Who Wants to Be Disappointed?

I watched the first 3 episodes of Who Wants to Be a Superhero? in a mini-marathon lasting until 3 am. I was truly fascinated - I hadn't seen an entire season of a reality show through from beginning until end, and I thought this one was amazing. I saw how everyone gets caught up with the players; emotions run high; you wonder, who's getting kicked off next? And I was further impressed that Stan Lee could actually take this subject and make it real. Testing traits like compassion, courage, honesty, commitment. These are the true qualities of a superhero.

But, then came episode 4 and things took a turn for the worse. It really started to look fake. I realize that in "unscripted" television, sometimes things might be staged, or filmed in a way to make it look different than it really happens. But, this show has just begun to look like the whole thing is scripted. I'm sorry, but prison inmates? More like really bad actors. People on the show seem more contrived every episode; the superheroes act less authentic every episode. I just finished watching the 5th ep, and it's not any better. It looks less real than Joe Schmo (the only other reality show I really watched - you know, the one where there was only one person on the whole show that didn't know it was all staged?). I'm starting to get tired of all the self-sacrifice as everyone acts so disappointed when someone else gets eliminated.

And on this last episode, Feedback says, "This is the most important thing I've ever done." What?? You're on a reality show (maybe). And you might get your own comic book. While that might be really cool, I can't imagine it being the most important thing I've ever done.

In fact, I'm a bit disappointed. What seemed to start out as a genuinely creative endeavor has begun to look completely artificial. I guess if there's only one more episode (and since it's still about superheroes), I'll probably see it through to the end. And I'll probably buy the comic when it comes out (I guess I will buy it since I'm adding it to my comic order for October), and I'll likely watch the Sci Fi Channel movie. But as a whole, it hasn't pulled me into the whole reality genre. And I don't think I'll be pre-ordering the DVD.