These shows have a short lifetime. They make money and then they're gone. That's what they are there for. Every network will milk the genre in the upcoming season. People can look at it and think, 'That could be me.
Viewers get that forbidden thrill, and then take away a moral lesson.
Matt Dirker, a sophomore in anthropology from Libertyville, said people tune-in to experience another person's reality. To make up for a lack of real experience they watch these shows to get a fix on reality. Watching real lives is raking in real cash, but the unscripted genre that includes game shows and trashy talk is as controversial as it is popular. One tempted couple was supposed to get the boot after Fox discovered the two parented a child, which was against series regulations. When they weren't yanked off, Durham, N.C.'s Fox affiliate stopped airing the program.