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Review: ‘Siesta Key’ Returns to Reality Television’s Awkward Youth - The New York Times

posted onJuly 31, 2017
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Article snippet: The shift from “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” to “The Hills” was the most portentous of the reality-show era. What began in 2004 as a sun-kissed, sometimes-bumbling lark finished in 2010 as a neo-romantic, industrial-smooth juggernaut. Teenagers who predated the constant self-broadcasting of the social-media era rapidly became television stars, doing their best to play the roles of teenagers who did not know they were being filmed. The genre had gone sentient. It would never look back. In interviews for the new reality drama “Siesta Key,” which begins on MTV Monday night, Mark Ford — an executive producer here, as he was on “Laguna Beach” — said he was hoping to return reality TV to reality. But the whole world is reality television now — optimizing behavior for broadcast is just part of everyday life. So in many ways, the sun-streaked conflict and misty boredom of “Siesta Key” is preordained, and also comforting. Relationships will be fractured, banter will be forced, footage will be shown at half-speed, skin will be tanned. The conversations largely lack dependent clauses, and have a cool rhythm of blankness. “Siesta Key” takes place in and around an affluent island community just southwest of Sarasota, Fla. Siesta Key, the beach, was ranked No. 1 in America this year by both TripAdvisor and also a person who refers to himself as Dr. Beach. The show follows the “Laguna Beach” model of languid attitudes and moist visuals, though its protagonists are most... Link to the full article to read more

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