Why I Don't Trust Reality TV

Last night I decided to watch "The First 48" on A&E. If you've not seen the real life crime drama, A&E describes it this way:

For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don't get a lead in The First 48. Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever.
The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. Gritty and fast-paced, it takes viewers behind the scenes of real-life investigations with unprecedented access to crime scenes, autopsies, forensic processing, and interrogations.

Overall, it's a pretty interesting and a somewhat uncomfortable show at times. Here's the description of the episode I watched last night:

Soon after discovering a bullet-ridden body in Overtown section of Miami, Sgt. Joe Schillaci learns the murder may spark a bloody turf war between rival heroin dealers in the neighborhood. Schillaci realizes, to prevent further bloodshed, he must infiltrate the world of heroin dealers and get them to reveal the killer's identity. But going undercover means Schillaci must confront his own traumatic past as a street narcotics cop--when he gunned down a man during a buy-and-bust operation gone wrong.

I really enjoyed this show until the last 15 minutes. Let me tell you way I don't trust any type of reality show. During the episode, you got to hear some of Sgt. Schillaci war stories of his many years in undercover narcotics. Obviously Schillaci has quite a few demons left from his experience. Towards the end of the show, Sgt. Joe Schillaci feels the only way to interrogate a drug dealer who might have been a witness, is to go undercover and make a drug buy so they can arrest the dealer.

Here's my question, with all of the narcotics officers in Miami, why did a homicide officer go undercover to do a routine drug buy? Why did we have to hear about Schillaci's demons while he carried out the buy? Why did we have to see him getting Hollywood-style makeup and then trying to fool his fellow officers with his disguise? Hollywood, that's why! I guess the producers felt it was a great way to "enhance" the story. If I'm wrong and no one from the production team had anything to do with it, you seriously have to worry about the judgment of the Miami Police Department.

We've always known that reality television had a tendency to steer away from reality, but when Hollywood controls the Miami police department, it makes you wonder how far it'll go?

At A&E.com

January 27, 2006

Why I Don't Trust Reality TV