Hour Victory World
It seems like the world in the past few years has been inundated with self-improvement shows. When these programs first went on the air every channel wanted a piece of the phenomenal ratings. Audiences everywhere wanted to see what a team of experts and professionals could do to make one individual into someone who they wanted to become, someone that the society envisioned they would become. All of these shows basically contain the same premise; "I want to look and feel like someone else, someone who's prettier, happier and livelier than me."
The explosion of reality television brought with it the need for self-improvement. Every channel one flipped through would be another channel overwhelmed with "I want a new body part," "I want a new wardrobe," or "I want to be thin." Networks these days, however, have toned down their scheduling of self-improvement shows. There is only approximately thirty-five hours of this sort of programming airing currently.
There are a vast amount of titles and un-inventive principle to each, composing each show of ordinary and collective minutes of programming. "A Makeover Story," "What Not To Wear," "How Do I Look," and "The Biggest Loser" make up just some of the shows presently airing. "A Makeover Story," which involves two individuals who have known each other for quite some time emerging themselves at an important event after getting all glammed up from picking out a new outfit at a posh boutique to a new hair cut. "What Not To Wear" involves friends spying on another because they lack fashion sense and then are sent to New York City to work with a team of experts to gain an understanding of how to dress for the world and their profession. Both programs can be found on TLC. "How Do I Look," found on the Style channel, goes along the same lines as "What Not To Wear" except three people choose what the fashion victim should wear and then must make a decision what looks right and deems their style appropriate. All of the above programs are found on cable stations. "The Biggest Loser" is the only show found on a broadcasting network as of this time, NBC. The show puts people into two teams and challenges them to loose weight while each week voting off one person from the losing team who hasn't lost enough weight to pull the team to victory.
Generally "A Makeover Story," a half hour, is found in the afternoon Monday's through Friday's. Reruns of "What Not To Wear" can be found in the afternoons Monday's through Friday's and then a new episode on Friday's at eight at night and then again at ten. "How Do I Look" is aired in repeats throughout the day and then a new episode also on Friday's. The above are both hour long programs. "The Biggest Loser" airs Tuesday's at 8 pm for usually an hour.
The target audience ranges from 18-50. Each program has a wide variety of individuals that the casting directors select all ranging in ages and race. Since there are a range of people selected these shows do reach their target audience due to fair representation of each group; such as the college student, housewife, career woman, elderly gentleman, etc. With such demographics to view and cheer for, the audience watches the program from week to week to see if their favorite person will succeed.
Ratings are an enormous factor on whether or not a show will be brought back for a supplementary season or be canceled. "The Biggest Loser" ranked 45th in the ratings with 8.6 million viewers. The week prior, it was in 52nd place. By no means did the self- improvement reality out perform such genres as prime time dramas, crime dramas, or prime time sitcoms. It did, however, perform better than some programs found on the WB, FOX and UPN, in no specific dramas, but only because it's found on NBC.
During the afternoon self-improvement programs family orientated commercials and commercials geared towards the "stay at home" parent, played throughout the breaks. Such commercials included, but were not limited to: "Fabulash" mascara, "Jif" peanut butter, "Balmex", "Playtex" and"GE" appliances. Each of these commercials showed a family, kids or a mother or father in the roles. In the prime time slots there were more movie trailers, and such. What was interesting was during "The Biggest Loser" almost all of the commercials were for food products; "Kraft" singles, "Denny's", "Honey nut Cheerios", etc.
Many viewers are adamant about their dislike of reality television. One individual commented on how the tube is crammed with too many shows altering other's looks without just liking themselves for who they are, as cliche as that sounds. Another spoke about that genre of television is slowly simmering into the abyss of relics. Just a handful of individuals spoken to were glued to watching these self-improvement shows. Some think these shows are commendable because they help individuals feel good inside and about themselves making their outward appearance more radiant and less inverted.
Self-improvement shows may become extinct with the sudden decrease of fan base. Everyone longs to be someone they are not, and so maybe these programs provide hope and lead those viewers at home to act on their unhappiness with themselves and turn their life around. With each show being placed on the air it's getting to the point where all lines in between are blurring making each show exceptionally similar and prosaic.
Nicole Gawel. Reporter for The Metro Group and Metrowny.com. The Metro Group publishes 28 weekly papers in the Buffalo, NY area. You can read more articles by Nicole and our other reporters at http://www.metrowny.com
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