By Maariya Rahman
The up coming end of “Friends” and “Frasier” marks the end of an era. They were the essence that defined the NBC network.
“Frasier” is notably the most successful television spin-off to date. It was the spin-off to the popular 1980’s sitcom, “Cheers.” “Cheers” came to a close in May of 1993. “Frasier” became its successor in September 1993. Kelsey Grammer (who plays the main character, Frasier Crane) said he wanted the show to follow its predecessor and close after 11 years as well.
“Friends” began in September 1994 and quickly became the biggest phenomenon in television history. It land-marked the end of family programming and started the trend of shows that are all about sex and the single life. “Friends” paved the way for shows such as “Sex and the City,” “Will & Grace” and “Queer as Folk.” “Friends” drowned out family oriented sitcoms, such as those which were very popular in the 1980s; shows like “The Facts of Life,” “Full House,” “The Cosby Show,” “Growing Pains” and “Family Ties.”
With both shows coming to a close, will “Will & Grace” be able to hold up the fort for the network? Will the new “Friends” spin-off, “Joey,” follow in the footsteps of “Frasier” and become one of the few successful television spin-offs? Will it be able to churn out story lines for more than one season, or will it just cheapen the legacy of “Friends”? Or will this be the beginning of the end for traditional television programs with professionally trained actors? Even “Will & Grace” has started feeding off the obnoxious influx of reality shows.
The term “reality” has lost its meaning within the television industry. According to the documentary program VH1 News Presents: Reality TV Secrets Revealed the viewer can conclude these reality programs are anything but “reality.” Examples given in the show included footage in “Joe Millionaire” edited to look like things that never even occurred, a waiter who had to “re-do” his fall (which injured his elbow) in “The Restaurant,” and how the producers of “The Real World: Seattle” manipulated the mind of a cast member that provoked him to physically attack another cast member.
The program also discussed the deception to the viewers in the 2003 reality show, “High School Reunion.” This particular show was going to mark the reunion of a Chicago suburb high school class of 1992, however, not all of the cast members were actually members of the class of 1992. Some were told to play and claim a different role than from when they were in high school. By role they meant a social label, such as the homecoming queen, the class clown, the misfit, the nerd, the burn out, the artist and the jock, to name a few.
As for “The Apprentice,” apparently the show’s season finale was not live, as the commercials wanted the viewers to believe. “They (the television industry) say a lot of things are live that are not,” said an NBC employee. The show had actually wrapped up weeks prior and Bill was already declared the winner. One of the female contestants let it slip at a party and is now getting sued.
Recently a commercial advertised, “You can win a chance to be on Survivor 10!” This show just started four years ago, how did they reach the tenth season already? These shows come and go faster than one can blink an eye. It seems like the runner up of each dating show (such as “The Bachelor/ette” and “Average Joe”) is next in line to get their own dating show.
Producers keep trying to see just how far they can push the envelope. The creators of the yet to be aired British reality dating show, “There’s Something About Miriam,” proved just how far. The contestants of the show were under the impression that they were going on a date with ordinary women. But when it came time for the intimate part of the night, their dates turned out to be transvestites. The contestants of the show are suing the producers. When the envelope is pushed that far, do things like the Janet Jackson super bowl incident really come as such a shock?
The cycle of madness will continue as long as people will keep watching. A parody song from MAD TV describes it best-“they would even strangle kittens if you’d watch it,” goes one lyric in a parody song, titled “The Music’s Over.” It was poking fun at MTV, because they are no longer the station they set out to be when the network was first created. Even MTV2, which was originally created as a side bar to MTV, as the channel that played music videos 24/7, has recently abandoned that format as well. MTV2 now plays many of the programs that are aired on MTV; they have even brought back “Beavis and Butthead.” These programs themselves are recycled in any way possible-“The Real World,” “Road Rules,” “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” “Real World/Road Rules: The Gauntlet,” and the like.
Even VH1 recently underwent a make-over. They changed their logo, and have abandoned their music roots a considerable amount. They did away with their cult classic favorites, like “Pop Up Video” and replaced them with shows like “100 Hottest Hotties” and “100 Most Outrageous Celebrity Moments,” to name a few.
There seems to be no end to how far these producers will go. A contestant on “Dog Eat Dog,” Darin Goka, suffered brain damage from a stunt that just went too far. Until someone dies on one of these shows for their 15 minutes, probably only then will reality show producers take a step and double check to actually see what they are doing. But if someone did die on one of these shows, who would even know about it?

Are popular sitcoms like “Friends” falling to the sensatioinalism of “reality” television?