I don't judge anyone for finding them interesting. I think back on the original reality show, what was that family's name? I know Carl will know. There's just something fascinating about watching a real-life family dynamic. Especially when it's non-scripted reality. However. I take issue with the prevalent "stan" culture of today where people take this [!@#$%^&*] too far, being incensed to the point of violence "protecting" the name of the Kardashians, the Beyonces, the Biebers of this world. These people who don't do a damn thing for them but "entertain" and collect their money. It's not that deep, and I think fans like that do in fact contribute to the dumbing down of society with their skewed sense of priority.

I think it was the Louds. (an apt name for today's reality TV)

HBO made a movie on it last year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_Verite

That's insulting to me. I consider myself a smart person and know others way smarter than me that watch. Its just a tv show it has nothing to do with your intelligence. If watching the Kardashians' daily life entertains me I'm gonna watch. I'm wondering what exactly is smart programming bc soaps would be nowhere near that category.

You will never hear me say soap is Einstein TV. Some of my favorite stories on soaps have been the dumbest things imaginable. I am sorry you're insulted, but these shows and all reality shows rot the brain in my opinion.

You will never hear me say soap is Einstein TV. Some of my favorite stories on soaps have been the dumbest things imaginable. I am sorry you're insulted, but these shows and all reality shows rot the brain in my opinion.

Your logic here is so faulty.

So, your favorite things on soaps are the, and i quote you, dumbest things imaginable, yet people who watch and enjoy a show centered around a great family dynamic are not only stupid, as you implied, but the act of watching said show rots the brain while watching, again, dumbest things imaginable on a soap opera do not? Please, explain.

I think ultimately soaps and reality shows can serve the same goal, and both have the same flaw, which is that they both rely too much on treating viewers as idiots and on sensationalism. For instance, if Kim Kardashian and her team planned a fake marriage solely to get public interest and $$$, knowing she would get out of the marriage as soon as she could...what does that say about her view of the public? Can you watch the show the same way again knowing the people involved think you are THAT stupid?

Too many reality shows treat viewers as idiots. Even something like Shipping Wars is so cut and edited and diced down to the last syllable that it's difficult to focus on anything.

Edited January 20, 201213 yr by CarlD2

Your logic here is so faulty.

So, your favorite things on soaps are the, and i quote you, dumbest things imaginable, yet people who watch and enjoy a show centered around a great family dynamic are not only stupid, as you implied, but the act of watching said show rots the brain while watching, again, dumbest things imaginable on a soap opera do not? Please, explain.

I think my logic is perfectly fine. 50 years ago TV was the domain of Rod Serling and others like him. Now it is where one goes to find the Kardashians. I don't think any more need be said. Also, soaps don't try and trick me into thinking they are realistic or promote and glorify the lowest behavior under the sun. People watch this crap and if people watch it year after year this is what becomes the new normal. Mafia wives, baseball wives, army wives, this wives, that wives..always about crass street trash women shrieking like banshees and "calling out" each other and threatening each other. And then that becomes normalized to the point that normal people think this behavior is acceptable. You can see this in posts all over the internet and in this very site where people openly discuss "calling you out" as if they are doing a promo spot for the WWE. I never heard of anyone calling someone out before a few years ago unless they were in a western perhaps or imitating one. But then the crap like the Real Housewives took root and what made for fiction suddenly was described as reality. I watch a soap, it doesn't mean I will start behaving like Adam Chandler or think he was in any way real. Then go look at that NeNe person I saw a clip of screaming and threatening away, and there are dozens more just like her. And she is now seen as normal, like Snooki or Pauly D or some other clown. Perceptions are skewed, what was once lamentable is now celebrated and then the cycle begins again and a porn star who slutted her way into fame and fortune is now someone people aspire to be like.

You can think I am a snob or an !@#$%^&*] or whatever, but this is my opinion. Dramas and TV shows don't sell themselves as real, teaching kids and confused adults how one behaves while being real. That's all the domain of reality TV.

50 years ago TV was the domain of Rod Serling and others like him. Now it is where one goes to find the Kardashians. I don't think any more need be said.

Really? You compare what was on TV early on into its inception with something much later in time with huge advancements in the landscape of tv and entertainment and a compeltely different society, and nothing more need to be said?

Also, soaps don't try and trick me into thinking they are realistic or promote and glorify the lowest behavior under the sun.

dont try and trick you, i guess i will give you because maybe some people dont know they are not a 100% true to life documentary (and are not supposed to be) but the second part? really? Soaps do not promote and glorify the lowest behavior under the sun? General Hospital revolves around two murderes who have no remorse or feelings about what they do. Sami Brady, Victor Newman, Erica Kane, etc... So, yeah i would say they do actually.

I watch a soap, it doesn't mean I will start behaving like Adam Chandler or think he was in any way real. Then go look at that NeNe person I saw a clip of screaming and threatening away, and there are dozens more just like her. And she is now seen as normal, like Snooki or Pauly D or some other clown. Perceptions are skewed, what was once lamentable is now celebrated and then the cycle begins again and a porn star who slutted her way into fame and fortune is now someone people aspire to be like.

So people imitating what they see in the media is a newfound, never before heard of trend that reality tv brought on? Interesting.

As for Snooki, and other reality show stars here is the thing - they are pretty normal. I take it you dont actually watch the shows and instead condemn them from your glass house, but most of the people on them are much more drunken idiots - its just not advertised. On jersey Shore we just saw one of the roomates deal with depression and panic attacks in a way not usually seen. There is so much more to the show and the stars that people who dont watch dont see.

And that last sentence just has a horrible, nasty tone of slut shaming i can not even get into.

You can think I am a snob or an !@#$%^&*] or whatever, but this is my opinion. Dramas and TV shows don't sell themselves as real, teaching kids and confused adults how one behaves while being real. That's all the domain of reality TV.

I am sure you are not a snob, but in this situation that is how you are coming off as you blast reality tv with the same arguments people have used against soap operas but deny that the two are similar when they are nearly the exact same thing

And i do not think it is up to TV to teach people how to act, behave or carry themselves.

I think that you both have valid points, but I have to agree more with quartermainefan. I'm not going to lie - I watch the Kardashians semi-regularly. I am not a fan of Kim, as I think she is very shallow and fake. I think Kourtney can be a conceited bitch, too. I enjoy Khloe, as she is the most "real" of the three. But the actions of these people (not just the Kardashians - but reality stars in general) are appalling. And it IS different than soap opera. Erica Kane may have been married 13 times - but she is a character, and it's not a real situation. Nobody is idolizing Erica Kane as some sort of role model. People DO view Kim Kardashian as a role model, and let's be honest - the woman did get famous for [!@#$%^&*] her boyfriend on tape.

Edited January 23, 201213 yr by SoapBoy94

So what do ya'll think of the rumors that Khloe isnt a Kardashian? I called that ish years ago. She looks nothing like her 2 older sisters or brother

LOL she is just so big compared to all of them. I think she has a different bio dad too.

I thought it was kind of ignorant and unfair for people to say that she had a different dad just because she was big. Afterall, Kim and Khloe don't exactly look like twinsies. However. I recently saw a pic of the guy Kris had an affair with and it was pretty much a "case closed".

I don't think Khloe looks anything like Kim or Kourtney, but that doesn't necessarily mean she isn't a Kardashian. It's possible though, I guess.

Khloe looks more like Rob than Kim or Kourt, but they all are def related and share similar features. Kourt prob just takes after someone else int he family, likely on her mothers side because she looks more than her young, half sisters.

The Kardashian father is Armenian and has very strong distinct features which he passed down to Kim, Kourtney and Rob. I dont see any of that in Khloe. She just strictly white with no hint of being biracial. Her childhood pictures highlight it even more. If I were the dad adn I saw this, Id have called for a DNA test

The Kardashian father is Armenian and has very strong distinct features which he passed down to Kim, Kourtney and Rob. I dont see any of that in Khloe. She just strictly white with no hint of being biracial. Her childhood pictures highlight it even more. If I were the dad adn I saw this, Id have called for a DNA test

eh, idk. Me and my brother look nothing alike. at all. to the point where people we are both friends with that didnt know already had no idea we are brothers, and he looks nothing like my parents but i look exactly them. he takes after my mom's dad's side of the family.

Former Soap Opera Weekly columnist Marlena De Lacroix comments on the Kardashians.

http://marlenadelacroix.com/?p=334

snippet

Soap starved, I have become obsessed with the Kardashians. Every day, I can’t wait to see what’s happening with the three sisters whose IQs combined don’t top mine. But never mind that. Their lives are filled with romance, glamour, strum and drang, not to mention heavy make-up: things soaps once brought me on a daily basis. Some days I’m convinced their mother Kris is going to peel off her face, revealing the woman who plays her — Linda Dano!

The Kardashians are about what soaps once were about: women’s lives. You want to know what will happen with Kim, the world’s most beautiful woman, who more than anything has a life and a face approaching the legend of the gorgeous Erica Kane. Who did Erica Kane love best among her thirteen husbands and umpteen lovers? Herself! Who does Kim love most? Like Erica, all she wants is career, career, career, but at the same time, her ”dream” of an ideal man. As of All My Children’s finale, Erica was still chasing those dreams. At the rate Kim is going, thirteen husbands is not an impossibility.

Like soaps, the Kardashians reality show has storylines that are open to speculation and anticipation. Why did Kim’s marriage to Kris really break up so quickly? We watch Kim and Kourtney Take New York waiting for clues. ‘Cause he throws her on the bed like basketball as foreplay? ‘Cause he told her the truth, that no one will be interested in her by the time her children are old enough for school? Kim, ever the narcissist, can’t take it.