The Idiot Box

I have a theory- 'Reality' television, as a genre, is approaching a point where it is beyond ridicule through either parody or satire. Every time I see a new 'reality' show advertised it is another step closer. Just these last few days I've seen ads for a coming new show entitled "Iceberg Hunters." From what I can gather from the ads, the show is about a shipload of men who sail around off the coast of Newfoundland and literally hunt icebergs. Like, with a rifle. They shoot icebergs and then go and retrieve the bits that fall off. This is a television program. First time I saw the ad, I honestly thought it was a piss take. Second time I saw it I realised it was genuine. Perhaps then the time has arisen, where the concepts actually being filmed, are more ridiculous than any ironic farcical lampoonist could hope to dream of. The worst part is, if a comedian did come up with some witty spoof of the genre, I can only imagine some TV exec watching and thinking, "This is fucking brilliant. I need to get Brian on the phone, we've got a series to shoot." If it hasn't already gotten to this point, then soon reality TV will be beyond mocking ridicule because they'll already be (unintentionally?) doing the best possible job of that themselves.