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Ellen DeGeneres speaks out: No more overly padded reality shows
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GoogleEllen DeGeneres has rarely shied away from social activism in her career, and now she's taking a stand on another pressing issue of our day: the epidemic of overly long, overly padded reality shows.
On Monday (March 21), she kicked off a campaign against two-hour reality shows, hoping to lead a nation back to a time where we only have to waste 60 minutes, not 120, on "The Celebrity Apprentice" and "The Bachelor." Of the former, she says, "You've assembled the craziest cast ever, but what's crazier than that is making me spend two hours of my Sunday watching your show when I should be playing with my niece, Whatshername. I used to know her name ... before I started watching."
How many more Tuesdays must we spend trapped in front of the TV, watching an episode of "The Biggest Loser" that in no way needs to be stretched to two hours, while relatives go un-picked up at the airport?
DeGeneres has been there: As a judge on "American Idol" last season, she was part of numerous two-hour episodes, to say nothing of heavily padded, hour-long-and-occasionally-a-few-minutes-more results shows. Since leaving "Idol," however, she's cleaned up her act and keeps her daytime show at a totally manageable one hour.
So let's join Ellen in her campaign. Together, by not watching the typically useless first hour of these shows, we can make a difference.
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I'm with you... except for The Apprentice. Those 2 hours on Sunday are two of the best hours of TV all week. One hour for the normal Apprentice is fine, but when it comes to Celebrity Apprentice, the two hours don't feel like filler but are just pure entertainment.
Right on Ellen! One reason I quit watching the Bachelor was because it was 2 hours long.
Ellen's right. All the shows are way too long and need to be trimmed, even though I don't watch any of these shows!
She's crazy. Just plan out your niece time a little better, Ellen.
I actually think Survivor should be 2 hours long every week and Jersey Shore maybe 90 minutes. :)
Nah...instead of not watching the first, highly-entertaining hour of Celebrity Apprentice, I'll just skip watching Ellen.
She's jumped the shark, anyway.
Ellen is right. I watch "Celebrity Apprentice" on my DVR and there's tons of stuff to fast-forward. The show needs a better editor. There are many moments I say to myself, "This could have been cut, that could have been cut..."
And why is America watching "The Bachelor" anyway? The relationships fizzle after the show's over and every contestant apparently has to be a WASP. What is the ongoing appeal of this nightmare?
I hear you Ellen but your show is PAD city! It takes almost a 1/2 an hour to bring out a celebrity/star guest. So much time wasted on games/dancing and filler/filler/filler. What ever happened to monologue-guest-guest-guest and goodbye. Ellen you are no Johnny Carson. Do some recurring guests that are not selling stuff.