It's very sad.
When I was a child in the late 80s, and up until the late 90s. History Channel, The Learning Channel, A&E, and Discovery all showed quality programming.
I believe this changed when MTV capitalized on the success of reality television in "The Real World" and others.
Yeah, I hate it. The problem is, it becomes way more profitable than running a standard show. You don't have to pay actual actors. You don't have to pay talented writers. You don't have to think out and maintain continuity of a plot line over seasons. Just find some tedious people and put them in a situation ripe for real or (usually) faked drama. Then roll the cameras. It's a form of banal voyeurism.
The only thing worse is the Marvelization of cinema. Actual movies are a big risk nowadays. They've gotten so expensive to make. Studios are much less willing to take a risk on a Scorsese or Coppola doing any small edgy stuff like in the 70's. Everything has to be a comicbook franchise with a pretty much established fan base and virtually pre-written script. Heck, the movie is pretty much already storyboarded. Just hand a hack director the comicbook and say, "Film this."
Also with at least half of a movie revenue coming from abroad nowadays, it is better to stick to simple, 2-dimensional plots and carboard cutout good guys and bad guys. Complex movies with subtle dialog and or maybe culturally specific themes don't necessarily translate as easily into Mandarin.
