Get Paid To Party

According to an article on CNN's Entertainment Web Site, there is a growing trend of chosen celebrities getting paid thousands of dollars by club owners and managers to appear or party at their select location. This list of celebrities includes Paris and Nicky Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Jon Gosselin, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, and Britney Spears. For example, Kim Kardashian was reported paid $50,000 to celebrate her birthday at a nightclub in Las Vegas.

Many club executives believe that the cost is worth the benefits because after hearing about the possibility of being able to party with a celebrity, people will come swarming in, or so the executives hope. 

Personally, hearing something like this disgusts me. Although I know it is very unlikely to work, this is what I would like to see happen instead: instead of paying the celebrity directly, they should tell the celebrity that if they make an appearance at their night club, they will help enhance the celebrity's image to the public by making a generous donation in the celebrity's name to a charity or nonprofit organization. That way, the money isn't being spent on the already-overblown salaries of the A-list wealthy and it will go towards a good cause. Then again, will the opportunity to come off as a good samaritan and not as a spoiled socialite be enough motive for most celebrities to show up? Probably not.

Reality Shows

It seems as if America has reached an all-time high for saturation of worthless reality shows. Viewers can't even flip through five channels without seeing a reality show pop up on their TV screen. There's a show for almost every kind of interest/profession: Playboy Bunnies, truck-drivers, surgeons/doctors/nurses, chefs, designers, families, zoologists, mechanics, gamers...etc. Some of these shows have reached the end of their lifespan because, according to Los Angeles Times, Fox Reality Channel will be disbanded in March 2010.

I actually do enjoy the reality shows where talented people actually do things (like Top Chef) and compete against one another in good sportsmanship fashion. However, I don't consider being blonde with big boobs while living in the Playboy Mansion a talent. What I'm sick of watching the most are the really redundant reality TV shows such as dating shows or shows like Big Brother and The Real World where a group of strangers are forced to live together. The biggest anticipation for everyone who watches those shows is to see who hooks up with who, and hopefully catch a little snippet of it on a hidden camera. I don't see why people don't just go and watch porn if that's the kind of reality they are seeking. 

What happened to good old fashioned written shows? I think they're finally making a comeback, especially in the last couple of years with shows like Grey's Anatomy, Weeds, House, Glee, 30 Rock...etc. Finding a good TV series to watch, however, is getting even more and more difficult.