Viewers are naturally drawn to reality TV. The more risqué and catty the tone of the show, the more eyeballs it attracts.
And they simply cannot get enough of the offerings that parade the highfalutin lifestyles of the rich and famous.
That being said, I was recently put off by two shows - “Dubai Bling” and “Buying Beverly Hills” - both of which are currently streaming on Netflix.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love living vicariously through the wealthy stars of TV. Their shopping sprees, dream vacations, wild partying and fallouts are entertaining.
But I do draw the line at being subjected to insipid clones of other shows.
With “Dubai Bling”, which is clearly hoping to lure fans of “Bling Empire”, I couldn’t get through a few minutes of the first episode.
It wasn’t so much the subtitles that were off-putting. It was more the shallow personalities. Do I care that someone has to fight with her husband over closet space? Not really.
If this is the extent of what one considers a crisis, then I give up. And, as an FYI to the creators, that is not entertaining drama, either.
With “Buying Beverly Hills”, it was clearly made to capitalise on the hype of “Selling Sunset” and its spin-off, “Selling the OC”.
This is centred on a family-run real estate business, where Mauricio Umansky is the buffer between internal sibling conflicts. He’s also a protective papa bear.
But the characters, sadly, are just not engaging.
I was bored by episode two.
The creators of these two offerings need to familiarise themselves with a successful template for reality TV. You need tangible drama, a villain or two, and characters with depth and ones that resonate with audiences.
Don’t waste your time on these shows.