What's new with reality shows?

Most of us tend to watch them due to lack of options or out of habit, but rarely because we find ourselves hooked to them. After a deluge of singing and dancing shows — all made in the same mould — nothing new is coming our way.

Do you feel excited about watching a reality show any more?

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Most of us tend to watch them due to lack of options or out of habit, but rarely because we find ourselves hooked to them. After a deluge of singing and dancing shows — all made in the same mould — nothing new is coming our way.

Consider the shows: Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (JDJ), Dance India Dance Super Moms, India’s Dancing Superstar, Indian Idol Junior. They are all vying for viewership during prime-time and on weekends, but have done-to-death elements. There’s no novelty. The same songs are used in all the shows; the auditions highlight how participants are dying to be on the show, which stopped being interesting a while back, and now rarely evoke an intense reaction.

The same judges also seem to be on rotation, moving from one show to another. Farah Khan has been part of JDJ, Indian Idol, Nach Baliye and DID Li’l Masters. Karan Johar, Malaika Arora Khan, Sonali Bendre, Remo D’Souza and Terence Lewis too have judged multiple shows. Even the dance forms are repetitive with nothing that’s out-of-the-box. Overall, it feels a bit like an old recipe, with no twist or new flavouring.

Swayamvar was unlike any other show on Indian TV, but it also had its lows. DID Supermoms may be surpassing the others in the TRP race, but unlike earlier seasons, it’s not by a great margin. The reality show fatigue has set in. Maybe something along the lines of The Amazing Race or The Apprentice could change things around.