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Enough Already: 17 Reality Shows Have the Same Word in Their Titles

Mar 7, 2013  •  Post A Comment

The use of a certain plural noun in the titles of reality TV shows has reached the saturation point — or has it? TheWrap.com reports that at least 17 reality shows feature the word "wars" in their titles.

Just a few of the entries in the increasingly crowded field: “Storage Wars,” “Whale Wars,” “Parking Wars,” “Border Wars,” “Design Wars,” “Whisker Wars,” “Fan Wars” and “Cupcake Wars.”

The term might be nearing a point of exhaustion, with the team behind the latest entry in the field saying they felt the need to punch up the use of “Wars” by adding "Battlefield" to the title, reports TheWrap.com. The result: "Battlefield: Rhino Wars," which debuts today on Animal Planet.

"It’s a way of saying this isn’t ‘Parking Wars,’ this isn’t ‘Storage Wars,’ this isn’t ‘Cupcake Wars.’ This is really a war, and terrible things are happening out there, and somebody needs to stand up and do something about it," Animal Planet President Marjorie Kaplan said.

Animal Planet was one of the first to incorporate "wars" into its titles, with the debut of "Whale Wars" soon after A&E’s "Parking Wars" several years ago.

"I do think that language can be very powerful, but also that overuse can dilute the power of words," Kaplan added.

The piece asks, "So, what will become of the word war?”

"It’s a serious question for people who believe that words have meanings. In 2007, the Associated Press issued a memo to its journalists advising against the use of words like ‘war’ or ‘battle’ to describe relatively trivial events while real people were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan," the story notes.

Meanwhile, another word may be headed for the same kind of saturation in reality TV. “Although there are more ‘war’ shows than ‘wives’ shows, it’s close,” the report notes. “Besides Bravo’s many ‘Real Housewives,’ there are ‘Mob Wives,’ ‘Sister Wives’ and ‘Prison Wives,’ among others.”

3 Comments

  1. What do you expect? You have these shows that are strictly pointed at the lowest common denominator. The only words their brains are triggered by are “free” “sex” and “war”. Hey! Now there’s a winner if I’ve ever heard one: Free Sex Wars. Quick, get the suits on the phone!

  2. Two other tired cliches: 1) so many reality show having “American” in the title, and 2) every show having at least one person crossing his or her arms to look intimidating. If you drive across country looking for antiques or bake cupcakes, you’re not THAT tough. Enough already.

  3. this website sucks ass

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