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Aside from the rampant bad taste appropriately mentioned above, the show was also downright silly. It demonstrates just how far from reality the so-called "reality" shows stray. In pitting the two teams against each other by having each select an artist and open a gallery, it focused almost entirely on artist choice as the measure of success. In so doing it completely side-stepped all the complexities of opening and running a successful gallery. All the teams had to do, evidently, was pick an artist, send out invitations, and have an opening. The team that garnered the highest sales won. Ignoring the question of how galleries build a clientele, shepherd promising artists to financial success, develop a list of represented artists, design and light exhibit space, and plan and budget their promotion, it reduced the high-pressure world of New York galleries, backroom sales to high-roller clients, and inter-gallery dealings to nothing more complicated than standing on a streetcorner selling paintings. As for whether it is real or manipulated, consider that the "moral" of the episode was conveniently dramatized by having the winning team be the one that chose an artist they liked, as opposed to their competitors, who selected the artist they felt would be commercial. We all know how far off the mark that can be! Oh well, this is the show that on one episode showed a girl who'd been fired walking out of the Trump office building, crossing the sidewalk, and climbing into a cab that sat waiting for her, undoubtedly on marks set by the camera crew. Talk about reality. And yes, I admit I too watch the show, one of my "guilty pleasures."
John C.
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