Terry Teachout Quotes

When reality television really hit, I just had a backlash towards reality. It seemed like a cheap way to make a product. And then when music reality and 'Idol hit,' I just didn't watch it, it seemed novelty. And of course the story of 'Idol,' this is one of the greatest stories in television history.

You watch these reality shows and say, 'Oh, I would do that, except for eating all the gross stuff.' These reality shows are like everyone's little guilty pleasure. To have an opportunity to be on one, why not? Anybody who says, 'No, I don't want to be on one' is kind of lying in the back of their heads.

Thank you... 'Real Housewives of Atlanta,' for demonstrating a universal truth: Idiots like me will always watch idiots like you fight on TV. You will forever be in my TiVo.

Big Brother sounded like a silly stunt and that's what it is.

I know that if I had a television in my flat I would convince myself that everything on it was really interesting. I would say, 'I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!' is so sociologically fascinating that I think I'd better watch.

Hollywood is tied hand and foot to the demands for artificiality of the masses all over the world.

I'm completely done with reality TV.

The fact that the Kardashians could be more popular than a show like 'Mad Men' is disgusting. It's a super disgusting part of our culture, but I still find it funny to make a joke about it.

I still watch 'Idol,' and it's still the No. 1 show, so obviously I'm not the only one who loves to sit at home and be entertained.

Nothing is really real unless it happens on television.

Reality shows. I'll watch them, but I won't tell anyone I'll watch them. I remember when the first British 'Big Brother' was on. I watched that Nasty Nick. I never watched it since, but I watched the first one. I was mesmerized. Don't tell anyone!

I enjoy watching Fear Factor, Newlyweds and American Idol as far as reality TV shows go.

The Kardashians can be famous for being famous. What do they do? I can't figure it out.

Much of reality TV has been like the worst nightmares of Theodor Adorno and Jean Baudrillard come true, its seductive allure turning us into gossips in the global village.

I was never interested in reality shows or dance shows, as they have become so common.

Reality TV has managed to commodify everything we used to think of as the elements of normal life.

There's nothing new. I think that's the weird thing for me. Over the last couple of months, the keep-fit shows, and then at the end of it you get to lose weight and one of you is going to win a million dollars - that's not real. In many ways, even 10 years ago that wouldn't have worked.

Moving people into reality TV is a mistake.

Reality TV's pretty tricky for me. I don't really watch anything like that, because I think it's brain-sucking.

Reality TV was to me the worst form of entertainment--the modern equivalent of paying sixpence to watch lunatics howling at the wall down at the local madhouse.

People living their lives for you on TV; They say they're better than you, and you agree.

I think the smart people will get even smarter, and the dumb people will get even dumber. But I think they all will enjoy A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila, no matter how you slice it. You know, we keep eating it up. Some of the most intelligent people I know cannot get enough of it. That's a dangerous thing.

Back when we started this show, the hottest program on television was 'Keeping Up With the Gabors.'

...now that everyone could vote from home, via the OASIS, the only people who could get elected were movie stars, reality TV personalities, or radical televangelists.

As I was reading the book [Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries] I kept thinking, "Sweetie, you are dancing as fast as you can!"