It was announced today that the long-running American Idol has been picked up for a 14th season. Great. But with dwindling ratings and an ever-changing cast of controversial judges, we’ve sort of outgrown the singing competition show. It had a good run, it truly did. The show gave us stars like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood, but who can really name the recent stars the show has provided launching pads for?
And they’re not the only show we’re tired of. Here are seven shows we just don’t want to tune into anymore. Tell us if you agree and what other shows you wish would just pull the plug:
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American Idol
We know we owe American Idol a lot. The show produced some serious stars in the past decade and even though recent winners and contestants have seen some success, we’ve just grown tired of the overall concept of the show. Be honest: how many of you just tune out after the auditions? It’s okay, you can admit it. We all do it.
Survivor
Guys, we’ve deserted groups of strangers onto a secluded island how many times now? Twenty-effing-eight. It’s been 28 seasons of the super-popular reality show and we’ve seen a lot of people survive. We must admit, we were madly obsessed with the show for the first 10 or so seasons, but by now we’d rather get stranded in the wilderness than sit through another season of this show.
Hell’s Kitchen
The novelty of it all was fascinating at the beginning: a hardass renowned British chef bosses around a bunch of semi-professional chefs in a fierce cooking competition. Gordon Ramsay gave us nightmares. But, we’ve gotta admit, that 12 seasons in, we’ve kind of outgrown the format a bit and all that swearing? It just sounds abusive now. Well, not that it wasn’t before, but it’s just less entertaining and the shock value is no longer there. Time to extinguish the flames in the kitchen.
The Apprentice
Remember when it was still considered a prestigious honour to work for Donald Trump? Now it’s just as novel as Trump’s horrible hairpiece. Thirteen seasons in, the Trumpster has fired so many people that we truly have the fear of unemployment ingrained in our brains by now. Oh wait, no, that’s the economy’s doing. Yeah, we’ve learned nothing from this show. Donald Trump, you’re fired.
Cheaters
If you’ve stayed up late at night, you’ve probably caught this guilty pleasure on TV. Cheaters is a reality show that strives to catch cheating boyfriends and girlfriends in the act and unravels like an episode of the Jerry Springer Show, but in a real life setting. It’s at times awkward, heartbreaking, but sort of addictive. But 14 seasons in (and one host stabbing incident), we think it’s time to let people sort out their own issues sans camera crew.
Big Brother
Look, we love Big Brother. We really do. But when your last season drew controversies regarding racism and homophobia, we think it’s time to shut it down. Or at the very least, fire the casting producers. Also, we just don’t know if we can commit to three days a week of mind-numbing reality TV anymore. You gave us a great — okay, alright — 15 seasons, we’ll think about tuning in for the 16th this summer.
The Real Housewives
Seriously, we still don’t understand what this show is about and why it’s important. THERE ARE SEVEN DIFFERENT REAL HOUSEWIVES SERIES; WHY TELEVISION, WHY.
