There was an article in the news last week about the suicide of a reality TV star. He had conflict in his life and marriage long before the cameras started rolling but the extra pressure of TV seemed to have contributed in a negative fashion. Marriages can’t seem to survive the  antics of being on TV. No doubt, it also causes people to play up issues because who wants to watch two people get along and read a book? The popular “Jon and Kate Plus 8” became “Kate Plus 8” after the demise of their marriage. Now, “Kate Plus 8” is being cancelled due to poor ratings. Not enough discord from a single mom raising eight children, I guess.

 I recently learned that in the early 1970’s there was a PBS documentary called “An American Family”. It was probably the original reality TV show. It chronicled the daily life of an average American family and contributed to the divorce of the parents. It was groundbreaking in a lot of ways (their eldest son came out as being gay to his parents – another TV first) but we could have seen the writing on the wall even back then. Can any family survive that kind of scrutiny? Is that why so many celebrity marriages don’t make it? They may not have a formal reality TV contract, but they live it every day in the media.

I disagree with the term “reality TV”. My husband says it’s more aptly named “conflict TV” and I think he may be right. We don’t watch those shows because they mirror reality. We watch them because they are the furthest thing from reality. If we bickered as much as Jon and Kate did, would we want to turn on the TV and watch them fight?  It may make us feel good to watch another couple be more dysfunctional than we think we are but it’s just an unscripted soap opera. No working class family can survive that much turmoil. The Gosselins didn’t really work. The TV show was their job. If their ratings went down, they would be cancelled (exactly what happened). Maybe they should think of getting back together not for the kids but for job security. If that is the case, is it more aptly called “improv”?