There's a lot of TV with an improvement theme- the makeover/weight loss shows you mention, home improvement (Extreme Home Makever, Trading Spaces), cooking improvement, wedding improvement (I think this would count; a wedding has a lot of makeover elements)... I guess we enjoy watching people improve themselves?

One of the reasons these shows are so popular isn't because demand is so high, it's because they're dirt cheap to produce. There's a whole slew of subgenre withing the reality 'self-help' genre: The makeover shows, the lose weight shows, the please-teach-my-dog-how-to-walk-on-a-leash shows, the I-can't-boil-water shows.

They're meant to be cheap-to-produce 'eductainment,' for sure. And really, why else do people watch TV? They watch it to be entertained, like you're doing now. But maybe the ones that allow people to take something away and apply it to their own lives should, maybe, be seen as offering just a teeny bit more to the viewer. If nothing else, they let the viewer think she's come away with more than just an hour well killed.

I shouldn't have said "so popular" -- I should have said so prevalent.

Jesus. The typos.

I agree with the cheap argument. In addition, the people who decide to air these show are looking at who's home during the day. For the most part, it's no longer women and the elderly, it's the unemployable lowest common denominator. Or no one. It's no longer worth their time and effort to produce worthy shows when there's no definable audience for them, as decided by their advertisers who foot the bill.

(Even the "quality" shows, like soap operas, are bleeding money and firing actors who've been with the show for 20 years, as seen in both "As the World Turns" and "The Young and the Restless".)

Plus, I think that there is a constant supply of people who will gladly debase themselves for that chance to be on television.

I think that it was ever thus, but lately, the networks are going to that well more often as other wells dry up.

mudpuppie: the low production costs were a factor in networks producing these shows, but if they weren't popular, they wouldn't have stuck around so fast or multiplied so quickly. And I think there's a dark side to the popularity of them (voyeurism, enforcement of cultural norms, fashion fascism etc). And the weight-loss subgenre is the most disturbing, we are spending our evenings watching people get skinny. Why don't we just all book tours to famines if that's so much fun?

It is all a part of the great American tradition of self-improvement, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps (and those of millions of TV viewers), and reinventing yourself in this land of promise and opportunity. In the olden days this was accomplished by "lighting out for the territories" or going to sea "whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul."

That, or maybe we're just a bunch of voyeuristic slobs who like to sit on the couch and watch other people do things.

Well, I always liked the before/after aspect. Sometimes I snark they were better off before...but sometimes I feel like I learn something.

Hey, have you ever watched How Clean is Your House (on bbc america...) That one cracks me up. Plus I've gotten a few useful cleaning tips. But mostly it makes me feel better about my own housekeeping!

, does staying fat/unhealthy/unfashionable/unattractive/lazy amount to a form of protest?

You could call it 'counterhegemonic.'

I think between mudpuppie and Marchivist you have a great answer. You could easily toss off a whole list of similar American-remaking-of-oneself stories (On the Road, the Horatio Alger tales, Mary Tyler Moore...). It's one of out cultural obsessions.

I'd also throw in that these shows are essentially long commercials. They work very well for advertisers to showcase their products and to make people want new purchases. HGTV shows tend to have a lot of sponsorship from building and housewares stores like Home Depot and Sears. Fashion shows have a lot of sponsorship from Target and Clairol and people like that. These are the TV versions of Real Simple magazine and others like 'em - a catalog disguised as content.

Miko: I wasn't asking why they were popular. I already know that. I'm basically just explaining why they are symptomatic of the downfall of civilization.

For the most part, it's no longer women and the elderly, it's the unemployable lowest common denominator.

Or those who work nights, or those who've been laid off, both of which I've been on occasion, lady. Plus these shows are all over prime time if you hadn't noticed.

I don't think it's a new narrative. It's Cinderella getting a fairy-godmother makeover, or the ugly duckling blossoming into a swan. Women's magazines have had makeover features for as long as I can remember.

The tv aspect is new, of course, but I'm not sure the idea of makeovers is any more popular now than it had been.

I don't believe that self-improvement shows are voyeuristic, nor symbolic of the fall of civilization.

It just feels nice to see people succeed.

Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.

It just feels nice to see people succeed.

I think that's part of it, but I think it's also coupled with the secret glee we receive from feeling superior to people on the TeeVee. I think it's equal parts a) But For the Grace of God, b) Oh Wow, There Really Is Hope For Me, and c) Well Shit, At Least I'm Not As Bad Off As That Person.

So those shows' popularity is not really "symptomatic of the downfall of civilization" so much as evidence of our pettiness, insecurities, and dogged optimism. (And evidence of the networks' goals of turning a buck off of those characteristics.)

Nicely put!

Also, I find it really helpful to watch weight loss shows while at the gym, for all of the reasons you mention. :D

On January first, Bravo or some channel that shows the "Biggest Loser" show had an all day marathon. My brother was the first to remark on the irony that one could sit on the couch all day and watch people exercise.

I find it really helpful to watch weight loss shows while at the gym
Biggest Loser is basically an infomercial for 24 Hour Fitness. Unsurprisingly, it's always on there.

why they are symptomatic of the downfall of civilization.

Oh, God, I don't think they're symptomatic of anything like the "downfall of civilization." Personally, I don't think civilization is in downfall. We've never been more civilized. But that's an aside -- my comment was meant to support Marxchivist in noting that the stories these shows tell are a perennial American staple and have been for a long time. If we're in decline now, then we were in decline in 1608, too, when a bunch of people in England decided they wanted a life makeover and signed on to the New World Reality Show.

It's not even new on TV - Queen For A Day is one of the earliest shows on the box, and these remakes are just remakes of that.

I think the only thing new is that you're suddenly being exposed to a lot of them at once, jonmc. That does lead to the observations you make about the American obsession with remaking ourselves. But, like a lot of American obsessions, it's not new and not even particularly stronger than before. Anyone who grew up reading women's magazines has imbibed the stuff like mother's milk. The fact that there's a lot of it on TV right now speaks more of the fact that there's simply more TV bandwith to fill than there was 20, even 10 years ago, and it needs a whole lot of cheap, mildly appealing, non-depressing content.

Oh, God, I don't think they're symptomatic of anything like the "downfall of civilization."

Humorous exaggeration to make a point. But seriously, whatever happened to sitcom reruns, cartoons and ballgames? (yeah, I know they all have their own channels but you can never find the ones you want when you need them.)I do still fins the avalanche of those shows annoying though.

whatever happened to sitcom reruns, cartoons and ballgames?

Well, when all we had were sitcom reruns, you'll remember that people used to turn on the tube and complain "it's nothing but reruns!" and turn it off.

Cartoons? The market share that made it worthwhile for programmers put them on migrated to other content on the Disney Channel, Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, and the Cartoon Network.

Ballgames? It's not summer. Plus they got their own channels too.

The lack of sitcom reruns used to bum me out the most when I had TV, because they are actually my favorite thing to watch, especially after a stressful day. But I suspect that's largely because when i grew up, the only thing on TV most of the time was sitcom reruns. Even on the new sitcoms, more than half the shows in a season were reruns. Since that was my formative experience of TV, I think that's what's still most comforting and enjoyable.

But the bottom line is that they weren't making as much money as this 'new' programming that's really formulaic and generic, but seems fresh because you can actually hardly remember whether you're watching a rerun or not because they're all basically the same even when they're new. I'm sure if the Sitcom Rerun Channel got started it would establish a niche, too, and sell some advertising, but television programming has changed so drastically with the general bandwidth explosion of our time that it wouldn't break any revenue records. If you're seeing something on TV, it's because it's making more money than all the other ideas people had. Daytime TV's no different in that respect.

I'm sure if the Sitcom Rerun Channel got started it would establish a niche,

*cough*. also, Cartoon Network sucks balls. The cartoons I want to watch are on this channel, which we don't have.

I really miss those ol hanna-barbera 'toons:

"The Ranger isn't gonna like this, Yogi"
"Well, then fuck the Ranger, Boo-Boo..."

You'll pry "How Clean is Your House" and "It's Me or the Dog" from my withered, radiated, remote-wielding hand.

Not true, actually - I can't be bothered to keep up with broadcast times (Hey, Greek TV: if you're going to show it at 2:30 pm on Saturdays, you better just keep doing that forever, because once you change the time/day I'm totally adrift - it might be years before I get back on track), so I only catch them when I catch them... basically if I walk into the living room while V. is cycling through channels. But if they're on, I'm rapt. Bring me some popcorn, stat.

Anyway, yes, yes. Reality programming = cheap = overwhelming presence. And people love to cheer them or boo them. I've watched a few episodes of some plastic surgery show just so I can grind my teeths, sputter, and throw things at the television I think.

I've recently fallen victim to the latest version of The Bachelor. Grown women lined up like pageant contestants bawling their eyes out over not "getting a rose" from some guy they just met a few days or even hours ago. I'm weak, I tell ya, weak.

Oh god, "How Clean is Your House" is my new obsession. It's on right after I put the boy down for a nap--so I watch it when I should be cleaning my house.

And The Bachelor is nothing compared to the Rock of Love Bus. Oh Brett Michaels, will you ever find true love?

How's The Bachelor going, pips? I haven't been watching yet, but I'll probably catch up online at some point- I watched Jason on The Bachelorette with Deanna; wasn't crazy about her and think he getting dumped then was better for him in the long run. It's weird that I still have hope that The Bachelor can turn out a long-lasting, healthy relationship.