Real or fake?

[Corpse XxX]

Hi all..

Sorry to burst your bubble right at the start, this is not about women's frontal parts..

A good couple a times now, i've been rather hooked on different TV-shows, following them weekly or daily.. Been entertained and had a good time watching them, living in my own little bubble..

Then finally to realize later that part of, or the entire show is completely fake..
That it has all been a hoax, tricking naive minded people like myself into thinking this shit is for real..

We all know MTV are experts at this, but when i found out that the Discovery channel also does it to some extent, i was rather shocked..

So my question to you Escapists..

What shows or other things in life has really blown your bubble?
What was your reaction and what did you do?

 

[BonsaiK]

I was really disappointed a few years back to learn that this awesome TV show I was watching (can't remember the name) was really just a projection from a cathode ray tube showing actors playing simulated roles that did not reflect reality and should have no bearing on my actual life. I reacted by turning the TV off - forever.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... when was TV ever anything but fake? Even so-called "news" still has an editing process that makes some images and ideas artificially more important than others. If you're looking for "authenticity" in TV shows, you're looking in the wrong place.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

American Idol.

Do I win?

 

[Last Bullet]

I'm curious, what show is it?

For me, it was on either Discovery of the Science Channel. But basically, it was about these guys who found this ancient, frozen corpse. It was a dragon. Then they go into this massive diagnostic thing, figuring out how a dragon can fly, how they breathed fire. I was so psyched. My dad walked in and said, "You know this is all theoretical, right? Like, if they DID find that... this is what they would do." Way to crush the hopes and dreams of a ten-year-old, Dad.

 

[MasterV]

Hehe i remember when i was reaally young i didn't know that shows and movies on TV were pre-recorded. I thought they were live and being aired at that moment. When there were two movies with the same actor on dofferent channels i thought it was magic, man. When i realised the truth something died inside me...

 

[Jonluw]

I was sort of disappointed when I figured out my country's version of Have I got news for you was scripted.

And the whole '... got talent' stuff being pretty much set up.

 

[Corpse XxX]

I'm curious, what show is it?

For me, it was on either Discovery of the Science Channel. But basically, it was about these guys who found this ancient, frozen corpse. It was a dragon. Then they go into this massive diagnostic thing, figuring out how a dragon can fly, how they breathed fire. I was so psyched. My dad walked in and said, "You know this is all theoretical, right? Like, if they DID find that... this is what they would do." Way to crush the hopes and dreams of a ten-year-old, Dad.

Hehe.. Did he also tell you that Santa was not real?

 

[Queen Michael]

I'm curious, what show is it?

For me, it was on either Discovery of the Science Channel. But basically, it was about these guys who found this ancient, frozen corpse. It was a dragon. Then they go into this massive diagnostic thing, figuring out how a dragon can fly, how they breathed fire. I was so psyched. My dad walked in and said, "You know this is all theoretical, right? Like, if they DID find that... this is what they would do." Way to crush the hopes and dreams of a ten-year-old, Dad.

Hehe.. Did he also tell you that Santa was not real?

Santa's not real? And I have a friend who told me about that dragon thing. She believed it. I don't know what I'll tell her the next time we meet.

 

[Jewrean]

lol... can I add Wrestling and Boxing?

The Bachelor... obviously. Farmer needs a wife. Um... Big Brother...

 

[Queen Michael]

lol... can I add Wrestling and Boxing?

The Bachelor... obviously. Farmer needs a wife. Um... Big Brother...

Would you happen to be Swedish?

 

[Darktau]

Top gear was obviously staged, what did i do? kept watching

 

[SimuLord]

I have a strong dislike of television...and passive entertainment in general. Why watch when you can interact?

 

[tomtom94]

Top gear was obviously staged, what did i do? kept watching

I was expecting someone would bring up Top Gear. I have the same belief as you. It's scripted but it's hilarious.

Same with Hammond's bits in Total Wipeout I guess. Who cares if he's reading them off autocue or making them up. They're still brilliant.

EDIT: There is also the bit I found out recently on Robot Wars series 7 where the producers tried desperately to get rid of a robot called Storm II, because they personally didn't want it as a champion (they didn't think it was exciting enough, probably - it used its speed and power as opposed to a full-on weapon)

To this end, they:
- attempted to persuade the judges to throw their quarter-final match in favour of their opponents (the judges ignored them)
- raised the pit to let their opponent out in the semi-final (they beat them anyway)
- gave their opponents in the grand final time in the middle of a match to repair the robot (they destroyed it again anyway)
- picked up every little piece that fell off their opponent and straight-out LIED in their damage reports to the judges. This succeeded, and the judges awarded the fight to their opponent. The judges, when they found out about the lies, personally apologised.

The decision to award the fight to their opponent was so unpopular that cheering had to be overdubbed over the loud booing emanating from the crowd.

Makes you wonder what they did in the earlier series :-/

 

[thedeathscythe]

Boxing matches.

Just kidding, but seriously, there was a clip of this boxer, I think his name was Andrew Green or something, I can't remember, and he was supposed to fight this guy and the guy took like 4 punches, blocked a punch, got missed, and then took a dive. The slow-mo shows it all, he wasn't even hit and then he went down for the count. So maybe that.

EDIT: It was Andrew Green against Paul Briggs. I had heard that in the past, yeah, people had thrown fights, but this one was recent, and so it makes me think that non pro boxing matches still are thrown often enough.

 

[Queen Michael]

Hey, can I ask you all something?
Is Disaster Date for real?

 

[TheLaofKazi]

I was really disappointed a few years back to learn that this awesome TV show I was watching (can't remember the name) was really just a projection from a cathode ray tube showing actors playing simulated roles that did not reflect reality and should have no bearing on my actual life. I reacted by turning the TV off - forever.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... when was TV ever anything but fake? Even so-called "news" still has an editing process that makes some images and ideas artificially more important than others. If you're looking for "authenticity" in TV shows, you're looking in the wrong place.

This. Agreed 100%.

And I love that you posted a Screenwipe clip. I love Charlie Brooker's work.

 

[Manicotti]

Hi all..

Sorry to burst your bubble right at the start, this is not about women's frontal parts..

DAMMIT.

You know, for a thread about disappointments, you really know how to open the post.

Oh wait, there was a question here too.

Biggest Entertainment-Based Cop-Out Award goes to reality television as a concept for sticking a bunch of random people into utterly contrived scenarios so they can behave in ways that are fundamentally equal to the ways that trained actors/actresses/CGI Muppets would act in the same situations, and then rewarding them for it on completely arbitrary standards. If I wanted to see a bunch of superficial idiots running around on a tropical island trying to kill each other in the name of realism, I'd go watch "Lord of the Flies" again, because that comes much closer to plausibility than Jersey Shore: Hawaii ever can.

Runner-up goes to the McDonald's Big'n'Tasty sandwich for being neither big nor tasty.

 

[Jake the Snake]

I'm curious, what show is it?

For me, it was on either Discovery of the Science Channel. But basically, it was about these guys who found this ancient, frozen corpse. It was a dragon. Then they go into this massive diagnostic thing, figuring out how a dragon can fly, how they breathed fire. I was so psyched. My dad walked in and said, "You know this is all theoretical, right? Like, if they DID find that... this is what they would do." Way to crush the hopes and dreams of a ten-year-old, Dad.

you and me are in the same exact boat

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Boxing matches.

Just kidding, but seriously, there was a clip of this boxer, I think his name was Andrew Green or something, I can't remember, and he was supposed to fight this guy and the guy took like 4 punches, blocked a punch, got missed, and then took a dive. The slow-mo shows it all, he wasn't even hit and then he went down for the count. So maybe that.

EDIT: It was Andrew Green against Paul Briggs. I had heard that in the past, yeah, people had thrown fights, but this one was recent, and so it makes me think that non pro boxing matches still are thrown often enough.

Andrew Green? Do you mean Danny Green, boxing legend?

That fight went wrong because the opponent was sick and needed the money. At least, that's the most popular theory. Perth attendants were NOT pleased that they got 29 seconds of viewing time...

Danny Green was pissed off too, so if it was faked, he didn't know about it.

 

[Optimystic]

What disappointed me are those court/arbitration style shows, like Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown et al. The judgments are real (i.e. legally binding) but they compensate the loser for coming on the program to begin with, letting them neatly shake karma.