7 dead in TV reality show accident

[Vikki]

Hopefully the beginning to the end of all this reality crap!!

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Seven residents of a Uruguayan town were killed Friday when they were run over by a train they were pushing as part of a reality television show aimed at raising funds for a local hospital, police said.

Several hundred townspeople from Young, about 380 kilometres west of the capital Montevideo, were pushing a locomotive and two attached cars when some participants slipped and fell under the wheels of the train, said a police department spokesman.

Several other people were hurt in Friday's accident, three of them critically.

The residents were taking part in the program Desafio al Corazon (A Challenge to the Heart), in which Uruguayan communities can raise funds for local charities by completing difficult tasks, in this case pushing a train a certain distance down railway tracks.

"We're deeply saddened and Channel 10 offers its solidarity and support to the families involved in this unexpected tragedy that came, in fact, while they were trying to help others," said a spokeswoman for the network that airs the reality show.

[Bicycology]

even tragic events such as this will not end the dismal trend of 'reality shows.'

they are just too damn cost-effective.

low production values, no closed sets (just 'locations') and virtually no salaries for the leads.

even if there's a large cash prize for the 'winner', it's less than a basic couple of salaries for the performers, and the overhead is minimal, too.

we need to kill jeff probst, i think.

[BeardedOne]

I have pushed =small= railway equipment along a track.

Once.

Thirty years later, my back still complains.

That's just stoopid shit.

Yah, I was stoopid.

[Hugh Jarrod]

I hoped those waivers they signed make everything alright.

Reality TV is popular because the contestants can be payed scale (unlike stars) and there are no writers. Basically it's cheaper to make, so when people ask why is it popular? The answer to 99 out of 100 questions..................money. So it won't die anytime soon.

[BeardedOne]

Reality TV is popular because

Aside from the obvious economic issues for the producers, it is popular because the general population is so lazy and stoopid that they'll watch a festering dog turd on the tube if it has good background music.

[Hugh Jarrod]

festering dog turd on the tube if it has good background music.

Cool! What channel is that on!?

[BeardedOne]

festering dog turd on the tube if it has good background music.

Cool! What channel is that on!?

Years ago, before we found ourselves actually living in the era of Max Headroom and Network 21, there was a cable company that locked in one of its channels by broadcasting a live feed of an aquarium filled with colorful tropical fish with a Muzak style soundtrack.

When the company finally got its program package together and began to air it, customers complained and wanted the fish back. Apparently the virtual fish were low maintenance pets for many and, in some cases, pacifiers for small children who found the colorful images and soothing music entertaining.

Amerika, wotta kahntree!

[Felicia Katt]

Look for the footage on Fox

When Reality Shows Go Wrong

I hate reality shows, because they seem to to play and prey on only our baser instincts and on the misfortunes of others. George Carlin had a joke that Reality was just a crutch for people who can't face taking drugs. Reality TV is one for producers who lack the creativity to actually write and film something entertaining, and for the audiences who lack the attention span to watch it.

FK

[Shandus]

Yeah, the reality shows not only do well, they spawn more on a regular basis. But then the networks go and cancel shows I really like to watch, like Firefly, Stacked, Titans, etc.

I'm unemployed, it's rainy and windy out, and there's nothing good on TV. Bleah.