Critic Clive Barnes once said, “Television is the first truly democratic culture — the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.” It’s pretty hard to disagree with him — what some people want to see on television is a bit disturbing.

It can only be expected that television would naturally progress alongside our society. However, some of the things people apparently want to see on television is quite a telling sign of the downturn of society. Television cannot be blamed for society’s problems; instead society’s problems can be blamed for television programming.

Television tries harder and harder with every passing season to come up with a new gimmick for its viewers to enjoy. Some shows have failed from lack of interest, while others did not last because they were too offensive. The programs that appall yet intrigue viewers are the barrage of reality shows that fill the TV Guide.

The funny thing about so many of these reality shows is they are anything but real. Look at one of the most popular series of reality shows: “Survivor.” While the individual participants may have to survive each other on the show, they are doing anything but actually surviving. This was never more evidently ironic than in the season spent in Africa, a continent in which people are surviving hunger and disease every day.

Another recent travesty was “Joe Millionaire.” This program was devised by the network responsible for another controversial reality show failure, “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?”

“Joe Millionaire” seemed to be a revision of the original with a twist: This time they fooled the women into believing a man worth less than $20,000 a year was really worth millions. Not only does this say something about the participants for wanting a husband with nothing more than money, but it also says something about the sad state of the individuals who found the show entertaining.

Reality shows have led to more and more people trying to claim their 15 minutes of fame — and then stretching them into 50 minutes. Smaller networks are even getting into the game. ABC Family has a show called “My Life is a Sitcom.” In this epic competition families are vying for the chance to become the next “hit” situation comedy.

And then there are the shows that are more disturbing in this growing trend of voyeuristic shows. These are the shows with no real purpose beyond watching people in their “normal” lives and activities. These types include MTV’s “Taildaters” and “Sorority Life.” Unlike some shows where there is money to be made by the participants, there is really no obvious benefit to those on these shows besides being watched by millions of lonely teens.

It’s a hopeful thought that things could begin to change for the better in television. However, there is no guarantee things will ever get any better, and quite possibly we will end up replacing one evil with another. Because as Art Buchwald put it, “Every time you think television has hit its lowest ebb, a new program comes along to make you wonder where you thought the ebb was.”

In today’s society — where television is still the most widespread media for news, information and entertainment — it should be no surprise what control society has over its content. Money makes the world go ’round, and television is no exception.

It is a sad state of affairs when the content of our television programming shows the true face of our society, makes it available for all to see how sorry things have become, and makes one wonder how much worse society will get and what the future of television holds.

Joey Maresca is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].