Doomsday Has Its Day in the Sun
Theres a new modifier on the TV grid, and we should all be afraid.
Television has long been full of Americans (American Restoration, American Chopper, American Hoggers) and Extremes (Extreme Marksmen, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Couponing) and Tops (Top Gear, Top Chef, Top Shot). In recent weeks, though, an interloper has staked a claim: Doomsday.
Last month the National Geographic Channel introduced Doomsday Preppers, a Tuesday-night reality series about people who are stockpiling, arming and otherwise preparing for some kind of apocalypse. Last week it was the Discovery Channels turn. Its new Doomsday Bunkers, on Wednesday nights, is about Deep Earth Bunker, a company that builds underground getaways for the types of people seen in Doomsday Preppers.
Watch either show for a short while and, unless youre a prepper yourself, you might be moderately amused at the absurd excess on display and at what an easy target the prepper worldview is for ridicule. Watch a bit longer, though, and amusement may give way to annoyance at how offensively anti-life these shows are, full of contempt for humankind.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/arts/television/doomsday-preppers-and-doomsday-bunkers-tv-reality-shows.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120312