Whinging Wednesday - Reality TV: And The Winner Is...

I’m not a fan of reality TV, but I do watch the X-Factor and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. For my American friends, American Idol is the American version of the X-Factor. I’m a Celebrity... sees forgotten (in most cases) celebrities who’re staging a come-back of sorts, dumped into the Australian jungle. They’re required to complete stomach churning tasks like chewing on kangaroo testicles to ‘win’ food for the group. They get whittled down one by one until the last man/woman left standing is crowned king or queen of the jungle.

My whinge today is about the hosts of these programmes. Have you noticed (though I can’t imagine you haven’t) the length of time it takes them to say who’s going home on a particular night?

'And the person going home tonight is...' and you waste valuable seconds and minutes of your life waiting for them to say the name. Just say the name already! You scream at the TV and hide your face behind your hands while they stand there, panning from face to face, squeezing the last bit of patience out of the poor, panic-stricken people on stage.

...And you're still waiting for a name.

Why does this have to be done in this way? Do the producers of these shows think that we, the viewers get our kicks from seeing the competitors (celebrity or not) cringe to the point of breathlessness? What is the perceived advantage of this tactic and how does it help the show?

I have to admit it does nothing but annoy me, making me less likely to watch more episodes of the show.

...Still waiting.