"There's got to be a little bit of reality show fatigue happening"

When Josh Schwartz says, "There's got to be a little bit of reality show fatigue happening", he pinpoints a crucial moment in television culture. The proliferation of reality television dramatically changed the entertainment landscape for over two decades, with networks and audiences alike becoming enraptured by unscripted drama, competitions, and voyeuristic glimpses into ordinary and extraordinary lives. However, Schwartz’s observation suggests that viewers are now experiencing weariness, a growing sense that the novelty and shock value of reality programming are wearing thin.

This fatigue comes from several sources. Networks have relentlessly multiplied reality shows, each promising a unique or scandalous twist, yet many end up recycling similar formats, tropes, and personalities. Over time, this saturation diminishes originality, making series increasingly formulaic. As a result, viewers who once found these shows compelling may now find them predictable, staged, or exhausting. The viewer's emotional and attentional resources are being overstretched by a glut of options that rarely innovate, and the boundary between entertainment and exploitation often becomes uncomfortable.

Moreover, the rise of streaming platforms and prestige scripted content has given audiences more variety and control over their viewing choices. Environments that foster thought-provoking, carefully crafted narratives now compete with reality television's immediacy and drama. Many people, oversaturated by the relentless churn of reality shows, start to crave the depth, complexity, and production values that scripted television offers.

Schwartz, as a creator renowned for acclaimed scripted dramas, hints at a broader industry trend, a cultural and creative recoil from oversaturation. His statement resonates not just as an observation but as an implicit call for change: a hope that audiences and networks will reinvest in originality and storytelling, moving beyond the easy appeal of reality television’s spectacle. As media evolves, such fatigue could mark the beginning of a shift back toward innovative and thoughtful entertainment.