But Wait, That’s Not All ... In Reality, I Have Sinned

But first there is something you need to know I truly dislike reality TV Call me a snob Call me a relic or worse a curmudgeon but I truly believe that reality TV is the harbinger of the end of civilization Itamp8217s the 21st Century version of Bread and Circuses Iamp8217d love to see a neuroscience study that can quantify the number of brain cells that die off after watching each episodeI could care less who gets a rose who is voted off an island and most definitely who has to leave the Big Brother House Although as a media guy Iamp8217ve never understood given the obvious strong numbers that Big Brother gets why CBS doesnamp8217t go all in on product placement and branded entertainment with that show Before you all start with the emails I do not consider competition shows Dancing with the Stars The Voice American Idol Americaamp8217s Got Talent to be in the same ballpark Those are bonafide talent discovery platforms and our cultural world has clearly benefited from the output of those shows Our world has not benefited one iota from ZingBot Look it up or better yet donamp8217tWe live in the Golden Age of Television with an embarrassment of riches in terms of quality programming High production values such as on any of the Marvel shows on Disney or the myriad of Star Trek spinoffs on Paramount Great writing and acting on shows like NBCamp8217s This Is Us HBOamp8217s Mare of Easttown or The White Lotus or the fun mystery comedy from Steve Martin Martin Short and Selena Gomez on Hulu Only Murders in the Building enthrall entertain and stimulate and do not deprecate the mind Additionally think of the decades of awardwinning quality content from the vast libraries of CBS ABC NBC PBS BBC and so many more now available at the click of a mouse or a request to Alexa I mean you have every episode of The West Wing Friends The Office Seinfeld 24 Lost Alias and more at your beck and call So why in the world should we watch a bunch of notalent narcissists And please stop with the amp8220but they are influencersamp8221 rationale Bread and CircusesSo thatamp8217s the background Hereamp8217s the part where I need to beg for forgiveness So as he takes a deep breath I have a confession to make Iamp8217m Jeff Minsky and Iamp8217m addicted to a reality show A few weeks ago I was perusing the streaming sites and browsing for something new to watch when a title on Peacock called out to me Below Deck Mediterranean Was this some action adventure about pirates in Greece Was this a show about what happens after about 3 am during Cannes Lions I hit play and started to watch And watch And watch On my TV On my laptop On my phone In fact as Iamp8217ve been writing this missive Iamp8217ve stopped three times to watch an episode Iamp8217ve watched the show so much that algorithms are now targeting me with ads for a Master Class in leadership from captains of the yachts featuredI acknowledge that I am likely the last viewer in America to have found this Bravo show There are already six seasons and it is a spinoff of another show Below Deck which debuted in 2013 The show follows the captain crew and charter guests of luxury yachts as they cruise on twotothreeday tours of the Mediterranean Except for the first season Captain Sandy Yawn thatamp8217s her last name not a commentary is at the helm Sandy pictured at top is at times easygoing yet stern and what comes through clearly is her ability to care deeply about her crew while maintaining her professionalism and commitment to fivestar service which at approximately 200K for a twoday charter should be expectedPlaying the part of the herovillain throughout most of the seasons is Aussie Chef Steward Hanna Ferrier who incurs the wrath of Captain Sandy on occasion for the little things like table decorations All of this drives her to try and win the respect and admiration of Captain Sandy which ultimately takes a heavy personal toll on FerrierMy friends this show has it all Person vs Person Person vs Nature Person vs ThemselvesWhile I personally find the relationship aspects who will hook up with whom tedious there are poignant moments There are touching amp8220will you go out with meamp8221 proposals and heartbreaking moments such as when Ferrier has to walk away from a potential relationship due to the object of her affectionamp8217s drinking problemIn addition to tension among themselves there is the aspect of the guests Every charter guest is a challenge whether it be their food preferences selfentitlement or overall boorish behavior Watching the crew both deal and sometimes not deal with the panorama of humanity is part of the appealNature is of course both friend and enemy to a wayfarer and seeing how the crew deals with swells and torrential downpours when at times the charter is not even allowed to leave dock for the full two days gave me tremendous insight on the real work within the hospitality world Which brings us to the chef who truly is the fulcrum upon which everything is balancedEach episode begins with the preference meeting where the Captain Chief Stew and Chef charter guests have submitted their food preferences The whims of the wealthy and their unique predilections persistently present conflicts especially when matched up against the ego of the chefs Often the chef gets caught between a rock and a hard place when the captain demands that the food meet the expectation of a fivestar yacht experience and the amp8220Primaryamp8221 to whom the guest who books the charter is referred asks for milk shakes or nachos Some of the chefs go with the flow others erupt like Chef Skinner in RatatouilleSo if you are all laughing at me now I accept it I own it It is my shameIn the spirit of the week let me do a selfevaluation of what has brought me to this precarious placeMy binging of Below Deck Mediterranean just may be my subconscious going book a damn vacation alreadyThe rich are just like us but dumb and annoying Ok so thatamp8217s an overgeneralization but you wouldnamp8217t think so after watching this show Quite often the charter guests who usually represent the 10 of the 1 act like they are in kindergarten You see these people and think amp8216how in the world did these morons make millionsbillionsamp8217 If they can do it I can do it so in a way itamp8217s inspirational as wellI canamp8217t pinpoint it but there is an MTV Real World Season 1 vibe running through the show Maybe itamp8217s the camera shots Yes I recognize that Real World was the original reality show but I was young and my brain wasnamp8217t fully formed back then so it was engrained as part of my teenage life So yes nostalgia plays into itIn truth I think part of the reason that Iamp8217ve been so obsessed with this show is that I never really thought about yachting and new nothing about it I have learned from the show and it reinforces to me the benefits of planning and detail when dealing with personalities for whom it is quite difficult to anticipate every want and need Hey my media brethren and sisters does that sound familiarSo this Thursday as I sit in synagogue and reflect on all my truly egregious misdeeds over the past year I will also be asking myself for forgiveness for violating my antireality show ethos and likely counting down the minutes until the holiday ends so I can start Season 6I wish you all smooth sailingBut Wait Thatamp8217s Not AllAll levity aside one of the traditions associated with Yom Kippur is to request forgiveness from all you may have intentionally or unintentionally wronged over the past year So if any of my thoughts writings discussions or our personal interactions have harmed you disappointed you pissed you off or made you feel less I do apologize and ask for your forgivenessTo those who observe may you have an easy and meaningful fast To the rest of you have an amazing weekClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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But Wait, That’s Not All ... In Reality, I Have Sinned

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Jeff Minsky

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But Wait, That’s Not All ... In Reality, I Have Sinned

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