Naomusings

Top 10 Political Reality TV Show Ideas

Once upon a time, citizens were willing to listen for hours to debates and other lengthy political discourse. Unfortunately, today’s American attention span is better equipped for the likes of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

To get modern Americans more engaged in politics, maybe it’s time we changed things up from C-SPAN to America’s favorite television format — reality TV!  Here are ten ideas for how to use reality TV to rejuvenate the political process.

1. The Bench-ler

There’s just not enough drama behind the process of choosing a Supreme Court nominee. Why not make the process like The Bachelor? Every week, the House and Senate can go on “dates” with the nominees to exciting locations like the Harvard Law School Library.  And instead of a rose ceremony, they could hand out… “Clarence, will you accept this robe?”

2. The Vice Apprentice

Similarly, choosing a Vice Presidential candidate would be so much more dramatic if the nominee did it Apprentice style. Every week, the potential VPs would be assigned to degrading tasks with lots of product placement involved, and whoever screws up the worst gets fired.  This may actually happen if (God forbid) Donald Trump ever gets the nomination.

3. The Voice of Democracy

So you think political speeches are boring?  Make them competitive, like The Voice.  Put political speakers on stage in front of four judges with their chairs turned backwards. (Choices for judges:  How about Al Gore,  Ann Richards, Al Sharpton, and Dan Quayle?)  If a judge turns around, the speaker is in!

4. The Amazing Presidential Race

Every four years, teams of presidential and vice presidential candidates race around the country to attend hundreds of political rallies. Ths would be far more interesting if it were like The Amazing Race, with clues on where they’re supposed to go next and weird modes of transportation and the like.

5. Top Committee

Nobody likes watching committees, but everybody likes food, so why turn political committees into Top Chef? Every week, the committees get a challenge to accomplish something in the community. The committee who comes up with the lamest solution has to pack their knives and go.

6. America’s Next Top Political Mistress

Move over, Tyra! Monica Lewinsky and Rielle Hunter could cohost this nationwide search for America’s next scandalous lady of the hour. The other version of the show would be hosted by Larry Craig.

7. Deal or No Deal

Tired of Washington gridlock when there’s a big decision to be made, like how to avoid the fiscal cliff?  Just bring out a bunch of pretty models with cases. Instead of monetary amounts, each case contains something like “Medicaid Cuts” and “Disaster Aid.” 

8.  The Biggest Pork Loser

Which contestant can trim the budget the most each week, without cutting out important “nutrients” like Social Security or school lunch programs?

9. Political Wipeout

If you haven’t seen the real Wipeout, it features everyday people making fools out of themselves on ridiculous obstacle courses involving spinning wheels, shaving cream, and lots of plunges into freezing cold water.  The political version of the show will be exactly the same, starring political favorites like Chris Christie, Michele Bachmann, Barney Frank, and all of our favorite Fox News commentators.

10. House of Representative Hunters

On House Hunters, couples check out three houses and choose their favorite. Why not have them do the same with possible representatives?