There's No Business Like Show Business

Listen to this article

I have literally grown up with TV and saw how TV has evolved from the time the main TV station was SBC (Singapore Broadcasting Corporation), till it became TCS (Television Corporation of Singapore), to Mediacorp and MediaWorks and finally back to Mediacorp alone again.

I do not know whether it is a feeling of nostalgia but despite having more channels now: Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel U, Suria, Central (Kids, Arts and Vasantham), Channel News Asia, TV Mobile, I am not one bit thrilled with the TV shows I see now; no comparison to the TV shows of the good old days...

I mean, look at some of the programmes being shown at primetime and you will know what I mean. Other than what I have lamented about portrayal of violence, sex and gore on TV in my blog entry at http://codfishy.blogspot.com/2005/09/what-in-world-is-wrong-with-this-world.html, I just found more reasons to further lament about how ridiculous TV shows have become... The whole purpose of entertainment now seems to be "sell what the majority wants to see; that's the priority".

Fame Awards
Look at fame for example. Fame used to be accorded to people with extraordinary talents (e.g. acting, hosting etc) in the past but then this seems to have changed; Fame (now) = Looking "Cute" / Good Packaging.

I somehow feel that with the recent successful experiment, Project SuperStar (even though Channel 5 started with its "not-as-successful" Singapore Idol), the media here seems to be quick to hitch onto this success and started to push out "Star Idol", "SuperHost" and "Campus SuperStar" all within a few months; literally illustrating the meaning of hopping onto the bandwagon, which seems to be running fast away.

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against Project SuperStar and its contestants. I did follow the contest and saw how the contestants did better round after round. However, all these came crashing down when I saw their variety show recently. The show supposedly rounded up 10 of the contestants to host a lifestyle programme, recommending the "latest hangouts, spunkiest restaurants, trendiest gadgets, coolest fashion, latest movies, music and hottest entertainment news...".

But... the hosts lacked hosting talents and worse, when they started to sing, I was like thinking "what happened to all their intensive training?!", it sounded horrible... While older artistes may lament that they will have to prove themselves in order to get a show of their own, these "superstars" got their own show in less than a year!

I recognize that stars need time to nurture their talents but do we need to compromise standards? It is almost like saying to me: "Yes, we have a lot of channels but then this is the kind of programme you are gonna see just because it sells, nevermind how corny or silly it is; you just have no choice!"

A local serial also started yesterday and it was described as a "production-of-the-year not to be missed". But I was so disappointed with the debut episode which seems to be more focused on pretty face guys and babes dancing. Some of their acting suck, the plot weak and confusing and the dialogue exaggerating.

Featuring (and Promoting) the Negative Side of Humanity
Of course, don't get me started with the kind of themes being portrayed in TV shows nowadays... violence, sex and gore are just the tip of the ice-berg (read http://codfishy.blogspot.com/2005/09/what-in-world-is-wrong-with-this-world.html), then there are also themes dealing with adultery and being unscrupulous.

From the name of one of the TV show "Tong Xin Yuan", a local TV serial being shown at primetime, I would think that it is one of those shows promoting family but I was just shocked to see themes such as greed, betrayal, sex being portrayed in the show... call me old-fashion but then are these themes suitable for 7pm shows, supposedly the time when traditional asian families gather together for dinner and watch TV?

I still like the old TV serials better; those pro-families ones don't merely paint a beautiful picture of family life but depict how it is normal for families to have their various differences and struggles but will somehow, in the end, triumph over these adversities as a family. At least no negative values for the young ones.

Dumb and Dumber
Now, what about game shows? Game shows should be harmless right? Well, yes, I had seen a fair share of game shows with wonderful educational value but then there are also game shows with games that are plain stupid!

Firstly, the concept has changed: in the past, stars host game shows and the contestants are normal viewers like you and I, who are given a chance to win prizes... now game show contestants are stars themselves (which I think has greater entertainment value). But whenever a star wins a game and takes away with them a car or $5000 in cash, I will think "do they need that money in the first place?" (well, maybe you will argue: they are human after all)

Secondly, the games played are getting dumber by the day; with the aim of humiliating, torturing or grossing people out. It is commonsight to find game shows where the forfeit would either be to humiliate a star e.g. making them pole-dance, torture a star e.g. stretching a rubber band further and further away from his/her head only to release it later or daring stars to do gross things like in fear factor e.g. eating pig rectum etc.

Some games are also so illogical. For example, there is a recent game show on chinese culture and two contestants have to vie with one another for points, answering questions on the chinese culture. However, here's the stupid part: At the end of the game, 3 final questions will be asked. If a person answers a question correctly, he/she will get all his/her opponent's marks. If I were the contestant, it doesn't matter to answer the questions correctly since all it takes is for me to answer the final question correctly and I will get all the points. How silly?!

Knowledge is Power
We all know that knowledge is power and teenagers who know about sex will not engage in pre-marital sex and unnecessary abortions right? Not in my opinion! I feel it is just like a pandora box. The question is, how much knowledge is enough? Should we present to teenagers the full range of sex knowledge before they "fully understand" (no pun intended)?

Take for example a recent TV show, Love Airways, which "is the first of its kind late-night TV show with the aim to educate sex- and intimacy-related topics from dating, anatomy, sexual wellness to sexually-transmitted diseases". Yes true enough, "late-night" but do teenagers turn in at 10.30pm? Will exposing these to them make them more curious instead rather than douse their curiosity, that would in the first place get them into trouble?

Of course, TV shows of great value still exists (thank God) but these are few and in between.

This is of course, my own point of view.