Quick: what’s the most popular reality television show this autumn? Dancing With the Stars? The X-Factor? Survivor?
Sorry, but no. Sure, they’re popular. They’re reportedly real. They’re undeniably on television. But to find the most popular reality programming out there, you’ll have to tune into a different sort of competition: One with helmets and cleats and weirdly shaped balls.
According to the National Football League, 13 of this fall’s 15 highest-rated programs have been football games. Only CBS’ Two and a Half Men broke the NFL’s hammerlock on the ratings (the season premiere was the fall’s highest-rated show with 28.7 million viewers). And if it hadn’t been for all the buzz surrounding Ashton Kutcher’s replacement of Charlie Sheen, you’d have to figure that the Top 15 ratings would be written in eyeblack from top to bottom.
Paul, don’t be a loon, I can hear some of you mutter under your breath. Football isn’t reality television … it’s a sport! (Or, as my daughter might say, “It’s just stupid!”) It’s true that rarely do we Plugged Innerites discuss sporting events within the realm of our entertainment beats. We don’t count the swear words we see mouthed by World Series coaches. We don’t lambast the National Hockey League for its gratuitous violence. We don’t label last week’s Detroit-Denver game under “Other Negative Content” (though we could).
But here’s the truth: Today’s competitive reality shows share quite a bit with their more sports-oriented channel-mates. Consider Dancing With the Stars: The contestants train really hard with expert coaches. They’re competing for a prestigious (but largely meaningless) title. They sweat. Some of ’em fight through injuries. In some ways, Dancing With the Stars is just like the NFL—only with more sequins and fewer concussions.
Oh, and I don’t think anyone drafted Nancy Grace in their fantasy dancing league.
And sports share a lot in common with their reality TV brethren. Like Survivor, athletes form ever-shifting alliances. Like Dancing With the Stars, they must be ever graceful on the field of play. Like The X-Factor, the most popular contestants have something intangible about them—something that allows them to shine when it matters most.
We could take it further, of course: Wide receivers fight for the attention of their quarterback (not wholly unlike The Bachelor). They squabble with their teammates (which sounds like The Real World). Many flaunt some serious bling (Real Housewives, anyone?) And every now and then, someone gets kicked out (á la Big Brother). There’s drama. Tension. A sporting event can be comedic or tragic—sometimes either or both: Last week’s Broncos game was probably even labeled a “laugher” by some, though I personally felt like shedding a tear.
Truth is, sports is entertainment, even if we don’t report on it much. And as such, it’s best to digest it as you would any other bit of entertainment: With a certain amount of discretion. Not everything on the field—or during those commercial timeouts—would qualify as a true or beautiful thing in a Pauline sense (Philippians 4:8).
So sports fans, the next time you’re inclined to roll your eyes at the phenomenon of “reality television” and lament the meaninglessness of it all, remember this: Your fantasy football team isn’t exactly the end-all, be-all. And Bill Belichick may bear more than just a passing resemblance to Simon Cowell.
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