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Comment by PaulHoule | Hacker News Reader

I remember the Go90 ads that looked exactly like the MTV "M" ad that ran in 1981. It was cool at the time but now it just looks dated.

As a Generation X-er I remember that as a betrayal, when a few years later the 60+ Sumner Redstone decided that we couldn't watch music videos anymore, MTV stopped showing music videos and became yet another whistlestop in a vast wasteland of reality television.

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My grandparents tend to watch a lot of reality TV. On the History Channel, Discovery Channel, all the channels that used to have interesting, educational content like documentaries.

I've noticed it's the same kind of show (mostly): someone lives in a harsh environment or otherwise away from civilization.

I think they're...living vicariously through it? They love the outdoors, hunting and fishing, etc. They are a bit too old and tired day-to-day to go and do the things they always have loved, but they get something out of watching others brave the elements.

This has always been the case, popular shows and movies always tend to reflect the culture at the time. During the 50's and 60's, the bad guy in every movie was Russian. Vampire and plague movies became popular during the recession to ride the general feeling of unease and lack of control. Now with only a specific demographic watching TV nowadays, of course shows will reflect that group more than others.

They would probably enjoy "Alone", if they haven't seen it yet. (A dozen people get dropped off on separate parts of Vancouver island, and have to survive the longest to win prize money. No help, total isolation, and they have to film everything themselves.) One of the better done "reality survival shows" I've seen; sort of like a batch of Les Strouds (Survivorman).

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