The CW Source

A couple of nasty facts of television life: Reality shows make money, don’t cost much to produce, and continue to be wildly popular. They’re not going anywhere.

There’s a tendency to sneer at the idea of reality shows – they’re lowest-common-denominator trash! And they can be – look, shows like Crowned and Farmer Wants a Wife are more of a guilty pleasure than anything else. These shows may well be one of those Signs of the Televised Apocalypse that show up in the pop-culture bible (right after the rise of Paris Hilton and the MTV meltdown of Britney Spears) -- but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy watching them on occasion. We just don't expect to, you know, learn anything.

But we have seen the light when it comes to some reality shows that are (a little) more than just escapist fare. Beauty and The Geek in the first four seasons was actually incredibly sweet and uplifting, showing that people could get over their snap judgments and grow as individuals. America's Next Top Model is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it’s damn good television – the fights! The makeovers! The tales of triumph over adversity! The completely crazy photo shoots! Granted, it’s been getting more extreme as the seasons go on, but it’s still something we can’t wait to watch.

We’ll tend toward good scripted television over reality most of the time, but we’ve had to give up some of our anti-reality bias. Project Runway, Top Chef and The Amazing Race stack up against even the best dramas on television. Because shows like this exist, we’ll keep giving reality TV a chance. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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After a few seasons, some tried-and-true CW reality shows couldn't resist shaking things up a bit with a new format. Did the changes work? Well, depends on the show (and who you ask). Here are two shows we think became even stronger with a few tweaks to their formats:

America's Next Top Model: We think bringing the franchise back to New York was one of Tyra's best decisions in awhile. The LA cycles just didn't have the same frenetic energy of NYC's streets. Watching the girls navigate LA's streets in the back of a limo couldn't compare to the excitement of seeing them race through Midtown or the Fashion District. And yeah, LA has great laid-back style, but NYC is still the epicenter of fashion in the US -- and gives the girls ample opportunities to strut their stuff on the street. Case closed. Tyra, keep ANTM in NYC, please!

Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious: The second installment of The Search for the Next Doll felt more true to itself than the first. That's because in a controversial move, first season winner Asia chose to pursue a solo career rather than join the Pussycat Dolls... even though having her join was the entire premise of the show! This time around, Robin and her pals wisely chose to form an entirely new group, Girlicious -- a younger, sassier version of PCD. The girls not only had to show they could stand out, they had to prove they could work together (as this Sourcies clip illustrates, it didn't always go smoothly!). Not everyone was happy with all the winners, but at least we know they'll go on to work with Robin in the group we were promised!

We didn't welcome all format changes this year, though. Consider Beauty and the Geek. For its fifth season, the stalwart show decided to pit the beauties and the geek against each other in competition, in lieu of its usual beauty/geek pairings. Keep reading to find out why we weren't fans of this shakeup!

Continue reading "CW Lessons: Reality TV Format Changes Can Work… But Sometimes, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It" »

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Here at The CW Source, we like to justify our frequent TV viewing so we don't feel quite so bad about our addiction. So we've been telling ourselves that it's not just a guilty pleasure... watching TV can actually be educational! Really. Beginning today, our new weekly feature, Life Lessons, shows us just what we've learned from The CW.

If there's one thing The CW shows have taught us, it's that the bad guy can be the most irresistible. That doesn't mean it's right. It just is! Hey, we can't be the only ones whose hearts go all aflutter when Dan on One Tree Hill shows up. There's something disturbingly alluring about Tree Hill's patriarch. Even though he always returns to his bad-guy ways eventually, he goes through periods of reform (about once a season) that win us over, too.

It's not just One Tree Hill. Think of Chuck on Gossip Girl, who gets us weak in the knees in spite of (because of?) his sinister smirk and his brash one-liners. Lex on Smallville is far from a good guy, but that doesn't mean he strikes out with the ladies. And how could we forget the Devil himself on Reaper? He might be the living embodiment of evil, but he's also the most charming guy on the show -- and who knew that Satan cleans up so nice?

What do you think -- do The CW's bad boys appeal to you, or do you prefer the nice guys like Gossip Girl's Dan, One Tree Hill's Nathan, and Supernatural's Winchesters (okay, that one's a given!)? Tell us what you think in the comments!

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