(January 24, 2008) -- During the 1950s, television was a little animated box that created a sense of family-time and closeness. But now there is reality TV: a craze of shows created to portray "reality" in situations such as dating, celebrities’ everyday lives and the drama that develops when a group of randomly selected people are put together and forced to be within each others’ presence for prolonged periods of time.

This trend, which seemingly started in the 1990s and gained popularity over the years, has revolutionized TV and has hooked viewers of all ages. And the growth of reality TV hasn’t stopped since then.

Now that the writers’ strike has halted production of new shows for sitcoms and dramas, it seems as though the only shows with new episodes are reality TV shows.

Because of shows like I Love New York, A Shot At Love and The Bachelor, scripted shows have slowly vanished from TV or been overshadowed. The Real World was one of the first reality TV shows and is infamous for the many hook-ups on screen. Many other reality TV shows display inappropriate behavior on regular cable television.

Some of the less provocative ones include The Biggest Loser, a show about weight loss challenges, to Beauty and the Geek, a show about nerds and models joined together as teams to ultimately win challenges.

But there is one trend with certain reality shows aimed to find love. Relationships established on these "love seeking" shows don’t often last.

In The Newlyweds with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, relationships that once started off fine end in divorce/separation. But because these relationships fail, it ensures a sequel to the show for a second, even third or fourth shot at finding their "true loves."

This fate has proven so in I Love New York 2, and more recently it has been announced that Rock of Love, former ’80s musical group Poison’s front man Brett Michaels’s show, will be returning as well as Tila Tequila’s Shot At Love, both broadcasted on VH1.

But now Run’s House Reverend Joseph Simmons, a.k.a. DJ Run of Run-DMC, and even Snoop Dogg has his own show on E! channel called Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood with it’s catchy hook line "This ain’t the Huxtables." It’s as though all has-beens are trying to keep their legacies alive. Even Paula Abdul has her own show on Bravo, as though American Idol isn’t enough.