for the people when the reach their goal or really sad for them when they don't. Did you see the cheerleader one? That girl was amazingly driven.

RWLV: I am in that minority of those who actually like this show. In general, I think the characters are more mature than in the past, but I'm getting sick of Arissa. She whines about her life sucking so bad, but I think she's the kind of girl who brings it on herself. I just think these people have been growing as people more than any other cast and learning from the experience. And Stevens outlook on things can crack me up, although I think he is a moron for not using condoms.

My final thought on MTV programming: They need to quit forcing these dumb animated things. Beavis & Butthead worked, but they have found nothing comprable yet.

You mean you don't like Clone High ?

MTV is sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill.....I watch a number of their reality shows on the weekends when they show marathons and there isn't anything else on, and I'll try and make a short crituque of some of them.

Tough Enough - Awesome show. I really don't watch wrestling, maybe once a year, but this show is really good...they are really tough on the kids.

Road Rules - I never watched it until Campus Crawl, and I actually enjoyed that show. The contestants were less self-absorbed and more "real" than the Real Worlders.

Real World - I have always hated the contestants for these shows with a passion. There may be one or two that I like to watch, and that'll keep me watching the show. Really, the only person worthwhile on this season would be Frank. Alton was alright at the beginning, but the last few episodes that I have seen, he has been terrible. Sometimes they have decent contestants, but most of the time they are crazy and self-absorbed.

Made - Haven't watched a lot of this show, maybe about 20 minutes of two episodes (Cheerleader and the Basketball player)....it looks ok, but didn't keep me interested so I changed the channel.

True Life - I occasionally see this one. I have seen the "I'm A Little Person", "I'm A Pro Wrestler", "I'm Getting Plastic Surgery", and "I'm A Cheerleader" versions...the show is ok, but sometimes the topics don't interest me and I don't watch, or sometimes I begin watching in the middle of the show.

Real World/Road Rules "Battle Of The Sexes" - Heck, I somehow really enjoy this show....it's pretty good. There are a few drama queens/kings, but it actually is a fun show to watch, I wish they would extend it to an hour long.

Osbournes - I really enjoy the show....I can't stand Kelly, and they show waaaaaaay too much of her this season, but seeing Ozzy and Sharon for 15 minutes or so is worth it, lol.

MTV Cartoons - I wasn't a huge fan of Beavis & Butthead, and I'm not a big fan of any of their cartoons....most of them are trying to duplicate the success of South Park and Beavis/Butthead, and most miserably fail.....from what I have seen, Clone High and 3 South suck....

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