The X-Factor Foreshadows End of Reality Competitions - Jeanine Poggi

The XFactor39s ratings continue to drop down 11 from last week to just over 11 million viewers lagging behind most major network comedies Could the slow start to Simon Cowell39s much hyped new project reveal the beginning of the end for the obsession with reality competitions I can39t believe I am saying this but I hope soDon39t get me wrong I have been a loyal American Idol groupie since 2002 have an unhealthy obsession with So You Think You Can Dance and replayed the opening number of last week39s The SingOff more than a dozen timesBut I have found in recent years that it has taken a lot more for the talent on these reality shows to impress me After 10 season of American Idol does The XFactor really think we are going to be surprised by 42yearold Stacy Francis39 rendition of quotNatural Womanquot Sure she can belt it out with some of the best but at this point we have heard nearly every downontheirlucksinglemother story Cowell and clan can possibly musterThe XFactor is a huge commitment asking viewers last week to carve out four hours for its twonight premier Reality competitions demand we tune in one night to watch a dozen or so performances and then a second night to see which contestants have been voted out of the competition forgoing other quality scripted seriesEven worse is being subjected to hours of auditions How many more cackles howls screams and bellows can our ears stand It may have been novel to poke fun at William Hung when he sang quotShe Bangsquot in American Idol Season 3 but laughing at these failed auditions has passed the line of funny and is just plain cruelAmerica is clearly saying it is in desperate need of pure unadulterated comedy swapping Dancing With the Stars for Two and a Half Men and Two Broke Girls both of which brought in 205 million and 118 million viewers respectivelyHalfhour spurts of scripted laughter seem like a better way to forget about a flailing economy and global disarray rather than watching people be brutally judged and criticized for attempting to live out their dreamsAfter more than a decade of craving shows that pin quotrealquot people against one another and give us the power to crown a victor The XFactor39s mediocre start may have finally broken America39s trance We may now be ready to relinquish the desire to control television and allow writers to provide us an escape from realityLuckily laughter has returned to prime timeJeanine Poggi is a financial journalist by day TV addict by night She started her blog Too Much To Tivo in April 2010 as a way to dish about her favorite shows and characters The series currently recording on her TiVo include So You Think You Can Dance The Big Bang Theory Vampire Diaries True Blood and American Idol Jeanine can be reached at jpoggitoomuchtotivocomRead all Jeanine39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Too Much To TiVoCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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The X-Factor Foreshadows End of Reality Competitions - Jeanine Poggi

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