Dating shows are stupid

Many people spend a portion of their lives looking for one true love. Dating is one way to pass the time before marriage and find a compatible partner. Singles try many different tactics to pick up members of the opposite sex -- whether it's single bars, Internet chats or hanging out in front of restrooms, everyone has a way to find that special someone. \nBut the worst idea has to be the television date show.\nWhy do people think they will find their soul mates on a game show? On any day you can turn on the TV and see numerous television shows on every channel devoted to finding love. Some recent examples are "Temptation Island" (and its sequel), "Blind Date" and "Who Wants to Be a Princess." The shows are horrible glimpses into society's view about relationships. The two worst shows have to be the new late night FOX show "Elimidate" and MTV's "Dismissed."\nBoth shows are the exact same in concept. A guy or girl goes out on a date with two members of the opposite sex (three in "Elimidate") and the date is taped by the producers. At the end of the show, the main dater has to pick what datee he or she wants to have a relationship with. This is horrible in concept and is even worse in exhibition.\nWhy is our society obsessed with these kinds of shows? Now, I'll admit that I was a huge "Survivor" fan and watched the first "Temptation Island," but that was only when I was bored with my own life and wanted an exciting glimpse into the life of someone else's. We're all interested in other people's lives. But many people do not think it is right to go into a restaurant, sit down next to a fighting couple and listen in solely for entertainment purposes. With these television shows, people throw themselves out to the public so we can watch them without getting yelled at by the deranged loser girlfriend to stop listening and mind our own business. \n"Dismissed" is the better of the shows because the date locations are more adventurous and, as shallow as I am, the girls are hotter. It really does matter when a show has no other value to the audience. The MTV show is riskier with its material, as always, allowing some dates to take place at a house of bondage and featuring some episodes with gay threesomes. The one homosexual-based show I saw was great and featured two hilarious guys trying to do any kind of back-stabbing, and back massaging, techniques to win over the hunk. \nThe extra feature in the MTV version is the "time-out" card. Anytime during the date, one of the contestants can hand the other a time-out card that gives the other two 15 minutes alone. The majority of the time is spent trying to get into the main person's pants, while the other is off screen talking to the cameras about the opposite contestant being a whore. The one thing that is really crazy about the show is that both contestants really, really want to win the date. When they don't, they bad-mouth the main guy about how he was ugly in the first place and had no personality. \nNow you're probably wondering how "Elimidate" could be worse. First, there is an extra annoying person to make the date a four-way adventure. In the one episode I watched there was a formula for picking the girls. One is overly flirtatious, one overly mean, one is the shy, pretty type and one is shallow and egotistical. During the show, the producers had the girls give back rubs and partake in an obstacle course to see how fit they were. This is how I'm going to pick my wife, through an enduring task of running trough tires and jumping over hurdles. \nThe majority of the show is just the people talking directly to the camera bad-mouthing the others but is obviously rehearsed. After each task, the guy gets to eliminate one date. Each of his excuses are lame and he winds up picking the overly flirtatious one because he said, "She was a lot nicer than the others." That's total crap, dude, just be honest and say that you picked her because you know you're going to score.\nSo anyway, both of these shows are horrible and only low self-esteem singles would ever attempt to be on them. The only way you'd ever see me on one of these shows is if they offered me hot girls that I could score with. Oh wait, I guess I would be on these shows.