Reality TV
I came across a blog today that asked the simple question: “What would your reality show be called?”
My first thought was, “Hey! Excellent idea for a blog post.” But my second thought was, “Yeah, what would it be called?”
And that’s when I decided to think hard and figure it out.
It turned out to be a wee bit tougher question than I originally thought.
I remember a reality TV show than ran a few years ago on the Discovery Channel called The Alaska Experiment. For some reason, my wife and I both find Alaska fascinating. We’ve actually thought about what it would be like to live there. We like the thought of getting away from it all.
My mom was even born in Sitka, Alaska, so it’s in my blood.
But then shows like The Alaska Experiment and Alaska State Troopers came along and we were like, “Whoa! What the hell were we thinking?”
For a reality TV show, however, I do like the “experiment” concept very much. So if we’re to base a reality show on my life, I think there is really only one way to go:
The Eighty Percent Experiment
Ten families of varying backgrounds are about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. They will leave behind their homes and lives in the Big City and relocate to ten Small Towns across America.
The challenge? To survive one year on an eighty percent reduction in salary and other job benefits. This means both parents working full-time jobs, preferably for a small town business that will utilize their valuable big city skills for a few percentage points above minimum wage. And there will be absolutely no job benefits like sick days, health care, 401k, profit sharing and vacation days of any kind. That’s because they’ll be living in “paycheck only” country.
They’ll work 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year and won’t get paid for holidays. And if they take any time off work that will come directly out of their own pockets. As will all trips to the doctor and all health care expenses like prescriptions.
And, just to make it sporting, they’ll do it all without even the thinnest dime of public assistance. If this reality show is going to be based on my life then that’s really the only way it can go down.
The family that lasts the longest wins! And if they can make it for one whole year they will win the ultimate prize: A $50 gift card to Walmart! (Remember, this is based on my life, so accuracy is vital.)
I don’t know about you but I’d sure enjoy a show like that. If you believe the old adage that misery loves company.
via So anyway…
Shouts from the Abyss 
I got the idea from Plinky.com. Check it out 🙂
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Ah. I see. At least you covered the idea way better than I did. I love vintage Kirk.
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Hahaha. Great point. Mauraea posted (I think) about watching some show about rich bastards that got themselves in debt and had to like…work or something and their kids had to like…go to public school. She said it was pissing her off (don’t think she’d say “piss”) to watch them go on about “being broke” when they were basically living like everybody else (but prolly a lot better yet).
People used to tell me camera crews should follow me when I was a teen (not sure if there were reality shows back in the early 80s). I can’t imagine anybody wanting to watch daily life but some things (like the dude yelling about me and my “Jap car” and then the other dude yelling at me for driving the shopping trolley on the left) ought to be shared!
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Those are classic moments! Sometimes I wish I had a camera built-in to the front of my car or maybe I could wear a ballcap with a hidden camera like that snarky undercover partisan political operative guy. If only some of those precious life moments could be captured instead of being wasted on a single person.
The idea behind The Eighty Percent Experiment is that it would be delightful fun to watch people react to such a dramatic change in the entire lifestyle and standard of living. Hell, I know it was fun for me. So why not share that with the entire world?
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