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REALITY BASED TELEVISION The New York Times (Feb 24) provides coverage of the new round of reality based TV shows the big four broadcast networks have slated for this summer. With titles such as "Love For Sale", "Wife Swap", and "Around The World In 80 Dates" one wonders how much lower we can sink in our pursuit for entertainment. Stephen King predicted our fate 20 years ago with his classic "The Running Man":
...where people work in dangerous jobs for low wages, but employment is still extremely hard to get. Ben Richards knows that the only way his wife and daughter can get out of the low class lifestyle is for him to try to win money on one of the many gameshows on television.... These are no ordinary gameshows, because they make you suffer, or even die, and Richards has been chosen for the top show of all - The Running Man. The rules are fairly straightforward. $100 for every hour that you stay alive, and if you manage to stay alive for 30 days, you win One Billion Dollars!
Trust me- read the book; don't wait for reality. The book will be much better than anything the networks can produce.

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