Real people should not be on television," host Garry Shandling declared at the Emmys, to cheers from a crowd of nervous actors. Reality TV dominated 2000, providing some of its best shows (see No. 1) and ickiest lows (remember Rick Rockwell?). TV had other fantasy-reality conflicts: Leonardo DiCaprio played an ABC journalist with Bill Clinton; CBS's Early Show digitized its logo onto video of Manhattan; and then there was election night. At the Emmys, reality lost out. There's no award for nonscripted shows, and The West Wing's airbrushed depictions of our better angels beat the The Sopranos' gritty realism. Sometimes fantasy...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
