Brilliant Ideas Do Not Mean Brilliant Shows

Boy do I love the reality television. Love love love it. Watch a lot of it. Enjoy it. Pretend that I am able to glean important things about society and my place in it from watching it. The Hills, Survivor, Beauty and the Geek, Top Chef, LA Ink, Ax Men. All kinds. Don't get me wrong, I do have standards. I have stopped watching both Flavor of Love and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.

So, I'm always on the lookout for new delicious nuggets of my favorite kind of television fruit. Somewhere I saw the description for this somewhat new show, Curl Girls on the LOGO network. A Laguna Beach/Hills style show following 6 lesbian surfers. BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE. I mean, seriously folks, that is a truly good idea for a reality show. It has something for everyone. All lesbian cast! An interesting focus (so cal lesbian surf culture) so it's not just all about interpersonal drama. The beach! I immediately told my TiVo to tape an upcoming mini marathon of the show.

When I sat down to watch this eagerly awaited beautiful artificiality reality quickly set in. This show was all idea and no execution. It seemed to be formed in a brainstorming session without any idea how to really pull it off. My main beef is really that some of the girls had like ZERO surf experience. Like they found one lesbian who could surf and asked her "do you know other surfing lesbians" and she was like "ummmm....well i know one lady who lives by the beach." It's also clear that both of the girls who had zero surf experience were clearly chosen for their drama potential. They are the 2 cast members who are focused on the most because of their cheap and easy romantic and arguing dramas. It felt cheap. Instead of focusing on the characters who actually had ability and love for surfing those characters weren't developed at all and were just used for legitimacy.

The show barely kept my attention through its 6 episode run. I think the lesson to be learned is that just because The Hills is successful with its vapid drama that doesn't need to be the focus of shows with similar formats. Utilize the possible intrigue in your own good ideas (lesbian surf culture). Don't get me wrong, I won't look away if you keep pumping out middling reality shows cause I'm easy!